Half Way Done with AC Chemo

Yesterday was my second round of Adriamyacin & Cytoxan (AC) chemo. That means I'm half-way done with AC. I'll have more chemo after I have the baby, but it's a different kind, Taxol.

My white blood cell counts were good enough to do chemo yesterday, despite the cold I had and am  getting over (praise!). However, my platelet counts were borderline-low. They were still high enough to do chemo, but I just need them to not drop more or I can't do chemo in two weeks. They are likely low due to the chemo (it destroys blood cells that are made in your bones) and/or the pregnancy (pregnancy is known to lower platelets in some cases). In very rare cases it can be caused by metastasis (let's all pray that's not the case).

The best news from yesterday is that my oncologist says that my arm-pit lymph node has shrunk a lot (I thought it had) and my breast lump has shrunk some. He says that means my cancer is responding to the chemo -- even after just one round. Hurray!!! Keep praying that my lymph node and lump continue to shrink. I'm praying for what they call, "a pathological complete response" which means after chemo there are no cancer cells left which can definitely happen in some (but not all) cases.

The second round of AC was as easy as the first. Lots of reading magazines and talking with my Mom while the medicine dripped in. 

The bump does chemo.

Then after chemo my Mom and I went to True Food Kitchen for lunch. It's a seasonal, natural, healthy restaurant with lots of vegetarian, gluten-free, and vegan options. So good.

Kale-Aid and veggie lettuce wraps.

My chemo side effects were a little worse this time, I'm more tired and a bit more nauseated (I took a couple of Zofran and that helped). But overall I feel OK. I actually connected with a few more "pregnant with breast cancer" ladies and all them have had rather mild side effects from AC chemo. Somehow pregnant ladies do better on it. There's one bonus!

Oh, and as of two days ago my hair is starting to fall out, strand by strand, especially when I wash or brush it. I think I'm going to get it buzzed early next week so I don't walk around shedding like an animal all day. I have three cute wigs that I'm excited to wear, so I'm not too worried about it. And hair always grows back.