Chemo, Round Two, ding, ding, ding. Done!

My week went like this:

Thursday riding beautiful Fall trails in Park City with one of my favorite gals:

Friday sitting in the infusion room:

Friday evening: the post-infusion crash.  AKA: kitty-cuddle time.  

Friday (infusion day) started off less than ideal.  Shannon had returned from Interbike, a cycling tradeshow, late Thursday night.  He was whipped.  I was to be at the hospital at 9:20 AM for labs and IV placement and I wanted, actually NEEDED, to ride my bike in to start the day off right.  Unfortunately, with all the bikes I have, none were functioning very well.  My dualie's front brakes were toast, Shannon had schleped some parts off my race bike so it didn't even have brakes, which left me with my townie, road bike, or cross bike.  I figured I'd take my cross bike as it would still allow a little bit of dirt therapy on the Shoreline.  Unfortunately, halfway to Huntsman, my rear derailleur cable broke and I was stuck in my hardest gear.  I single-speeded it on the road the rest of the way and arrived a tad bit grumpy.  Chemo and broken bikes on the same day don't mix well with me!  Oh well, all is good now.  My bikes are being worked on as I type and should be up and running beautifully by the time I am ready for a spin!

Infusion day was uneventful.  This is always a good thing.  The IV nurse easily hit a vein-phew I made it through chemo without requiring a port!-, labs were drawn, IV was placed, and I was on my way to meet with my medical oncologist.

Lab results came back sufficient for me to proceed with treatment:

Blood Counts	Target Ranges	Chemo#1	Chemo#2	Chemo#3	Chemo#4
WBC	4-8	4.18	3.43	3.17	3.23
Lymphocytes	>1 in treatment	2.5	1.6	1.3	1.0
Neutrophils	>1 in treatment	2.5	1.6	1.4	1.8
Monocytes	<.56	.3	.4	.4	.3
Eosinophils	<.24	0	0	0	0
RBC count	3.9-4.5	3.94	4.18	4.14	3.9
Mean Corpuscle Volume	<98 in treatment	94.6	92.2	93.6	92.8
Platelets	150-300	168	276	262	230
Protein Status
Hemoglobin	13-14	12.9	13.6	13	12.6
Albumin	4-5	4.0	4.3	4.4	4.5
Total Protein	>6.6 in treatment	6.6	7.1	7.2	7.1
Electrolyte Balance
Sodium	140-144	140	138	141	139
Potassium	4-4.5	3.5	3.4	3.6	3.6
Chloride	100-106	108	104	106	104
Kidney Health
BUN	13-18	15	9	11	10
Creatinine	.7-1.1	.63	.72	.65	.62
Calcium	9.2-10.1	8.8	9.1	9.5	9.5
Oxidation
RBC Distribution Width	<13	13	13.2	13.8	14.7

My interpretation:  My WBC count and Neutrophils went up.  Yeah!  Actually, my Neutrophils are the highest they have been since my first treatment.  This is great news.  My oncologist attributes this to the extra three days between infusion #3 and #4.  I'm sure this helped, but I am also convinced that my nutritional support was a factor as well.  As per my Nutritionist's recommendation, I increased my Astralagus intake, focused on increased Vitamin C through food (think Red peppers, kale, broccoli, strawberries), and made an organic, grass-fed, bone broth stock that I used for soups and just poured over rice and quinoa dishes.  Regardless, WBC counts are good, with the exception of lymphocytes which seem to be down a bit.  Not sure what to think about that one.... Additionally, my RBC, hematocrit, and hemoglobin are all down a bit as well.  Not surprising as I have reached the end of my chemo treatment, my body has been through a ton, and perhaps it is in need of a bit of a rest.  Regardless, I will be working to increase these values as well.  I am already using a Whey protein supplement and Chorella which both help support RBCs, but will be adding beets to my RBC boosting regimen!  Any yummy, simple, and of course healthy beet recipes are appreciated.  I also noted on my labs that my RBC Distribution Width has been slowly creeping up.  As far as I know, this is indicative of oxidative stress on my body.  Well duh, I just finished four hard-core (as everyone keeps reminding me and I try to ignore) chemo treatments.

So now I am done with chemo.  I AM DONE WITH CHEMO!!!!  Back in 2011, I considered my final day of chemo the day that I finished cancer treatment; it was a day to celebrate.  While completing chemo for a second time is definitely worth celebrating, I still have a long journey ahead.

October 1st I meet with radiation oncology to come up with a final radiation plan and to get measured in preparation for treatment.  October 11th, I will have an echocardiogram to see the (hopefully) lack of damage to my heart from chemo.  The same day I will have labs drawn for final clearance to start radiation.  I am roughly anticipating starting radiation on October 14th.

Over the past two years I have been diagnosed with cancer twice, had five surgeries, two rounds of chemo, am about to start radiation, and have no clear idea of when my cancer treatment will ever, if ever be done.

That said, I am still optimistic for the future and I found this gem of a research article that gives me additional hope.  It is well documented that breast cancer treatment causes weight gain, muscle loss, and osteoporosis, not exactly performance enhancing for a wannabe elite cyclist!  What a downer!  However researchers at Oregon Health and Science University found that women who underwent treatment for breast cancer and participated in a progressive weight training program maintained lumbar spine and total hip bone density!!!  The control group participated in a twice weekly flexibility program  and significant BMD (bone mass density) was lost in this group.  Additionally, women on Aromatase inhibitors (yep, that will most likely be me), gained more bone-free lean mass than women who were not.  Okay, just like I don't exactly fit the demographic of women with breast cancer, I don't exactly fit the demographic of women studied in this group (mean age 60, BMI-29, and body fat %~40%)  Regardless, it still gives me hope.  Hope is good!  The study can be found here:  Breast Cancer Res Treat. 2011 Jun; 127 (2): 447-56.

Weekly workouts and photos can be found here and here!