Keri's Breast Cancer Story: Chemotherapy Sessions - 3 Down 1 to Go

My wife, Keri Haberstroh, was diagnosed with breast cancer at age 25. It was March of 2005, and we had been married for nine months. My name is Doug, and I am here to tell Keri's breast cancer story, from start to finish.

See the full breast cancer comic strip.

Subject: Only ONE More Left

Sent: Friday, October 14, 2005 3:32 PM

Hello all,

Just an update to keep you current. I had my 3rd session of chemo yesterday. It went pretty much like the last two. We had thought that we might speed things up since the doctor was noticing how well I was taking this round. So I had my blood checked earlier this week and it was a little low, but the doctor said I could do it earlier if I wanted to go back to taking the shot afterward that helped boost things.

In case you don't remember the shot was what gave me the ache in my bones and joints last time around and kept me on the couch often. So I opted for leaving things as scheduled. It's just not worth the extra pain just to shave off a couple of weeks, especially with how well things have been going lately.

Side effects wise I don't have many things time. There is one drug that I'm getting that gives me a headache for a few days that feels kind of like a constant brain freeze, but it goes away within a couple of days. Nothing I can't handle there. The hair loss is of course nothing new.

I have discovered that my change in taste this time only happens for the first few days after the treatment and then it goes back to normal. I am kind of tired for a few days, but that's to be expected. The only one that really bothers me much is my trouble sleeping. I seem to not have the ability to turn my mind off when it's time to go to bed. So regardless of what time I get up in the morning I am still awake at 2:00am because my mind is running a hundred times a minute with random thoughts that just won't settle down so I can get some sleep. Thankfully I'm not working so if I end up sleeping a little late it's not a big deal.

I am so excited about having only one treatment left. Of course that is so long as the doctor doesn't change his mind. I don't foresee that happening, but I also didn't foresee this second round of chemo either. I have been researching and asking questions about my after treatment care and so far I've been finding out that they will be checking my blood count every time I go in which will be every 3-4 months for the first year or two and so long as things continue to look good it will dwindle from that to a regular once a year.

At each year mark (which I'm not sure if that's according to my date of final treatment or my date of diagnosis) I will have tests done like chest x-rays, CAT scans, bone scans, etc to make sure that everything looks clear. I will be having a lot of these check-ups done here since we still have at least a year or so before we get sent anywhere else. That makes me feel good to know that I will still be with these doctors for a while.