Fifth Week of Treatment - 9/13/24

Sharing another update this week.  Can’t believe I am already in my fifth week of treatment – 5 out of 18!  I am into my 2nd cycle of THP (Taxol, Herceptin and Perjeta) out of 6 cycles.   My mom took me to my appointment this week.  Again, we did the regular lab work and met with the physician to go over my tolerance to treatment.  My white blood cells looked really good again, but this time the red blood cells said it’s my turn, and they were much lower this time around.  They tested me for Platelets and Iron which both of those came back normal, thankfully.  I went ahead with the treatment just fine, and my mom and I got to watch “The Price is Right” on her phone.  Realizing I need to bring my computer each time to continue to watch or listen to something since my hands are glued to ice packs for an hour!  Thankful for my wonderful mom. 

In terms of the tolerance to treatment appointment, I am not sure if those are standard for everyone on chemo, but I really love having them as it’s a time for me to ask questions about all sorts of side effects and understand if I need extra care, medications or even just reassurance.    My wandering and worrying brain has me puzzled for if some of the side effects are caused by treatment or the cancer itself.  I know that the current drugs given to me do not cover my brain due to the blood and brain barrier, so when I get headaches and blurry vision, of course I worry about the cancer spreading there.  The doctors are so good about reassuring me though, and I am grateful for that.  The physician, Julie even said something along the lines of not wanting to worry me and they are there to take care of me.  I am not used to this much focus, care and attention, and in that moment, my eyes got teary eyed just knowing they care and have my back.  Not only that, but all the nurses always remember me and make a point to say hi when I am there.  I am so grateful for the nurses and doctors at M. Health Fairview in Edina! 

With this many treatments under my belt now, I am starting to understand the side effects a little more and when my good and bad days might be.  Usually about 2-3 days in, I start to feel more tired.  I also have been walking at least 30min a day, but on those 2-3 days, I find myself having to rest after just even a walk.  This cancer is really making me listen to my body when it needs to rest, which maybe previously was harder for me to do.  This week I also got a severe bloody nose one morning where I thought I might have to go to urgent care possibly, but it ended up finally going away.  I recently bought a humidifier to help with this as I constantly have a dry nose!  The side effect that is the worst still though is brain fog and mood.  I understand that the chemo can cause depression and while I don’t feel I am depressed, I don’t feel like myself.  I am continuing to remind myself that this will be temporary and I still AM me and still SEE me.  Cancer sucks, and there is just no way around it. 

This week I also got the results back from the Genetic Testing.  When I met with the Genetic Counselor a month ago, they had gotten a family history of all cancers and decided to pursue a test of 45 different genes related to all sorts of cancers, including those for breast cancer.  The results from the test showed that I had ZERO of the 45 genes! Not one.  Talk about being puzzled.  I met with the Genetic Counselor to go over my results (although not many results to go over ha).  She mentioned that only 5-10% of all cancers are genetic, 70-80% are random and about 15-20% are a mix between genetics and environment.  The conclusion here is that this is most likely random and by chance.  However, she also mentioned that their tests are not perfect, but are better than they were ten years ago.  Maybe in 10 years, there might be another gene discovered that I have.  Given all this though, I now believe this was caused by environmental and lifestyle factors, but I will never know.    This is bittersweet news because on one hand, I am glad I don’t have any of the cancer genes, but on the other, I already have breast cancer and now the reason is more unclear to me.  But if only 5-10% of all cancers are caused by genetics, then there must be something in the water for those of us to get cancer.  Even those of us that think we live a generally healthy life, but you just never know, and life is crazy like that.

Knowing this has made me more curious than ever to understand potential causes of cancer.  While I am not blaming myself, others, my environment or my lifestyle for the reason I got cancer (because we can never prove any of that), I cannot heal in the same environment I got sick in.  I will be controlling what I can control and letting go of the rest, I must.  I cannot fully rely on the reactive toxic drugs to work 100% of the time because that is not realistic.  In this book I mentioned a while ago called “The Cancer Killers” by Dr. Charles Majors and Dr. Ben Lerner, they talk about fighting the wrong war.  That we are spending so much time and money on being reactive and not understanding or addressing the root causes of cancer in the first place.  We need to educate how chemicals, radiation, unhealthy lifestyles, stress, etc. are leading to diseases.  While I completely agree, I am also super thankful for the treatment options that are attacking the cancer and I believe small changes by eating healthy, cutting out alcohol, limiting stress, hydrating, etc, over time, can have an even bigger impact.  I am a fighter, and not letting this cancer take me over.

I know we are all hoping for a cure someday.  To rid us all of the terrible diseases out there.  Especially those of us with later stages of cancer.  This past weekend, my mom and I attended The Vranicure Bash, founded by Jacqueline Vranicar, an MBC Thriver, which works to fundraise research for Metastatic Breast Cancer, educate and bring awareness to the disease while supporting those living with it.  It was a wonderful event!  They had food, games, live music, an auction and I got to meet Jacque herself, and others who have MBC just like me in Minnesota (see attached photo).  I hear that there are cures out there, we just need people in seats to do the research and it takes 10-15 years for a drug to be approved for use.  All the proceeds from the event went to these efforts and about $45,000 was raised overall!  I added the photo with the facts from the event, but including them below because this is so important for people to know (#stage4needsmore):

·        Each year, 200,000 Americans are diagnosed with breast cancer

·        30% will develop or be diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer

·        Metastatic breast cancer (MBC) is the ONLY deadly form of breast cancer

·        Currently only 2-5% of ALL breast cancer research funding is for stage IV (MBC)

·        METAvivor is the only organization in the U.S. that exclusively funds MBC research

·        100% of the donations are used for stage IV research

There will be a Minneapolis Metsquerade Gala, benefiting METAvivor on Oct. 5th, where 100% of the all the funds will go towards MBC.  I will be going with my dad and we will be introduced to everyone, along with other MBC thrivers.  This is a chance to bring awareness to MBC and the thriver community.  We also get to dress up nice and meet others who are living this every day.  I hear from others who have attended that this is a beautiful event, but also an emotional one.  There is always someone who attends the event one year, that doesn’t make it to the event the year after. 

Another upcoming event is the American Cancer Society Making Strides Against Breast Cancer of the Twin Cities at Mall of America on Oct. 12th.  This event is indoors and starts at 7am – 9:30am.  This event is held yearly and is movement for breast cancer awareness.  I will be making T-Shirts for this event, so if you plan to attend, please email me who is coming and your T-shirt size (stacyjcaldwell22@gmail.com), by 9/20/24. 

My personal ask if you feel inclined to donate is to donate to METAvivor METAvivor - Metastatic Breast Cancer Awareness, Research and Support | METAvivor  I will not be asking for donations this year for the Breast Cancer Walk, just to walk in support of those thriving and surviving breast cancer. 

On a related note, while some of these events stress the importance of early detection, through mammograms and ultrasounds, that’s not the entire picture.  Yes, those are important for yearly screening, but even if you are screened yearly, there is still the chance the cancer can spread within a few weeks to months aggressively.  If I had had a mammogram six months ago, everything would have likely been normal.  Again, my ask is to be an advocate for your own health and if you notice something changing, no matter how small, just go get it checked out.  It could save your life. 

To end this week, there have been a lot of positives.  The weather has been beautiful here in Minnesota and I’ve been going out with my mom and friends to enjoy it.  I found a new nature trail recently near my home that I’ve been loving to walk or jog on, which brings me joy.  I ordered some cheap synthetic wigs off Amazon to try on and have fun with (definitely feeling like Moira from Schitt’s Creek!).  Meeting other women and connecting with others has been a continued highlight throughout this process.  I am so honored and grateful to meet such strong women, to be a part of a passionate community and to have loved ones by my side day in and day out.  Even though I have cancer, I have a lot to be grateful for, and that can never be taken away from me. 

Love, Stacy