Valerie finished Chemo Round 5 a week ago, January 28th.  Round 4 brought some excruciating bone pain, so she was prepared for that this time.  Luckily, she bounced back much more quickly this time and didn’t have half as much of the pain as she did before.    

She continues with hormone/chemotherapy treatments every 3 weeks.  This is still the 2 hormone therapies of Perjeta and Herceptin.  As far as chemo, this is her second round without the Carboplatin, which has been replaced with a full dose of Taxol, now that her liver is healthy enough to process it.  She did experience another reaction to treatment (specifically the Perjeta) when it was first introduced this round.  Rounds 2 and 3 brought some really scary reactions. Rounds 4 and 5 they took precautions to try and avoid it with additional pre-medications, oxygen, and slowing the initial speed of the IVs so they’ve become less threatening and severe. 

They have introduced a new series of injections called Xgeva that basically takes calcium from her blood and brings it to her bones, helping her bones with strength. 

The plan for now is repeat scans after round 7 of chemo, which will be in March. 

Continue the thoughts, prayers, positivity. Her spirits continue to be exceptionally high for the most part, which gives her incredible strength on this journey.  Your support means the absolute world to her, and we can’t thank you enough for that!