Day 1 and 2 of Treatment

Day 1: My first task on this day was to go get an MRI.  Apparently I have boney protrusions on two of my vertebrae that are normal, but the oncologist wanted to make completely sure they were normal before the beginning of the Chemo treatments.  When we got the results that they were normal, he was able to say with certainty that I have Stage 3 Inflammatory Breast Cancer.  I know it sounds funny, but I praise God that He answered our prayers for Stage 3.  There is a good chance that I will be able, at the end of this, to say that I am cancer free.  That wouldn't have been an option with Stage 4.  The oncologist came and talked to me about the cancer and the treatments and was available for any more questions me or my family had come up with.  I am doing a dose dense chemotherapy treatment so I'll do 8 total chemo treatments. I'll do one every two weeks.  I may stop them at some point to do the mastectomy, but then they will resume until I have completed all 8.  After the mastectomy and chemo, I will undergo radiation therapy.  When I get the all clear (hopefully in about 6 months), I will be able to proceed with reconstructive surgery.  A lot of people have asked me if I have to get a bi-lateral mastectomy.  I don't have to, but I am going to choose to.  I don't want to take the chance that I will ever have to go through this again!  They started the treatment by giving me pretreament drugs.  They gave me steroids, anti-nausea medication and anti-anxiety medication.  While they gave me that, they brought in a bunch of literature for me to read about the types of chemo that had been chosen and possible or probable side effects.  When all that was done, they hooked me up to the first chemo medication.  All in all, it was pretty uneventful.  I had the pleasure of watching the Tide put a beat-down on the Bulldogs during the SEC Championship while I laid in the bed.  I have to say the win meant alot to me.  I was proud of my team!  I will admit I had a little bit of a meltdown before they hung the chemo medications.  This is all very overwhelming and I'm scared of how I'm going to feel for the next 16 weeks.  I don't want to get an infection when my cell counts are down.  It's all a little scary and I've been bombarded by so many possible complications that my mind feels like it's going to explode.  I have to say that the nurses were so attentive and compassionate!  The constant barrage of encouraging messages I've received over the last few days have meant more to me that I can possibly describe!!!!!  The prayers can literally be felt deep in my soul!  I feel surrounded by love and support and that is going to make all the difference in this fight!
Day 2:  I woke up around midnight and felt a little nausea, but I called the nurse and she gave me some medicine and I went right back to sleep.  I woke up feeling pretty fine. I don't feel awful.  I just feel like you feel the day after you have a really bad sickness, you know, a stomach flu or something.  I just feel drained.  I can get up and do some stuff, but I get tired and lightheaded really fast after I do really simple things.  The doctor came in and asked how I felt and gave me the go-ahead to GO HOME!!!!  I can't say how good it feels to be home.  I just feel less sick somehow to be at my house with my stuff and my family all together.  It has been really hard for me and David to be separated from Ashlyn all this time.  We are so grateful that my mother-in-law stepped in to care for her all this time, but we've missed her so much!!!  David's brother and his wife and one of Ashlyn's cousins came to visit us and brought lunch.  One of my sweet, very good friends brought us dinner.  It is so nice to not have to worry about going to the grocery store and getting up to cook right now! :) Tomorrow I have a busy day!  I have to go to the outpatient cancer center to get a Neulasta shot.  Because the of the dose dense therapy, they will automatically give the shot a couple days after my treatments.  I'm praying really hard that the side-effects of it won't be super pronounced.  I've heard pretty yucky stories about it, but it's necessary to help prevent me from getting infections while my cell counts are down.  I will also be going to get a hairpiece.  Some people can sport a bald head with pride, but I don't think I'm one of those people so I'm going to try to find something that looks natural.  I am also planning to talk with work about what I can do that will work for them.  They have been so incredibly supportive!!  I am so blessed!!!
From the very beginning, when I knew something was wrong, but I didn't know what it was...THIS SONG started playing over and over again in my head.  I have taken it a reminder for what the Lord requires of us.  It's easy to praise Him when everything is going great and easy, but He commands us to Praise Him in the Storm!  I have felt His presence so clearly through all of this!  We have been able to pinpoint things that He's done to position me to be in the right place at the right time in the right state of mind with the right people, so I can't even imagine what we just can't see that He's orchestrated behind the scenes.  I know He has a plan and a purpose for this hardship.  Thank you all again, from the bottom of my heart for the love, prayers and support.  I genuinely appreciate it!