Bye Bye Blondie...

There it is folks, one of the hardest things I've had to do in four simple steps.  It helped to have a small group of supportive folks that lifted my spirits but that night, and the morning after, and the morning after that were no picnic.  I am still struggling to make certain hat/scarf/wig combinations make fashionable sense.  It always seems that the first thing I put on screams "I have cancer" to me and I wind up changing.

Regardless, I think it is important to share every aspect of this journey because if you see someone smiling through something that is this difficult, it might shine a new perspective on your own personal trials.

Gotta go wig out  ;)
Carls

Hair...not clouds......in my coffee.

I know it has been too long since my last post. My life has been a whirlwind since we returned home from Texas.  I had my first chemo treatment on June 21st, and second on July 5th. 

Here is the rundown of my schedule: I go every other Tuesday for Adriamycin and Cytoxan, and every Wednesday for Neulasta to stimulate my bone marrow. After 4 rounds of this, I start going every Tuesday for Taxol and Herceptin, for 12 rounds. Catch all that???


Just like clockwork, the day following my second treatment I have started to feel the effects: mouth is numb, throat is sore, eyes are burning, I have NO appetite, and the worst part.....my hair is thinning and falling out.



This morning while attempting to drink a vanilla caramel coffee, I noticed a hair had fallen into it suddenly making it not so sweet.  I have cried everyday since Tuesday; this is by far the hardest part of my journey...not 12 major surgeries, or the absence of my normal schedule....losing part of my external aesthetic self.  I have said many times this week that although I fully comprehend the logic that chemotherapy is poison and this proves it is killing the "bad" cells, the emotional turmoil that this chapter evokes is simply unfair.  But, if I've heard it once I've heard  it a million times..........what does not kill you makes you stronger.  I hold onto that and about a thousand other sayings, adages, lyrics, and such to stay positive. My sweet friends and fam held a "Cover Carly's Head" party in my honor so I am well stocked with cute accessories, scarves, and hats.

I have ups and downs, and really foggy moments, but I am hanging in there.  Thanks so much to all of you who continue showing your support in a thousand different ways, I love you. 


Until next time.....my wild hearts ~♥~....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HguL2bIri1Q

Doing Dallas

A lot has transpired since my last post!  For starters, we finally went to the zoo our second to last day in Houston. Mom was pumped since this was her favorite offering from the City Pass.  I strongly recommend it as a great experience if you're in the area.  We had a blast, and got up close and personal with the animals.

We flew from Houston to Dallas on June 4th.  Our very first night in town, our friends took us to the Mesquite ProRodeo! We donned our cowgirl boots and had a fantastic evening.  However, I should admit....I was totally rooting for the calves to get away from the ropers. This shouldn't be a surprise to those of you that know my softy sensitive heart ;)

We also did the other mandatory tourist thing to do in Dallas which was go see Dealey Plaza, the site of the JFK assassination. I stood on the "X" and everything. I just love visiting historical scenes like that. The stories mean so much more once you have been to the actual place. It has been really cool to be in Dallas this week for another reason...the Mavericks won the NBA playoffs! Go Mavs! The support this city shows for their team is infectious.

I celebrated my 29th birthday on June 10th and thanks to a surprise visit from my pal it was a great time.  It kicked off with cake and a few gifts at 4:10am (time of my birth) and then a fun night out to dinner and a dueling pianos bar.

Now then, let's get down to "business"....we have been to the Sher Institute nearly every day for ultrasounds.  The initial visit was a bit disappointing when we realized the follicles were not growing as fast as we needed them to.  After some increased medication dosages, we had better results.  My retrieval procedure is scheduled for tomorrow morning. I will be under anesthesia so if you don't hear from me, that's why.  Most of you have probably already heard by now I was interviewed by the Dallas CBS affiliate regarding the Fertility Rescue program.  I have also been contacted by a producer at CBS Morning News from NYC about doing a national piece so stay tuned. If you haven't seen the interview, here you go:



We were really hoping to come home tomorrow night but the flight times/costs/availability are not cooperating :(

All for now...thanks for reading...
Carls

Seeing the Sights.......

L-dog and I have had a fun-filled weekend!  Saturday we went to Hard Rock Cafe (my favorite for obvious reasons), Sunday we ventured out to the Museum of Natural Science which sounds boring but was awesome....animals, IMAX movie, dinosaurs, gemstones, even a Zoltar machine in the lobby like the one on "Big"....if you haven't seen this classic gem, stop reading and go watch it.  We ended our outing with a delicious Tex-Mex meal at Pappasito's Cantina.

Having purchased a "City Pass" at the museum, we decided to make Memorial Day extra special by making a visit to NASA.  With the exception of several screaming children, we were both very pleased with our experience.  We toured mission control, the astronaut training facility, watched video of all launches, touched actual moon rock with our own hands, and checked in with astronauts currently floating above the earth. So very cool.  Our dining experience Monday was Pappadeaux's Seafood Kitchen (tasty cajun food).

Cheers! from Pappasito's

Tuesday (today) we explored the Downtown Aquarium and had a blast....Almost new, very clean, friendly staff, and great exhibits. We even rode the "shark voyage" and I must admit I was startled by the "surprise missing {mechanic} great white shark" that popped up along our ride! Game fish, reptiles, and even white tigers were on the visual menu. We pet sting rays and bamboo sharks too.....all before my ultrasound this afternoon. The appointment went fine and the techs were friendly. I received an email shortly thereafter, while dining at PF Changs that said the results were good, and to begin the Gonal injections tonight....

Early appointment at MD Anderson tomorrow for more imaging....update ya later! <3

  

Events of the Second Day in Houston...

I have some good news and bad news.  Good news first....

My initial appointment at MDA went very well. The facility is awesome and the people are friendly. Dr. Moulder has a wonderful demeanor and a reassuring presence.  She was very quick to tell me that I am a "beyond unique" cancer case. She requested all the actual original slides from every surgical procedure from the past three years.  She wants her staff to review the pathology, and confirm that it is indeed breast cancer we should be treating, and not any other possibility (i.e. cancer of the sweat gland, etc).  She assured me that there was not anything my doctors could have done differently thus far, due to the way my cancer has behaved: unpredictable and bizarre.  We had lunch there in the Waterfall Cafe and went back up for appointment scheduling.  I have a full day of imaging next Wednesday.  The pictures I've included are the front of the clinic, waiting in the waiting room, and the tree sculpture at Mays Clinic :)

The bad news is hotel related...at 4:00am again THIS morning the smoke alarm went off.  This is especially annoying because it happened the previous morning in this exact manner, and we checked with the staff on four separate occasions to ensure it had been handled before retiring to our room yesterday evening. So, there we were at 4:30 am, a cancer patient and her exasperated mother lugging groceries and luggage to our new room.  We managed to salvage a few hours of sleep but were not happy campers.

We do not have any appointments till Tuesday (an ultrasound for SIRM) so we intend to run errands today, and maybe make time for a mani/pedi. If anyone has suggested "must sees" for Houston, please send them on!

TTFN,

Carls

First Day in Texas

What I've learned so far about Houston:

-Everyone is friendly with the exception of the cab drivers...they are NOT.
-Dinner/movie for two people costs less than the cab rides to get there and back...we are renting a car today.
-I would have much preferred being in LA at Stevie's birthday concert last night, I hear phenomenal things.
-Our hotel is nice but not without issues.....

All within the first 24 hours: a broken bed frame they had to literally replace, a severe lack of toiletry items (nothing major....just SHAMPOO), and a screeching dying battery in our smoke alarm-NOT a pleasant way to awaken after a long travel day/day ahead of reliving my medical history yet again and also unknown doctors, etc.

After a long day at MDA, followed by a long nap after that, I will update to report on my visit.

If anyone wants to see our shining faces, we are periodically available to Skype.....gypsycarly

Until we meet again.......

Carly's Cancer Journey

My story:

My name is Carly Byrd and I was first diagnosed with breast cancer (DCIS) at age 25 in 2008. I was frightened and unsure. My doctor did not have a comforting bedside manor so the news was delivered in a very nonchalant way.  I have no family history of breast cancer so it was initially a feeling of shock, denial, and disparity.  After my lumpectomy to diagnose mysterious nipple discharge in February of 2008, I made the difficult decision to have a double mastectomy.  Even though only my left breast was affected, I decided to remove both, in hopes of decreasing the daily anxiety I would likely experience of wondering when it would appear in the right breast. 

My mastectomy surgery in March of 2008 was intense, and I immediately began the tissue expander process. My next scare was when one of my expanders deflated and had to be replaced in that April.  In June of that year,   they replaced my expanders with implants. I began nipple reconstruction/tattooing in October. 

When 2009 came around, and my BRCA results were negative, I thought I could rest easy and begin to deal with the emotional recovery process.  However I had to be totally reconstructed once again in November of 2009 when a breast MRI revealed my implant had severely shifted and was causing me pain. Once that was behind me, I looked forward to calmer days...which lasted until February 2011.

I went back to my favorite surgeon after feeling a lump in my left chest wall.  After an ultrasound, and a biopsy, the unthinkable happened....a second DCIS diagnosis.  He said in 30 years of practice, I was only the third patient in which he had seen this kind of reoccurrence.  Neither of us could believe it was cancer again, in the less than 1% residual breast tissue left in my body! I had another lumpectomy on February 23 and underwent six weeks (28 consecutive treatments) of daily radiation therapy.

During the final days of radiation, at a regularly scheduled follow-up appointment with my oncologist, he located a prominent lump under my left axilla.  I went in for a PET scan on May 2, 2011 and results seemed promising.  Radiation ended on May 4, 2011 and I went in for more surgery on May 5, 2011 for removal/frozen section of the new lump.  After removing 15 axillary lymph nodes my surgeons learned that 2 were completely devoid of lymphoid tissue, meaning the tumors totally replaced the nodes.  I have now been diagnosed with Stage 2 Metastatic Papillary Ductal Carcinoma.

I have been thrown into a spinning whirlwind of questions, options, decisions, and circumstances.  My oncologist ordered Chemotherapy, that was originally scheduled to start the week of my 29^th birthday (which is June 10). I flew right out to spend a week at MD Anderson Cancer Center for a second opinion regarding my treatment plan with Dr. Moulder, then flew straight from there to Dallas, TX for egg harvesting with the Sher Institute for Reproductive Medicine.  There is a 30% chance the chemo will send me into early menopause, and my ovaries will have ablated in the process so my oncologist insisted on these precautions. The procedure was successful, 25 little Byrd eggs were frozen on the day we flew home to GA.

My mother is currently battling a marriage via commute- living with  me to help through the challenging times we are facing, and traveling to North Carolina whenever I have a "good day."  At the conclusion of this chapter, I will meet with my plastic surgeon about reconstruction yet again, due to the contraction of my implant.

Cancer is a scary predicament.  It makes you evaluate and reevaluate every aspect of your life.  Lessons are learned, research is commenced, and advice is received.  I am so thankful for all of the information and literature that helped me knowledgeably face my treatments and procedures. I also appreciate the copius amounts of love and support that have been poured out, and just keep pouring...
Thank you for reading my story...