Treatment 10

Let’s see where to begin.. here’s a little background on my liver enzymes. When running my labs there are three levels they review my bilirubin, ALT and AST. My bilirubin level last week was 0.8 and you want that to be around 0.3-1.2. My ALT was 275 and you want that between 0-34. My AST was 106 and you want that between 0-34 as well. My body typically sits at 1..-1.3 when they check my bilirubin, this data goes back to 2012. We went ahead last week and pushed through with treatment to see how my body responded to treatment since my bilirubin was (finally) within normal range even though the other two markers were almost 10x normal amounts. This week my doctor confirmed I do have Gilbert’s disease (again, completely benign but there are chemo medications I cannot take because of this) and again this week my bilirubin was in normal range and my other two markers were down a lot as well. Below is a picture of what my levels were like last week.

I don’t know if this is related to my diet changes or if we were just lucky but I am very happy that we were able to continue treatment with no issue. With that being said, today was cycle 4 day 1 aka round 10. Technically we are halfway because I’m doing 20 weeks but I only have 6 treatments left in total.

This week I scheduled my new scans to see how my tumors are reacting to the chemo as well as my appointment with the breast surgeon. They aren’t for another month but I am already gathering a list of questions for them to answer. Not only about what type of surgery either mastectomy bilaterally or unilateral and if I am a candidate for DIEP flap surgery or not versus getting plastics. DIEP flap surgery is when the surgeon removes a flap of skin, fat, and blood vessels from the lower abdomen, preserving the abdominal muscles. It’s essentially a tummy tuck so I would have more incisions to heal from. There are pros and cons to both I am just adamant that I never have to do any of this again.

I want to say a huge thank you to every single person who has sent food, notes of encouragement, texts, calls and care packages to me. If you didn’t get a personal thank you please know that I received the item you sent me but there was nothing included for me to know who sent it. I’ve got two freezers absolutely full of food and I appreciate it so much.

I still feel pretty good, my new medication is definitely doing its job. My best days are Thursdays and Fridays as the pre-meds are still in my system then I start to feel more like my normal self by midday Saturday. It’s still surreal that I understand things that I never even thought twice about. Now I talk about doctors appointments, labs, I understand the nurses and I am able to ask questions about my treatment. As we get closer to starting phase 2 in two weeks my anxiety is going up. I trust my care team but any change makes me incredibly anxious. My doctor tried her best to calm my fears about the new drugs and about my scans but my brain will do what my brain wants and until I know exactly what will happen I’m going to worry about it.

“The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want
He leads me by still waters ’til my fears are gone
Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death
Oh, I know You are with me, my Father, my friend
Your goodness and mercy will follow me all of my days
I know by Your still waters, I’m safe” – Still Waters by Leanna Crawford