Carin' for Karen

Karen tells us how crappy chemo is, and we tell her how uncrappy she is.

Wednesday, November 02, 2005

The Journey Continues

I have finished 6 rounds of chemo at this point. Since I am not having any really bad side-effects, I am going to continue taking Abraxane and Herceptin. I have very minimal neuropathy and other than that, the other side-effects such as intestinal problems, weakness, and hair loss are quite manageable. I learned last week that my heart was doing fine and doesn’t seem to show any deterioration caused by the Herceptin. In fact, it is a little stronger than the last time I took the test. The tumors have continued to respond to the chemotherapy therefore I am going to stay the course and keep on the same treatment.

I feel well most of the time. I have been walking regularly which is supposed to help fight cancer and I think it has been strengthening my heart, not to mention my emotional well being. I walk with different friends on different days of the week so as I walk, we talk and laugh. It is such a pleasant time that it doesn’t seem like exercise. Usually I walk about an hour a day.

I don’t have anything special to report; I am just continuing the journey. It is going well, but it isn’t very exciting at this point. Sometimes when one is on a long trip, it seems like the scenery gets monotonous. It’s not bad, just repetitive. I feel like I’m on that part of this journey. I want to say, “Are we there yet?” but I know we aren’t so I just settle myself down and patiently wait. In the meantime, I am reminded to continue to “find joy in every journey.”