Hi Friends! 

It's been a while since my last post. Overall, I am doing really well mentally. I have adjusted to my retired-teacher life much more easily than I expected. It's really nice having less stress and moving at a little slower pace. I enjoy working at the spa about three days per week and tutoring a couple students weekly. It's been such a blast having time during the week to walk with friends and to be more present for my girls. Then, a week ago, we adopted a puppy! Kaya is an adorable three-month-old husky that we rescued from California. She is fun, loving, and so much work! However, the time was right - I have time to train her, am currently healthy, and our other dog is twelve. I've posted a few pictures of her. Truly, I am kind of living my best life. I am enjoying each and every day for what it has to offer.

As for my health, things are good, but it has definitely been an up and down past six or so weeks. For the most part, I am tolerating my meds well. However, I think they take me pretty close to my threshold, so if anything extra happens, my body definitely isn't happy.

About six weeks ago, I received my first infusion of a drug that will increase my bone density since I'll need that with cancer having gone to my bones (spine). I will receive this every three months. The side effects of this drug, Zometa, can be harsh in some people, and my body decided to get about every side effect there is. I had bone pain, body aches, chills, a high fever, and a piercing headache that lasted for about a week. It probably didn't help that I got my flu shot that day as well and was in the middle of my chemo cycle. After recovering for about a week, I had to get my shingles vaccination and then four days after that, my Covid vaccination. My doctor didn't want me to wait on these since I am immunocompromised. I tolerated them but they definitely wiped me out.

Then came the craziest of days. The day after my Covid vaccine, my oncology nurse called me to tell me that she was concerned about my glucose score from a blood sample they had taken a day before. Apparently it was so low, I should have been in a coma. After instructing me to talk with my PCP nurse, who also confirmed I should be in a coma and her talking to an ER doctor, I was told to go to urgent care immediately if I had any symptoms. Later that day, I wasn't feeling well (probably due to the recent Covid vaccine and the thousand other drugs and vaccines my body had encountered), so I was told to go to urgent care to get retested. The good news was, my glucose was normal. No coma (obviously) and no diabetes (one suggestion for the low score) - it was probably just a faulty test. However, because I said that I was feeling light headed, they gave me an EKG. The doctor came back and asked me a ton of questions. She then informed me that there is something wrong with my heart and was worried that I had suffered a heart attack that day. She wanted to test for the protein marker, troponin, to see. It turns out that I also didn't have a heart attack, but I do have a left bundle branch blockage on my heart (which can come on for a few reasons, one being a heart attack). It is a problem with the electrical system of the heart and causes it to circulate blood less efficiently. I was instructed to see my PCP the next day. She consulted with cardiology, and now they want to also get an echocardiogram and do a drug-induced stress test on my heart. Those tests will happen next week. The treatment for this can range from nothing to putting in a pacemaker. Apparently, one of the cancer drugs I take, Letrizole, can cause heart damage, so they want to look into that. However, my oncologist felt that this heart problem probably occurred before I started taking the drug. I hope the tests will give us more answers. The good news is, I have no symptoms and since working out isn't a problem, I am hoping it won't be that big of a deal. I'm not going to lie though. Being told in one day that you should be in a coma, might be diabetic, might have had a heart attack, and now have a heart condition on top of feeling crappy from drugs you have to take since you have metastatic cancer can be a bit mind blowing. 

I'm including a link to a short article about metastatic breast cancer that I found very helpful. Sometimes, it's kind of hard to explain since metastatic breast cancer looks quite a bit different than non-metastatic breast cancer. At any rate, it resonated with me. What I Wish People Knew About Metastatic Breast Cancer


Finally, on an incredibly positive note, I got a new PET scan last week. I met with my oncologist yesterday and everything still looks great. There is still no evidence detected of a new (or old) cancer mass. Another three months down. Phew! My meds truly are working. For that, I feel so grateful.