It is this you-and-I together factor that gives you confidence to face the days to come!

It's Thursday after my treatment and I am feeling a lot better than the first treatment there are still a few bumps - but I am confident I can get over them.  I actually worked for a while yesterday - GOD is good!  Today I am home, a little dizzy and nauseated but I can do this!  I WILL TAKE BEING DIZZY ALL DAY OVER BEING SICK.  I read every day a book called Jesus Calling and Tuesday this week it has said transfer my burdens - I have had a much better few days!!! 

My doctors my decided to not give me the White Blood count booster shot called Nulasta (sp), due to my reaction last time....the rash was a sign, the  doctors were worried next time the reaction could be worse...so these last 2 AC treatments will be once every 3 weeks, so at least I will have alittle more normalcy until the next one (treatment date being July 22nd).  My system has a little more time to rebuild and the shots are not required with the 3 week chemo.   After these 2 last AC treatments I will start a every week Taxol chemo for 12 weeks.

I still am so very thankful for each of you and all your kind gestures, the gift cards, the money, the cards, the meals and most of all your prayers!  My family and I have been truly humbled by the ones who have gone out of their ways to help out!  Thank you from the bottom of our hearts!!! 

Love - Nikki 

There will be bumps in the road!

Well I have to say - I did not expect what the first round of chemo had in store for me so here's goes......I got my port on Monday - Tuesday (June 17th) - first treatment I was all good until that evening DIZZINESS jumped on me!   On Wednesday I had to get a booster shot for my WBC  (initials for - white blood cells) this was at UNC.  On Thursday I wake up with some kind of horrible rash, if your friend with me on FB you saw it (my boss said IT LOOKED ANGRY - after Benadryl looked better) and she was right.  Spend most of my day at the UNC clinic to figure this one out.  Still no answer at 5 that day, left came home felt like POO!  ON Friday I got up took meds and got same rash again - off we went to meet a new team of doctors (Allergy/Immunology specialists) of course I had way to many different meds in my system they at that point had no clue what it could be either.  So we scheduled an apt for the next week (Thursday).  So Friday was pretty decent, I was still dizzy and a lot nauseated but I was taking lots of meds.  Saturday rolls around WE are AT A totally different place - I was in bed all day and not responding to people when spoke to - I felt very out of touch with the world.  Let me just say I was not expecting this type of comatose!   I slept all day Saturday and people came by, prayers with me,  but I have no memory of Saturday at all.  On Sunday - the morning time I felt ok, then about lunch time I crawled back upstairs and back in bed, to where I stayed between the bathroom floor and the bed, in bed is where I stayed all day and night.  With my husband doing great at what he was doing, I just really tried to sleep this funk off.  He calls the on call doctor and asked lots of questions, she calls me in yet another medicine and he sits me down and we chat, I sleep on and off the rest of the night.  On Monday I am having some severe issues that need to be addressed with the doctor so we call, she immediately tells me I should come in - we ask more questions and decide to stay home and try to fix the problem I am having.  I need to eat and hydrate to stay home.  Being is lots of pain we tried lots of things and some worked some not.  Tuesday was a better day - still have tummy problems and dizziness - I stayed put at home again.  We are now to Wednesday and I am feeling better or prolly the best yet.  I had calls and questions with the doctors and stayed home to recoop another day.   Today brought me a Chapel Hill appt for an allergy challenge ( which btw we don't know anything) stayed there for 3 hrs.,  no rash at all!! This afternoon I went to my yearly OBGYN and had a checkup and came home feeling pretty good.   So tomorrow will be going to work, I have got to get some normalcy back.  I didn't expect CHEMO to do this to me - NOT ME!!!  I have to dig down really deep and get my mind right for the 2nd round.  Just please know that I need your prayers and positive thoughts.  I have struggled the most with seeing Gracee sad (she has been here a lot) - my heart breaks for her to see this and I know this has to be my drive to be better.  I am praying for this right now! 

Again - I want to thank you all for everything- I have had a lot of people ask WHAT CAN WE DO- I am just gotta give ideas - dinners are great if you cook I love homecooking - if you don't gift certificates (Mcdonalds, Blue Ribbon, Zaxbys, Wendy's, Hibachi) are great too. - Christina has set up a calendar sign up for food and NEEDS.  I need those people to get my girls away from here on my BAD DAYS (which seem to be treatment week FRI-SUN) ( find a way to get me I will make it work).    Thank you all for everything!!!!  I will post again in the next few days!!!!     

1 Down 19 to Go

Chemo Day 1

A Woman with a Heart of Gold

Our friend Britta started this fundraiser to help Nikki out with whatever she needed during this process.  She is SO close to her goal to be able to give Nikki a check.  If you are able, big or small, to donate please help out.  Bills are already adding up, Nikki is wanting to purchase a wig soon, and parking/gas back and forth to the doctors is draining.  Thanks to those who have already donated and those that will!

Click here to go to the fund account

 

How Can I Help???

Lots of you are asking how you can help Nikki and her family during this time.  I have set up the Care Calendar and a lot of you signed up during the first surgery to help with the things that we knew she needed help with.  I will be working on updating that to cover the weeks of Chemo.  She will start chemo on June 17th.  Please just remember that she might not be up for visitors that first week as we don't know how she is going to feel.   I am also including some flyers here, that were given to her at the doctor, that give ideas on things that we can all do to "HELP" Nikki.

 

 

 

Thinking of the Future and Not the NOW!

It's been a few tough weeks for me with alot of ups and downs! the test I referred to in an earlier post oncotype   I learned on May the 13th that I would need to start Chemotherapy to lower my risk significantly of this cancer coming back.  Needless to say not the best thing I have heard in a while - I knew that this was a possibly but a girl can only hope  RIGHT?    I will start chemo on the June 17th - I will do 4 treatments of TC chemotherapy (Adriamycin and Cytoxan) every other week then I will have 12 weeks of Taxol this will be weekly.  So yes 20 weeks of chemo is what I will be facing!  So with all this being said and being down - my boss said a phrase to me last week while I was struggling - Nikki you have to think of the future not the now - this is where my title of this post came from, it is so very true - the future is what I will focus on.    I will do my very best to stay positive and fight this to the very end.  The appointments and the doctor visits are very frequent and sometimes its alot to keep up with but I am doing pretty well, not missed anything yet :) .    

I again want to thank you ALL for the well wishes, the cards, the texts, emails, the fundraisers and all your thoughts and PRAYERS!    All of these and my family is what keeps this girl going, I may hit a few bumps in the road, but I will just keep jumping them a move on!  God is great and I know I am a fighter!  I got THIS!!!  I will update soon!!!