Chemo # 3/ GO STARS!

Yesterday was Chemo number three.... and tonight was the Stars watch party in my honor!!! The amazing gals from the Stars foundation (I used to work for the foundation) put together this watch party for me- they auctioned off autographed game used sticks wrapped with pink tape and autographed pucks and will donate all the proceeds to my medical fund. I'm so thankful for my Stars family and the Stars fans and all they have done to help and support me!! The Stars won their third game in a row tonight and went three for three on this last road trip! This makes my work life and my home life beautiful. Fans were out in full force tonight wearing their pink for me, and I just got home from post-hockey game dancing with my fabulous friends and mega-dancer-mom!! What a fun night. Bear with me as I post about chemo after dancing all night, wearing a stuffed Stars monkey on my back, and maybe imbibing just a bit :)  I even invited my new friend Angeline who I met on Monday (I met her because I crashed into her car...) and she came and had fun with us! She's such an angel. Cancer can't keep me from having fun! (Watch party pics below.)

Anywho, here's the report from yesterday. First I went in for blood work. It came back all good... counts were where they needed to be, and I was cleared for chemo. Then I met with my doctor and nurse. First she told me the news that my latest test for HER2 had come back negative. So I am in fact "Triple Negative", and I won't need Herceptin.  I don't really know whether to be excited or not, but I do know that means that my treatments will stay on the original 8 treatment plan, and that I don't have to take Herceptin for a whole year after the initial treatments are done. The one thing I liked about the idea of Herceptin is that it was supposed to help a lot with keeping recurrence away. BUT my amazing doctor is on the cutting edge of all kinds of breast cancer drugs; she eats, sleeps, and breathes breast cancer and works really hard for her patients, and she has a good drug in mind for me called Carboplatin. (Doesn't that sound like some sort of fish bait?) Anyways, she is going to a breast cancer conference in San Antonio the first week of December and will find out much more information based on the results of many clinical studies that have recently been completed to test Carboplatin's effects on Triple Negative breast cancer. Carboplatin is known to increase the PCR, or Pathological Complete Response rate in Triple Negative breast cancer patients. AKA- greater chances that cancer is going to be gone for good! I'm definitely on board with Carboplatin. If I get that it will start on my 2nd Taxol treatment, or my 6th overall treatment. I feel like I'm in really good hands and trust my doctor 100% on this!

Chemo Time 

So after I got the "HER2 not positive" report---- we proceeded with my exam. Once again, the doctors were very, very pleased!!! I have a hard time finding the tumor now and so did they! It's definitely still there, but again it has shrunk significantly. Something like 7.2x6 cm last visit, and 3.2x1 cm this visit. (And that was the doctor even fudging up a little bit because the first measurement was almost comical..... my nurse was laughing at the results!)  Isn't that amazing?!? These good reports have made me feel so much better about my prognosis and as my doctor said yesterday, "I'm kicking cancer butt!" Cheers to that!!

We talked a little about surgery which looks like it will be in February- (NHL olympic break so I'll have a break from work and I'll have my boyfriend to myself... silver linings!) Surgery will be a whole 'nother story so I'm just focusing on taking all my pills, exercising, staying positive, and letting the chemo kick this uninvited cancer out of my body. So all is well! Until next time!! XOXO

Julie

Molly and me at the Stars watch party

Molly, Callie, and I-- they won a stick and a jersey!!! 

This is my new friend Angeline, we met when I crashed into her car on Monday. :)