Daisypath Anniversary tickers

Daisypath Anniversary tickers

Saturday, February 6, 2010

Scan-Scan

Yes, sometimes all this feels like some kind of crazy dance.

Lately (and into the immediate future), it's the scan-scan.

Thank you, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec,
for this image that somehow captures both the French can-can,
and how I feel about all the scans I've had lately.

I still have a couple of tests coming up, but here's the results from what I've had so far:

DXA scan results (DXA measures mineral bone density.  I'm now on a daily estrogen-blocking pill that can affect bone density, and of course chemo can also alter bone density.  The DXA was to establish the baseline as I start the estrogen-blocking pill): normal, normal, normal!  That's the good news.

Muga scan results (muga measures the percentage of blood the left ventricle is pumping out into the body; 50% and above is normal.  Below 50% is not good.  They monitor this for heart damage from chemo, radiation, and Herceptin):  I went from 46% three weeks ago to 45.3% this week.   That's not good news.  I'm officially off Herceptin although I was supposed to have it until June or July.  I'm comfortable with that -- one, I certainly don't want any more heart damage. What I have now has tossed me back down in the trenches, so that's quite enough, thank you.  And two, there's some research that shows that one year on Herceptin may not be necessary, that 13 or as few as 9 weeks may be just as effective as one year.  I've had 26 weeks.

My oncologist still feels the damage is from the aftermath of Adriamycin (which, granted, is part of what saved my life, but it's one nasty treatment) and Herceptin and thinks my heart will improve; in the meantime, I'm seeing a cardiologist this week.  Hopefully he'll have some good news for me in terms of recovery.  I'm so blasted tired all the time, I can barely function, and I hate it.  This fatigue is for the birds.

For now I've been ordered to stay away from aerobic exercise or any strenuous activity.  I can walk, gently, but that's about it.

Because it wouldn't be much fun to get all through chemo and all the lovely stuff related to that, just to drop dead from a heart attack.

I and my heart appreciate all your thoughts, energy, and prayers. 

Stay tuned.   Still happy-dancin', but not strenously :)

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