Breast Cancer Vive!

Just a few quick things to share.....

- I made it through chemo #3 today with no problems so far. 3 down!! My appointment with my oncologist confirmed what the radiologist told me yesterday: the tumor is still about the same size that it was and is hard to measure, but the lymph nodes are definitely looking better (smaller and healthier).  He confirmed that this is a good indication that the chemo is working and that I should be happy about this.  All of my labs were normal, too.  So as far as I know, everything will still continue to progress as planned.

- I went to my first breast cancer support group tonight, called "Breast Cancer Vive!"   It was wonderful.  It's a 12 week session run by two cancer therapists, one of them whom I have already been regularly seeing one-on-one.  There are 4 women in the group (including me) and 2 of the others are close to my age with young children and careers.  It was so interesting hearing each of their stories and seeing their very similar reactions.  One of them has a situation that has some striking similarities to mine (she was diagnosed about 2 days before me) and the other is still in the phase where she is going through tests and learning more about her cancer (and I know how stressful that is - so I'm hoping I can help her through that a little bit).  Tonight we really just told our stories and practiced some relaxation techniques, but each week is focused on a different life-skills topic (so not just sharing stories) which I think will be very useful.  Plus, those of you who know me know how much I love not only receiving support but also being able to provide some - so this sounds like it will be a really good outlet.  The group is at the hospital further away from my house, but luckily our babysitter was able to help out last-minute because Ed needed to be at a concert at school and it was better for me to not go up there alone on a chemo day (my mom-in-law didn't mind waiting there for me, especially since we indulged my hamburger craving by going to 5 Guys before the session!!) . So all in all, a very positive addition to my routine.

Not much else, just hoping I manage my symptoms well over the next few days.  They've given me some additional anti-nausea meds which will hopefully help keep that in control better this time.  I'm looking forward to Colin's daycare holiday show tomorrow (he'll be the youngest child in the show, I think - so cute!) and hopefully a quiet remainder of the week!