Enhertu Cycle #4 Update - 4/6/25

Been another few weeks so sharing an update of how things are going. I mentioned last time that I was going on a ski trip with my friends as part of my birthday celebration. We went up to Lutsen, MN which is the biggest ski resort in Minnesota. I’ve been wanting to check out this place for a while and so happy that the time finally came for the adventure! It ended up being a fun time with my best friends Kelsey and Kevin. We stayed at a cute little cabin and then took on the trails most of the day on Saturday. Some of the trails were icy, but overall, it was a blast. I really love skiing and felt nice to get back out there, especially since I bought a nice ski set for myself a couple years ago. I tell myself, why did it take me so long to take on the slopes again, but I am already getting ahead of next winter and planning my next ski trip late this year!

 Other than that, I spent some good quality time with my parents while they were in town. We went on walks, out to eat, played bingo and games, watched tv together and got out of the house to check out a couple new places. Every time we are together, we really try to enjoy it, especially since my parents don’t live close to me. When they are here it’s special. They ended up driving back to NM the day after my 35th birthday, so it was nice they were here to celebrate the big 35 milestone with me. We went out to my favorite restaurant, where I enjoyed some gluten and dairy free pasta and had one glass of wine! Yes, wine! I haven’t had any alcohol since last July before this all started but wanted to celebrate my birthday by having wine which I love. Didn’t get as buzzed as I thought I would not having a drop of alcohol in so long! Haha We then went to do an Escape Room afterwards. I love problem solving and puzzles, so escape rooms are fun for me, and even better with my favorite people. We didn’t escape but we got close. Apparently, I chose the hardest room of them all, so I guess that made me feel better that we didn’t accomplish the task. But also, the room was lots of numbers and math and then my brain on one glass of wine was just like, I am just happy to be here! Ha it was a fun day.

The last few weeks I mentioned I was also back working. I wanted to get back to work and try to see if I can focus and have the energy to do so. As the weeks went on, I was having a hard time with both of those things. I am realizing that my life has changed drastically the last 8 months and still in somewhat of a survival mode that I am trying to come out of. I am feeling exhausted with it all. The gravity of my life turned upside down and my changed perspective because of it, just made working these last few weeks pretty difficult. I recently made the tough decision to go back on disability. This wasn’t an easy one for me to make, especially since I have built an amazing career these last 12 years at General Mills and work with so many great people day in and day out. I had a successful career where I learned a ton, grew my skills and built incredible things together with even better people. Stepping away from work is something I don’t take lightly at all, but I know it is the best decision for me. I need to continue to put my health and well being as number one, and not working will allow me to put focus on that first and foremost.

Overall I am at peace with my decision here and stepping into this next phase of my life which I am excited about. Time to focus on other passions that bring me joy, spending time with friends and family, traveling when I can and trying to find the joy in the everyday. While I know that disability comes with a huge decrease in pay, I will just have to find creative ways to still enjoy my life with less money coming in. Money to me is not a priority for me, which also made the decision a little easier. There are so many other values that I have that I will be focusing on instead. All that being said, I want to just thank all my coworkers, my 2nd family at General Mills for the best memories as I approach this next chapter of my life. Everyone I worked with touched me in some way, and I am so thankful for that.

As far as my treatment and related side effects, I have been managing those. I just had my 5 th cycle of Enhertu about a week ago. All my labs at that appointment looked great! My liver enzymes were back in normal range and everything looked normal which I was so happy to see. They had trouble getting my port working this day though, so I had to wait an extra hour or so for them to inject some medication to help get it working properly. Afterwards there were no issues. The side effects I am still experiencing continue to be brain fog and fatigue. This past week especially I was feeling more fatigued than normal and was getting tired very early in the night to where I would go to sleep before 9pm most nights.  I tell people that usually the way I am feeling is like I have a head cold with foggy brain but without being sick with a cold.  I sometimes just feel blah, but have to remember that every 3 weeks they are injecting me with toxic chemicals and trying to give myself grace that I likely won’t feel normal all the time.  It’s been hard adjusting to feeling like this for sure, but I continue doing everything I can to adjust to this new normal.  I am thankful that fatigue, brain fog and mood changes have been the worst of my problems, because it could always be worse.  I am thankful I can still move my body and do the things I love. I know other people don’t have that ability so I continue to be grateful for that.  I’ve also been continuing to eat healthy and make my way to the gym to get some form exercise in daily and I think that is helping a lot with everything.

Time seems to also be flying by to where my next PET scan is already coming up in about a month.  I am feeling so hopeful for this next scan to show no evidence of active disease. That is scheduled for 5/5, just right before I head back to New Mexico to visit my family for Mother’s Day weekend, which would be a good time to celebrate. 

In other news, I am going on a trip next week with my sister to Cancun! I am so excited for this and realizing that my sister and I have never done a trip together just us and so shocked by that actually! It has taken us this long to get something planned but better late than never. I am ready to soak up the sun and sand with my sister and have some quality time together. After Cancun, I then head to Michigan to attend my cousin’s wedding and visit with my extended family! I am really excited for this as well and can’t wait to celebrate together with my family. Going to be a nice few weeks of getting away and celebrating life.

I also wanted to share some exciting news.  I am going to be part of a documentary called “One In Eight” that is going to feature a small group of women who have breast cancer from stage 1 to stage 4.  I am so thrilled and honored to be a part of this opportunity to share what it’s like with stage 4 breast cancer and shed the truth of this diagnosis.  We are filming the day after I get back from Cancun.  I believe the documentary will be sent to the film festival but we plan to share on social media, etc. when it is complete.  Super exciting stuff and more to come! 

Lots of change for me the last few weeks but I see them as good changes. Sometimes we can’t change our circumstances but there are things in life that we can do to make sure we are living life truest to ourselves, despite circumstances. I am stepping into this next chapter of my life filled with gratitude for what I do have and opening the door to explore new possibilities and opportunities. Adventure awaits for me and I know there are only good things to come.

Thank you all for the continued messages and support, always.

Love, Stacy