Out in public

I packed up my compromised immune system and ventured out to a meeting for work yesterday. It's kind of funny because I usually complain about having to travel to meetings and stay overnight, yet as soon as I was unable to go to any meetings I started feeling deprived of the interaction and company of my co-workers. I rationalized that this would be a fairly small group and my risk of getting sick from them couldn't be worse than say, going shopping at Walmart. Of course, as soon as I arrived I started hearing about all the nasty flu bugs that are going around, but no one there seemed to be obviously sick, so I'm optimistic that I will survive the trip. It was nice to be there, to see my colleagues, and to feel like things will indeed return to some semblance of normalcy soon.

Now I'm back home and in a tag team with Rob, he is gone for his work for a couple of days. The rest of this week should be interesting too, since tomorrow I will go see the genetic counselor to find out the results of my BRCA gene test. I'm trying to be prepared for either result. Even though the odds are that I don't have the bad genes, the shock and horror of my original diagnosis was so much worse because I was convinced that I couldn't possibly have cancer. So I want to be open to the idea that I might have the bad genes, or I might not, tomorrow we will know.

I'm also anxiously awaiting my blood work on Friday. On my last blood test my liver enzymes were pretty high. The nurse-practitioner who I saw before treatment said nothing was too far out of line, but my Naturopath was very concerned when she saw my labs since one of the liver enzymes was almost 6 times the normal level. Then, after my second round of Taxol, I noticed that my urine was really dark for almost a week after the infusion. I asked Dr. Google about that symptom tonight I found that it is a sign of liver problems as well, and on several of the Taxol information pages that I looked at this is listed as a serious problem where you should notify your doctor right away. But when I looked at the information sheet they gave me to bring home, it isn't mentioned at all. So I plan to give the clinic a call tomorrow and see how my blood looks on Friday.

Aside from this troubling problem, I still feel much better than during the AC part of chemo. Aside from some joint pain that lasts for a few days and sinus headaches that seem to be coming up regularly, I feel pretty close to normal. Oh, and I'm also tired and having hot flashes, but other than that...it's all good! Looks like I'll have more to post this week - stay tuned!