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  • Writer's pictureStephanie
    • Nov 12, 2018
    • 5 min read

Knocking out AC


I had some fun with a wig!


I’m so sorry I haven’t updated you all sooner. My first week after round 3 was spent in bed, completely exhausted. And then last Sunday I was feeling a little better so I decided to go home for the night, which turned into spending the whole week at home (more about that in a bit). Unfortunately I did not bring my laptop with me so ... late update.


Round 3 of AC chemo was October 29th. I was nauseous before even getting to my appointent and things went downhill from there. First thing when I get to an appointment, I have blood drawn to check my red and white blood cell counts, along with other vitals. This is drawn from my port. This process normally takes two minutes, so I go back by myself. When your port is accessed, they have to make sure they can get a blood return. Up until this point I had not had any issues with my port. But for whatever reason, my port was not giving blood. The nurse told me this happens sometimes, for no real reason. She had me change positions, take deep breaths and then she gave me a shot of heparin. After one more shot with no blood, I started to panic. The nurse told me I couldn’t see my oncologist until they got my bloodwork so the only option I had was to go get blood drawn from a vein in my arm.


I was sent over to the phlebotomists. I have small veins and I would say 75% of the time they have a hard time finding a good vein. The phlebotomist put the needle in and ... no blood came out. She began twisting the needle in my arm and even withdrew the needle and put it back in. I thought I was going to throw up. She took the needle out completely and said she would have to try a vein in my other arm.


I was texting my mom to keep her updated and thankfully, Ricky came back when they realized something wasn’t right. I held it together until that point but as soon as Ricky got there I started to cry. I was miserable. Much to my relief the vein in my left arm worked and I was able to go back to the waiting area for a few minutes to collect myself.


We met with my oncologist for a physical exam (seriously, I need to do a post just on my oncologist- imagine a cross between Barbra Streisand and Goldie Hawn and you’ll start to have an idea of what she’s like). She looked at me and said, “Do I need to tell you or do you know?” I have been very cautious not to get my hopes up so I wanted to hear it from her. She basically told me if she hadn’t known about my tumor she wouldn’t have detected it. MY TUMOR WAS ALMOST GONE!


The chemo is working! As I’ve mentioned in the past, getting the diagnosis of triple negative breast cancer was not good. Do not google it. But! Because this type of cancer is so aggressive it responds very well to chemo! Thank you, God!



The day started in tears but ended with a smile!


After meeting with my oncologist, I needed to have another drug administered to try to get my blood to flow. Thankfully, after fifteen minutes my port gave a good blood return and I was able to start chemo.


So a quick recap of the past two weeks:


Week one: I was exhausted. Again, blame those pesky red blood cells. I spent the week in bed.


Week two: I went home Sunday. I literally cried when I walked into my bedroom. It felt so good to be in my house with my husband! I ended up staying home the whole week for a couple of reasons. In the beginning it was because I was feeling better (yay!) and then my cold got worse and I felt it was a wiser choice to stay home in order to rest and kind of quarantine myself.


Updates & Prayer Requests

  • I told my oncologist about the side effects I was experiencing from the iron. She said that was the last thing I needed and told me I could stop for now. My stomach was much happier these past two weeks without the supplement. Yay!

  • Once again, the Neulasta side effects were 1000 times better!

  • The hair on my head is growing back and my eyebrows and eyelashes are still intact! haha I keep joking that my hair is resilient. If this follows the pattern, I expect to lose my hair again shortly after my next round of chemo.

  • My eyes have continued to hurt but my eyelids are no longer swollen. They are also constantly watering so I have not been able to wear my contacts. Again, this is a small thing in the grand scheme but it is frustrating. Please pray this side effect subsides.

  • I voted!


  • These past two weeks were very draining emotionally. Please pray that I find ways to keep my spirits up even on the toughest days.

  • Please pray that I would get rid of this cold. Chemo+ a cold= no fun.

  • Tomorrow at noon I have my chemo class for my next chemo: taxol. I will find out what to expect regarding side effects and how to manage them.

  • After my class, I will have my bloodwork and oncology appointment. Then I will have MY FINAL ROUND OF AC! Cue the happy tears. Please pray things go smoothly during chemo (no nausea or lightheadedness), that my side effects over the following two weeks are manageable and that I would stay focused on the future!


Thank you for supporting me. I know I asked this a few weeks ago but please continue to reach out; you have no idea the difference it makes. A text, an email, a note ... you may think it is insignificant but to me it means the world to know you took the time to reach out. If you need my contact information, please e-mail my sisters at loveisloudest21@gmail.com


All my love,





*Instagram and Facebook continue to be easier platforms for me to use to update people regularly. My Instagram name is @love.is.loudest21 and my Facebook page can be found at: https://www.facebook.com/loveisloudest21/ Be sure to check one or both of those places if you haven't heard from me in a while.


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