Glad the week is over

This past week was a tough one. Alex has never been as sad, sick or uncomfortable in her little life. Her ear infection and the fever just made her miserable. She really didn't know what to do other than cry and cuddle. But she is back to her smiley and inquisitive self so we are relieved. Wes was so miserable with his fever on Thursday that I wasn't sure he was going to make it. It is just too much that one top of everything else, he has this weird illness that no one can figure out...so he goes to the Rare Disease Specialist on the 22nd. Seriously. The cold I had this week was annoying because I really am not a good sick person- I get really impatient with feeling bad and start to get mad. As I write that I instantly have some inside into why I am so sick of cancer.

Speaking of cancer, I went to my oncologist on Friday. Last week I had an echo cardiogram (my third) to check my heart performance and verify that the chemo drugs weren't impacting my ticker. Well, I found out after I called the nurse that the echo showed a deterioration in my heart performance. Specifically, my ejection fraction had deteriorated below normal levels. So my doctor recommended that I not start back on my Herceptin for two months to see if my heart performance improved. Well after the news I was really bummed. I thought to myself, great- beat cancer and am now going to fight heart problems...whoa is me...blah, blah. Anyway, worked through that so by the time my appointment came around I was very logical about the whole thing. Originally my ejection fraction was at like 60%, now it is at 49% and normal is 50-70%. So since it is below the norm, I am to wait on the chemo. Reading my lab, the trouble lies in the left ventricle...it has the lower ejection fraction and is showing abnormal diastolic function. Great. The good news according to the oncologist is that this deterioration presented only after Herceptin, the echo I had in March did not show these results. That is good because in March I had just finished Adriamycin and apparently that drug can permanently effect your heart where as the Herceptin effects can reverse after discontinuing the use. Thus, the wait to start the drug again. Dr. C said that I will have another echo in two months and we will decide what to do based on those results. Only 3 or 4 of her patients have had this occur with Herceptin (I knew it was a possibility but again thought- It won't happen to me...you would think I would learn!) and after a couple months off the drug they recovered completely and started treatment again. All that said and done, Dr. C also said that if I couldn't start Herceptin again (I am supposed to take it for a full year) my cancer treatment had gone really well and so she wasn't extremely concerned. So basically for the next two months I get focus on Radiation and after the 3 sessions I had this week, that just leaves 32 to go. Like I said, I am glad this week is over.