BEEP! BEEP! The IV alarm is going off again. That usually means the fluids are done dispensing or need to be fixed. This noise is loud, annoying, and practically incessant given the number of IVs.

My first appointment was at 9 am for the blood draw after a vitals check. An hour prior, I applied Lidocaine cream to the port to numb it. Kayla was my nurse today (and has the same birthday as me, though I suspect a much younger year!) and said at the count of three, to take a deep breath. That’s when she stuck the needle in. I felt the pinch and it hurt briefly but then was fine. Another deep breath at the end of treatment to take the needle out – much less painful.

We had to wait a while for the bloodwork to come in before meeting with Alexa, the nurse practitioner. I told her I had trouble finding the mass yesterday. After the breast exam, she confirmed that it was indeed harder to find – and also softer. She didn’t even try to measure it because she knew it’d be difficult. Very positive signs!

I inquired about the schedule going forward and have a better understanding of it now. Any surgery I have will be after my A/C and Taxol chemo is done. I’ll be on Keytruda for a year, which means until mid-September 2023. It’s an immunology treatment, so it doesn’t have the same kind of side effects as chemo. It only impacts the immune system. When chemo is done, I’ll get Keytruda every 3-6 weeks (to be determined). Once I start weekly Taxol chemo, I won’t have to meet with the team every time, so those appointments will be faster.

BEEP! BEEP! That time it was me.

We met with Dr. Brufsky for the first time since my diagnosis. I asked about lowering the steroid dose because of the uncontrollable hunger. He gave the ok to lower the IV steroid from 10 to 8 (last time it was lowered from 12 to 10), and said I could take four doses of the pill form instead of six. I hope that helps, and that it doesn’t make the side effects worse (one of the main reasons for taking it).

I asked about recurrence, but there’s still information we don’t know. There’s the breast imaging I’ll be getting in late November, and then the surgical pathology. If I have a complete response during this process, that lowers the risk. Dr. Brufsky said there’s a 65-75% chance this will go away completely with the care plan. If that’s the case, then there’s only a 10% chance of recurrence. If it doesn’t completely go away with the current care plan, then I’ll have chemo in a pill after surgery.

Depending on where things stand after surgery, Dr. Brufsky will make further recommendations. Hopefully more chemo won’t be needed. Radiation might, especially if I end up with a lumpectomy.

For today, he prescribed a new anti-nausea med (Emend) to be given through the IV. I got that and something else; one lasts for three days and the other for five.

DRIP! DRIP! I can hear the IV fluids doing their job. And now that I’ve noticed it, I can’t tune it out like a hearing person!

I was treated to a foot massage again. I also got a sandwich, but could only stomach a few bites of it and the one I brought. I was nauseous before the chemo even started. Kayla calls this anticipatory chemo. And now anything I eat while there will have the chemo association and therefore induce nausea. That means leaving my favorite foods at home!

BEEP! BEEP! Three of the four A/C treatments are done! Only one more of this hard hitting stuff. The cumulative effects of chemo are supposed to kick in around now, which is why I now have meals from friends queued up starting on Monday.

But for now, my parents are here. They came in yesterday, bearing a delicious homemade meal (plus two future meals thanks to leftovers!) and my favorite homemade sugar cookies! Mom had asked if I wanted anything, and I said at some point during treatment, I’d love the cookies. Lo and behold, she made them this week! Thanks, Mom!

Those damn BEEP! BEEP!s are going to haunt my dreams. Happy Halloween!