Strange Numbness

Mary Jo in Dr Galls office

Mary Jo had a special appointment today at 1:20pm to be examined by her oncologist, Dr Gall at his Minnesota Oncology office in Burnsville. Mary Jo has been experiencing an unusual increase in the numbness and tingling in her left arm all the way down to her fingers and stiffness (like a pinched nerve) in her neck for a few weeks now. Mary Jo and her doctors and nurses had originally dismissed these symptoms as common possible side effects from two powerful drugs, Herceptin and Arimidex that Mary Jo is being treated with but the arm numbness has been interfering with her sleeping. The numbness seems to be worsening so Mary Jo scheduled a special visit for a detailed examination. Dr Gall gave Mary Jo a complete examination and believes Mary Jo’s symptoms are likely being caused by one or more possible conditions. The most obvious and first thing to rule out or confirm is an actual pinched nerve. Mary Jo will be schedule to have a C.A.T. scan of her neck on Monday. The C.A.T. scan image will have the ability to show if Mary Jo has bone or tissue problems and could also detect any lesions (cancer) if they existed, which are not at all expected. The power port (implanted under the skin in the chest) through which the chemo is administered could have repositioned and could possibly be now pressing on a nerve or the reconstruction expanders could have repositioned slightly and be applying pressure on a nerve. Dr Gall will review the results of the C.A.T. scan on Monday with Mary Jo and confirm or eliminate the most likely cause and work step by step to diagnosis and eliminate the condition. Mary Jo is otherwise doing well and enjoying the summer.

It Gets Better

Mary Jo is still fighting fatigue, aching muscles and joints from the cumulative effects of chemo and radiation but she is in great spirits and trying to get her rest. She has discovered that at a minimum, she needs at least ten hours of uninterrupted sleep per day. She feels best if she gets about 12 hours of sleep. This is why if she is entertaining (as she does) and does not get to bed before midnight and Opie wakes her up occasionally during the night, she finds that she can't seem to get going before noon or 1pm the next day. Mary Jo's oncologist, Dr Gall tells us that the fatigues can easily last for up to a year. Another chemo related side effect is what oncologists call "chemo brain" which is short term memory loss. Mary Jo just jokes that there are "no re-runs" at our house. Sometimes it is like living with an Alzheimer’s patient but this too is expected to improve over the next year or so.

Back On Track

Mary Jo was scheduled to have her Herceptin (chemo) treatment at Minnesota Oncology in Burnsville on Tuesday July 20th, however she had a migraine headache had had to postpone that appointment.  The good staff at MOPA was able to accommodate a reschedule and get Mary Jo in for the missed treatment on Wednesday morning.  Mary Jo is now back on schedule and will receive her next treatment in three weeks and her last and final treatment on September 2.  (correction, in my last post, I incorrectly stated that Mary Jo's last Herceptin treatment would be August 2nd)  This will mark 52 weeks (not sessions) of treatment from the biologic chemo drug, Herceptin.  Mary Jo's migraine headache is gone but she continues to en dour many of the negative muscle and nerve (aches and pains) related side effects from the cancer treatments.  She rarely mentions these aches and pains to me but she confesses when I see her taking the max doses of the OTC pain relievers that her oncologist recommended for these side effects.  She is such a remarkable strong girl.

Tired Girl

Mary Jo has been feeling the cumulative effects from her cancer treatments lately in the form of being very tired.  She has been getting up later and later each morning.  Yesterday she got up at 3pm.  It has been rare in the last month that she is able to get up before noon.  Often if the weather is nice, Mary Jo will really try to get out of bed by 1pm.  Mary Jo does not complain at all and she does have the luxury of being able to get her rest if she needs it.  Dr Gall tells me not to be concerned as he believes this is a side effect from the cumulative radiation and ongoing Herceptin treatments.  Hopefully this side effect will subside a little more after Mary Jo's final Herceptin treatment on August 2nd marking 52 weeks of biologic chemo.

One Year Later

It has been one year since Mary Jo, for some unknown reason, woke up in the middle of the night on July 4th 2009 and discovered a lump on her right breast.  This discovery started Mary Jo and I down a path that I have tried to document on this blog.  Through it all, Mary Jo has always had a great attitude and today Mary Jo says she feels great.   Looking back, we could not possibly have imagined from the start how complicated and challenging the next 12 months were going to be but here we are today and life is good.  Mary Jo's treatment is not over yet, but from this vantage point, she has more behind her than in front of her.  

We hope everyone had a safe and Happy 4th of July, 2010.

"our group" at the Crosby Parade
Mary Jo - far right

Happy 4th of July