Special effects from chemo

There have been a few new developments in my treatment plan and also with some new side effects from said treatment. Let's first start with some side effects I have been experiencing. I first noticed the palms of my hands and soles of my feet darkening about 5 days ago then a few days ago I noticed my tongue turning black!!!!! I mean literally going from pink to black, it looks really weird. see

This is a side effect from the drug Cytoxan which is a chemo therapy drug. These side effects will go away once treatment is complete. Another side effect is hair loss, which I am now experiencing. My hair is pretty thick, curly and kinky. This is what came out today

This is what my hair looks like now.

I'm not sure if any more will come out or if it all will fall out, in any event it is what it is. I thank God that everything that is happening is just for a season and shall pass. John 11:4

⁴ When Jesus heard that, He said, “This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God may be glorified through it.”

The other development that is going on with my treatment phase is searching for better or more efficient drugs to treat my particular type of breast cancer. When I had my surgery The Pathologist that I work with asked me if I would be interested in sending a sample of my tissue to Champions oncology http://www.championsoncology.com/. At the time I didn't know who they were so I needed more info. You can check the link for a more in depth explanation but in short they work with patients and their oncologist by testing other drugs on the patients tumor to see what will work best for the patient. The process starts with what's called tumor grafting or growing your tumor by implanting your tumor and waiting for it to grow. Once your tumor grows different drugs can be used to see what specific drug or combination of drugs works best for your unique tumor. My tumor graft has grown in an amazingly fast time and testing can be done. All of this is great and it definitely is not covered by insurance. When I spoke with them they explained this to me and I asked about cost and when they told me I knew in my heart that if this is God's will he WILL make a way. My family and I started planning how we would come up with the fee which was negotiated down to $10,000. We thought about different fundraisers and before we even did anything they called me and said that someone donated $7,000 towards the testing!!!!! Then my mom called me and said she was telling her Pastor and then we got another $1,000. GOD'S WILL BE DONE!!!! I am praising God because this is an awesome breakthrough for me and mere words can't explain my JOY!!!!!! If you need a miracle know that God is still in the miracle making business..

Peace, Love and Blessings

2 down and 2 to go!

Hooray for me! I got 1 drain tube on each side removed. So that's 2 down and 2 to go, I'm excited because that's one step closer to being tube free. So I wanted to be completely tube free this week but I'll Keep calm and keep fighting, cause I'm here to win this.

Peace, Love and Blessings

Coming home after surgery

I had surgery on September 18th in the morning and had bilateral mastectomies.

This photo was the morning before surgery. I had my family with me and I believe that makes a world of difference. My surgical team was awesome everyone worked together to obtain the best possible outcome for me. Before I was rolled into surgery there was group prayer so that everything would go according to God's plan. Here is a link to the video of me the morning after I had the mastectomies done,

My next step is my follow up appointment on Monday with my plastic surgeon and the breast surgeon. I haven't had the pathology report yet but at this point I am focusing on the physical healing of my body. Honestly the pain was a lot to deal with in the beginning but once they figure out what works for you it makes things tolerable. So far it's been 3 days since surgery and the only thing I can say is that I nap more that I've ever napped but that is due to the pain meds. I did not however get a pain pump. Some people after this type of surgery receive a pump for pain meds but I received pills. I mean I already have enough drains coming out of my body 4 to be exact 2 on each side.
Every 12 hours I empty them and measure the output and chart it for my plastic surgeon.
Throughout all of this my daughter has been wonderful. I explained it to her in a manner in which she could understand and she said "so mommy you're going to have boo boos on your boobies and I can't squish my face on them?' I said yes that's right baby. She then said that's ok cause boo boos get better. I love her to pieces.

One thing I know for sure is that you need a great support team to help with all of your needs. We as women sometimes don't realize how much we do at home but I am blessed to have a great support team to keep my home rolling at it's normal pace. My daughter has plenty of things to keep her occupied between cousins and friends by the time it's bath time she's tuckered out. I also know that it is the grace of God that keeps everything well.

Peace, love and blessings.

Lumpectomy vs Mastectomy

After getting the diagnosis there are some decisions to be made. What can I do to fix this situation in my life? that was a question that I immediately asked myself. I prayed and asked God to guide me in the right direction so that whatever decision I came to would be the best for my family. My husband and I talked about it and discussed my options. We had 2 choices:

1.  lumpectomy
2. Mastectomy 

With the lumpectomy you remove the tumor and some surrounding breast tissue so that the margins could be checked to make sure that all of the cancer cells were removed. Click the following link to get more information regarding a lumpectomy. http://ww5.komen.org/BreastCancer/Lumpectomy.html With the mastectomy you remove all of the breast tissue and if desired have reconstructive surgery. Click the following link to get more information regarding a mastectomy.http://ww5.komen.org/BreastCancer/Mastectomy.html With this information my husband asked me what I wanted and what I felt most comfortable with. I told him that I wanted a mastectomy, actually a bilateral (double) mastectomy because I wanted to lessen my chances of recurrence and it's not like I'm losing my womanhood. He completely agreed with my choice to have a bilateral mastectomy with reconstructive surgery.
So at the moment I am waiting on my surgery date so that we can move forward with getting the tumor out of my body and on the road to recovery. I don't expect that recovery will be a piece of cake but I am prepared for this battle for I intend to win this War. Psalm 140:7

O GOD the Lord, the strength of my salvation, You have covered my head in the day of battle.

In the meantime I am making preparations for my recovery time. I won't be able to cook for my family so I plan on making some freezer meals that my hubby, mom or mother-in-law can just heat it up and voila homemade goodness to keep us going. Also planning things for my darling daughter to do until I am physically able to interact and play again.
I know that making this type of decision can be a struggle for some and that it's a decision that you don't have months to make. Knowing that whatever your decision is it's the right one for you and your family makes it easier. I did find a few websites that were helpful for giving me a better understanding of what's going on. I'll list them here.

• http://www.breastcancer.org/
• http://www.cancer.org/acs/groups/cid/documents/webcontent/003284-pdf.pdf This is a list of questions you should ask your doctor if you are diagnosed with breast cancer.
• http://www.cancer.org/cancer/breastcancer/detailedguide/breast-cancer-diagnosis

I hope this information can help someone or if you know someone that this can help feel free to share. I'll be back when I have a surgery date and to talk about my treatment plan.

Peace, Love and Blessings
Caula