Golden Week

The calendar shows a three day weekend at the end of April and a four day weekend from May 3rd. We've closed our language school for the week even though the kids still have school for two days this week.

M's U.S. passport has just expired so we need to take her downtown during embassy business hours (the embassy has both U.S. and Japanese holidays so they're only open Tue. and Wed. this week) to apply for a new one pronto. So much for a perfect attendance record at jr. high, she has to be present when we submit the application, as do both parents as she is under 14 years old and the passport agency is trying to avoid international abduction issues. If only one parent can go, an expensive notarized letter with reason for absence and notarized permission to apply for a passport for the minor is necessary. The nearest U.S. style notary is AT THE EMBASSY...Japanese facsimiles of notaries charge about a hundred dollars for each signature.

Actually, J and L's passports have also expired but N's is valid until the summer of 2008. With no immediate travel plans, I think we can wait until summer vacation so we won't have to keep them out of school for a day to apply in person. I think that the embassy notary can notarize the necessary forms free of charge so S won't have to go all the way downtown again. J will be 14 by then and no longer need permission from either parent (Yeah, sure...J: Arrivederci! I don't need you old folks, I'm off to see the world.) I'm glad that we managed to talk S into a trip downtown anyway.

With treatment on Tuesday and the embassy on Wednesday, I'm getting out and around a lot these days. Hopefully we can go do the pool with the slides that everybody likes or cycle over to Nogawa park with a basket full of rice balls wrapped in seaweed on Thursday or Friday so the kids can say they actually went somewhere or did something during Golden Week.

Tokyo Tuesdays

I think I'm getting used to this weekly routine now. I manage to find the right part of the train where I'm likely to get a seat in the morning rush, make the transfer to the downtown subway smoothly and not forget to get off the train at the station near the National Cancer Center (only forgot twice, suddenly remembering "Hey! That was my stop!" just as the train doors close and the train pulls out). That seems to be the worst part of my Herceptin treatments.

The treatments themselves are pretty simple; hand my file to the chemo station staff, take the escalator back down to the reception lobby where I can pay my bill in advance at the accounting counter which is not yet busy in the morning, get a bottle of green tea, return to the chemo room to be assigned a chair, get set up for the IV and sit for an hour and a half in a nice reclining chair sleeping or reading while the drug and a saline solution chaser drip. As soon as I'm done, I can go right out the door and get the train home instead of waiting for 20 or 30 minutes at the busy accounting counter to pay my bill.

The subway and train home are not at all crowded so I can sit and finish my book. It takes about an hour one way and I'm usually home for a late lunch and a short nap before the kids come home from school.

X-Ray Results

Well, the good news is that the ugly spots in my lungs are no larger than they were 6 weeks ago (the largest of the five I could see in the x-ray is about 6cm long and 2 cm wide) and may be a little smaller even. Also, I remain symptom free unless anyone looks at me with X-ray vision and sees the blobs. It isn't as encouraging as I'd hope it would be but women in a Herceptin support group said that basically this is what to expect. Their mets shrank with additions of other chemotherapy drugs to the Herceptin.

As I am not lacking oxygen or getting palpitations, I'll wait until after May's CT scan before possibly starting with more chemo with my Herceptin. I'm glad that the Herceptin has stopped the advance of the cancer in its tracks and will continue with treatments to keep it that way.

I used my postal account for today's treatments and was comforted to see that more friends have contributed to my treatments. I really appreciate everyone's generous support through messages and contributions.

Today's treatment went well and I got home earlier than expected so here I am on the computer.

Matriculation

M has been admitted to the local junior high school and will begin her one mile walk there tomorrow morning with a big bag to carry all of her new textbooks home to be labelled with her name. Fortunately, by junior high school, the children can do this themselves and I won't have to write or stick her name on every tiny item she might need at school. The weather cooperated and a neighbor offered to take a family shot of the three of us so here it is:




I finally got over last week's cold and am ready to go tomorrow for an x-ray to see how the Herceptin is working and to get my weekly dose of it. I guess I'd better plan an easy breakfast and lunch for the kids who won't be up when I walk out the door or who will be home for lunch because the junior high doesn't begin school lunches until Wednesday.

Celebrating Spring

Back to School

Three out of four returned to school today for a morning. M's entrance ceremony will be on Monday. I have a very nice Anne Klein black pants suit to wear as a lovely woman in the breast cancer survivors yahoo group I joined decided to cheer me up with a box full of nice clothes and even some treats for the kids. M will wear her new school uniform, which is the same as J's but a few sizes smaller. I'm glad that I won't need any anti-nausea medications or a wig for this year's ceremony because Herceptin is not so caustic as the chemo-cocktail I was on a year ago. I'm also glad that I can go at all and am sure to shed a few more tears at how grown-up M and her classmates all look in their clean new uniforms.

Next Tuesday I'll get an x-ray before my fifth treatment to monitor how the regime is working. I'm hoping that it is doing the wonderful things that I've heard it has done. If not...the next step will be to add another drug to the infusion, probably one called Navelbine, and get the hats and wigs out again for a while. I am comforted by the fact that there are options that I may try yet but am still hoping that the easy to deal with (physically anyway) Herceptin is working its magic. I'm also comforted by all the support I've been receiving through my cyber groups, emotional and financial.

Oops, I Missed a Week or So...

M got a new pair of eyeglasses the day before graduation. The red frames stand out a little but she likes them enough to wear them even at graduation so I don't have to worry that she'll try to get by at school squinting at the blackboard. The graduation itself was pretty much the same as J's ceremony last year. The kids were all nervous about maintaining formality that they all walked stiffly, without moving their arms when the fifth graders played Pomp and Circumstance for the grand exit.

A few seconds after the final student left the gym, the vice principal asked us to remain in our seats as a boy who had been ill and in the hospital for most of the past year had managed to come to school that day after all and they felt he should receive his diploma from the principal like the rest of his classmates. It took about five minutes to get all the sixth graders back to their seats as one class had actually made it all the way back to their third floor class room. The kids all seemed a little excited by the unexpected and unrehearsed portion of the event.

When everyone was assembled again, the principal had the boy's teacher call the boy's name and the boy climbed the steps to formally receive his diploma. The fifth graders weren't sure whether Pomp and Circumstance would be necessary again but the principal signalled to the music teacher that she should play something on the piano, much to their relief. She broke into the Alma Mater and the fifth and sixth graders all jumped right in spontaneously, singing the lyrics while the relaxed and smiling sixth graders casually jogged back out of the gym again with their classmate. Not a dry eye in the gym...

We had to hang around for the final class photo and then form two lines outside for the new graduates to walk through and receive flowers. M's teacher, Mr. Ono, was N's first and second grade teacher and this is his first year to have a sixth grade class. Halfway down the recessional line some of the teachers grabbed him and tossed him up in the air like a baseball star to celebrate his first class to graduate. After congratulating and being congratulated we returned home for buckwheat noodles for lunch. S took my afternoon class so I could attend the post graduation bowling and curry rice party with M.

Lots of Calories

M turned 12 today. She played with some friends in the park where the cherry trees are in full bloom and they all came up for birthday banana cream pie. The Joy of Cooking wasn't very specific about how much I should continue stirring over not in boiling water so the custard wasn't as firm as it could have been, but the friends were all duly impressed. They didn't know that pies and custard could be in one dessert and that either could be made at home. J performed "Happy Birthday" on the beaten up saxophone that a neighbor gave us and N followed a nice rendition of the first part of "Puff the Magic Dragon" on the recorder (melody) and xylophone (harmony and percussion) simultaneously. She can only play until the first low note though as she only uses one hand.

Last Week of School

This week's Herceptin went well. As it isn't one of those drugs that reduces white blood cells or causes nausea, I didn't need a pre-treatment blood test or steroid IV so I was finished and on my way before lunch time on Friday. I asked about a better day than Fridays as we have upcoming graduation, birthday and other important days on the next few Fridays so now I'll be on a Tuesday schedule and don't have to go until the 27th.

M's graduation is next Friday. S will take my afternoon class so I can go with M to the post grad bowling extravaganza. Then it will officially be spring break, although the children will all have only half days this week and a holiday on Wednesday so we're already on the three meals a day schedule. Fortunately it's still cold enough to have cook-in-a-pot-at-the-table fish and vegetable nabe (sort of like bouillabaisse).

So far so good

After all the necessary pre-treatment tests on Friday morning, my doctor finally called me in for a consultation and explained that the results showed that it would be fine to begin Herceptin and that I could begin that very day if I wanted. Before he signed the release he explained the procedure, possible complications and side effects again and reiterated that there have been some cases where patients with lung metastases have had severe and even fatal reactions and that I should be prepared to spend the weekend if the hospital if I showed any signs of breathing distress. After I mentally confirmed the state of my underpants (newish, no holes...), I assured him that I was ready to accept this possibility and we both signed the release to get the treatment going.

The chemo center was a little busy so I reserved a reclining chair and went upstairs for a cheap and light soup and salad lunch with fresh bread and a nice view from the 19th floor of the hospital before heading to the hospital cashier to pay in advance for my treatment. The hospital computer had my bill ready a few minutes after I had checked in to the chemo center, before I'd even started treatment, so I thought I'd save a little time and take care of the bill first.

When I returned to the chemo center, I only had a 5 minute wait for my chair and treatment began. They had a little trouble searching for convenient veins because my veins know about IVs and have all gone into hiding. If this treatment shows the success I'm hoping for, perhaps a portocath might be an option to discuss with the oncologist.

The Dom Perignon dripped for an hour and was chased by a small bag of saline solution and I had no side effects or reactions whatsoever. I finished in a little over an hour and was given the AOK to head home and to my afternoon class. It was a big relief to know that my body can tolerate this drug. I hope that it is as tough on the cancer as it is gentle on the system.

Down to the last 12 hours

This morning was the elementary school "Farewell Sixth Graders" event and the sixth grade moms were invited to observe the entire school saying good-bye and good luck to the children who will graduate in two weeks. L's grade played a song called "Sanpo" from the movie "My Neighbor Totoro" and N's grade played and sang their own original version of "Puff the Magic Dragon" very well. All the moms, myself included, had a good cry and the sixth graders returned all the musical greetings with a performance of part of the Dvorak's "New World Symphony" on recorders, pianicas, a piano, a few xylophones, a big drum and some tympanies. I may have missed a few instruments, but the performance was dynamic and impressive for a group of 11 and 12 year olds.

Tomorrow is the first day of my new cancer treatment regime. I'm waking up the kids a little early tomorrow so I can make sure they actually get up and eat breakfast before I leave for my early a.m. appointment. S will make sure they get out the door for school in time.

I did a few days worth of grocery shopping this morning and had the store deliver it all as it was too much for my bicycle and delivery is free. Now I don't have to worry about hungry children for a while.

I am very glad for the outpouring of support from friends and family that has made it possible for me to jump right in and blast away at this cancer.

Overwhelmed

I checked all the options at city hall and didn't have very encouraging results. Our income from 2005 was a tad over the limit that would permit me to take a break from the National Pension plan payments so I can't re-route that money. Also, I'm still too well to get any disability payments from the plan, but this is good news, survival-wise. The clerk who sat down with me (after donning a white surgical mask) to explore all the options that might become available, depending on how the National Tax Agency likes our returns this year, was pleasant and encouraged me to come back in July to try to apply for exemption from payments for a while.

The next desk, at the same counter, was the National Health Insurance clerk. There is a safety net for people with high medical costs. If our 30 percent of the bill for medical treatment for a single person within a calender month at a single institution exceeds 80,000 yen, the excess is reimbursed to us a few months later by city hall. There is a service where city hall pays the amounts in excess of 80,000 yen directly to my hospital instead of me paying it all and waiting for a refund, as this would make it easier in the beginning. This is unavailable though to us just yet so I'll have to keep trying along the way.

The clerk was sincere in his efforts to assist me and a nice enough guy that I almost look forward to taking my refund postcard there every month. Take a deep breath and retreat. OK, nothing has changed, I just have an 80,000 yen per month hobby.

Some friends in an online group have generously offered to help in a variety of ways and I have decided that if there was ever a time to learn to accept help, this is it. The messages I've been receiving from my friends and family have been very encouraging and I have much hope for this treatment. The generosity and encouragement have been pleasantly overwhelming, inspiring and much appreciated.

A Day Later

At Friday's visit, my oncologist showed me that the spots in my lungs had tripled in size since November and told me he wants me to stop the Tamoxifen and Zoladex and get ready to start Herceptin. He went on to assure me that he'd found a clinical trial I could participate in where half the patients are given Herceptin alone and the other half Herceptin plus Taxotere. I asked if the eight doses of Docetaxel I had last year didn't disqualify me and one of the extra oncologists he'd asked to sit in on our consultation chirped in that it did while he shuffled through my file and disappointingly agreed. He was quick to recover and emphasize that I could and should start Herceptin as soon as possible anyway and continue weekly infusions for as long as it continues to shrink and control the lung mets without damaging my heart. He explained how it works and mentioned that although he wants me to start Herceptin alone, I may need another chemo drug called Navelbine or other chemo options combined with it in the future and that there are all sorts of chemo options yet to sample when any one stops working. Another drug called Tykerb or Lapatinib is also about to be approved in the U.S. (this month) and will have some further trials for which I might qualify.

I'll get another heart ultrasound, an EKG, an x-ray and some bloodwork before next Friday's consultation and possible begin Herceptin that day or the next Tuesday, depending on the results. The first infusion apparently causes the biggest reaction, almost an allergic reaction, with most patients experiencing chills and hot flashes alternately but the subsequent treatments apparently do not. The biggest reaction will be to the family finances though and I'm checking all the available public resources to see if we'll qualify for a little (hopefully a lot of) help. Cyberfriends in various support groups have offered much assistance with information and suggestions.

I took advantage of my location and enjoyed an inexpensive sushi lunch near the fish market. The cute sushi chef seemed curious that I didn't fit the pattern of the foreign tourists that he sees in groups every day so he asked if I was a regular visitor to Tsukiji and I admitted that I was visiting the Cancer Center regularly. He asked if I liked OOTORO, the expensive belly portion of the tuna. When I said yes, he made a nice serving of it as a special treat for me. Nice guy.

I sampled goods on my way back from the market to the subway station and got a few bargains on vegetables, stewed walnuts and shrimp (S's beer snack) and yummy sushi eggs for today's Doll Festival salad sushi. The beer snack vendor even threw in a small bag of sweet black beans which I'd sampled and decided were good, but not good enough to buy the huge bag on display. If I'd seen the smaller bag, I'd probably have asked the price and purchased it, so I was glad for the freebie.

Today was the local Daruma Ichi, a festival with about 250 stalls selling all sorts of foods and trinkets in addition to daruma dolls near a big temple. J asked me to make her a lunch to take because the food stalls aren't all that cheap and she wanted to go with her friends. I made a fried noodle lunch for M too as her friends stopped by to see if she could play today and the weather was so nice that I didn't think she'd want to come home and waste an hour for lunch. Then I got the weekend grocery shopping done and took N and L on the bus to the festival. We met J and her friend who had finished exploring the temple and were desperately looking for the key to the friend's bicycle with no success. I lent her my phone and she managed to explain to her grandmother at home where the spare was and ask her to have her brother bring it to her by bus on his way to the festival.

Resolving that situation left us free to do our own wandering through the stalls of brightly painted daruma dolls of all sizes and the commotion of vendors hawking their wares. Of course it was a perfect situation to lose a kid or two, so I gave N & L instructions on where to meet if they got tired of wandering through the throngs. L soon went on his merry way and the instructions proved useful. We walked the mile and a half home enjoying the plum blossoms in gardens along the way instead of attempting to get on the crowded buses.

N helped me make our fishmarket egg and salmon sushi salad dinner to celebrate the Hina Matsuri doll's day which was today. She and L also filled and pressed 40 pumpkin gyoza together for me to fry. Now, happily full, we have to clean up a bit to make room to go to bed.

The Phone Rings

so I answer it, still wearing the soft white gloves I had on to handle the Doll Festival dolls and ornaments (I waited until so late so the dolls wouldn't get mauled too much before March 3rd, the Hina Matsuri Doll Festival Day). The dinky music box picture frame commemorating the event with a traditional song is tinking loudly away a little too fast because an energetic 9 year old has wound it up a little too much.

A woman's voice said "National Cancer Center, hold please...go ahead." and my oncologist came on the line. I went last Thursday for a CT scan and was expecting to see and discuss the results on March 9 at my regular monthly appointment. Dr. Fujiwara told me that the results arrived on his desk this afternoon and that the spots on my lungs have grown (in spite of depriving them of estrogen and tricking them with Tamoxifen) and that he felt I should see him sooner than next week to talk about the next strategy; Herceptin. I'll go tomorrow morning to see what plans can be made. He said that I should discontinue the daily Tamoxifen pills in order to prepare for a new regime. He mentioned that he hoped to get me into a clinical trial with Herceptin to help keep the costs down. I thanked him for calling and put the phone on its cradle just as the Doll Festival music wound down.

The results aren't so great, but at least I don't have to wonder how they were until next Friday and I can stop taking my morning pills so maybe some of these hot flashes will stop.

Where Did This Month Go?

My super survivor friend downstairs had a four day weekend in the hospital because her her regular physician who visits her weekly decided that her cold had gone on long enough and that she might not last much longer with her breathing difficulties. She was rushed off in an ambulance with her dinner still in the microwave and a pot of stewed fish and daikon radish on the stove. I visited her on Sunday and she had already bounced back from the brink to her usual vibrant self and was concerned about how bad her apartment might smell upon return, whenever that might be. She asked me to clean out her refrigerator, wash up a little, water her plants, air out her futons and bring her some more pajamas and a bathrobe. I told her that I'd be glad to do these things but that it would be Tuesday afternoon before I could deliver the pajamas and robe as the visiting hours at her hospital are very strict and I couldn't make it the next day. This was fine with her and she seemed quite cheered up by my visit. I had J with me as we were on our way to an interview test in northwestern Tokyo.

Monday morning I managed to get all of my neighbor's trash out before the garbage truck came. The refrigerator got a very thourough cleaning as there were quite a few artifacts from last century inhabiting the inner regions. I think that the refrigerator must be a 1997 model, as that was the earliest expiration date I discovered in the very back of the top shelf...

My friend called last night to ask if I'd come pick her up today as she'd been given the OK to check out. She said she didn't need the extra PJs or robe after all. I warned her that her refrigerator was a brightly lit cavern because I'd gone a little overboard on the cleaning and let her know that I'd go out and stock up on any food she felt she could eat. She laughed and said that she'd been needing some help cleaning it out and was glad for the space. I hope she isn't too shocked.

My kind and patient British friend in the neighborhood has offered to drive me there and help out so we're off to the hospital this morning.

Three Day Weekend

Not much happening now but I expect that we'll have a busy few weeks before M's graduation from elementary school. Her class is planning to surprise the teacher with a few songs at a post graduation celebration and a schedule for practising a few evenings before then just arrived by fax.

Wednesday is open house at the elementary school and the kids will have a jump rope exhibition. N came home yesterday and complained that her jump rope wasn't strong enough, showing me that it had snapped in half. When I questioned her further, she confessed to accidentally landing on it while jumping rope on a unicycle after school. Somehow I think that this is NOT part of the exhibition...The biggest problem with the snapped jump rope is that it was M's, not N's, to begin with. Tomorrow I shop for a new jump rope for M.

Not So Bad on a Sunday Morning

S suggested I try out the gym today to see if it was less crowded. I managed to time things right and finish my workout just as the aerobics class began so there were only 3 of us in the ladies' locker room. The bath and sauna work both working so I relaxed almost as long as I worked out. S and the kids were just beginning to fry some noodles on the hot plate at the table when I arrived home. Tomorrow I try the pool.

The Gym

S has encouraged me to join the gym he has been using since last spring. He said that the bath and sauna alone are relaxing and worth the membership fees and that I could use the pool mornings when the kids are in school. To get the most out of my membership, I went with him on the first of this month to sign up and get started.

There are a few gyms in the neighborhood, one is actually quite luxurious with flashy new facilities, lots of aerobikes, walking and jogging machines, step machines and 5 or 6 of every type of weight machine as well as all sorts of lessons in aerobics, yoga, kick boxing, swimming, water aerobics etc. available. I went there as a visitor with a friend from the neighborhood last spring and had a yoga class with about 50 other perspective members and their member friends. Another is a little older but has similar facilities and about half the classes.

The club S felt was the best bargain for our purposes is the oldest in the area. It attracts the less cosmopolitan clients. It has a 25 meter pool and a small machine studio with one of every machine, 5 stationary bikes, 3 walking machines, 1 jogging machine and a small mirrored area where classes of up to 10 can do aerobics (if they have full membership). I have a "training" membership which lets me use the facilities but requires 1,000 yen extra for every lesson I decide to take. There are only one or two classes a day.

S showed me how to use some of the machines and then rested while I worked out a while as he didn't want to overstress his neck just yet. Then we headed off to our respective locker rooms to relax in the sauna and use the big Japanese style baths and showers. He enjoyed his time in the men's bath, happily thinking of how he had generously provided me with a nice way to relax.

In the meantime, I was bustled about by a large group of women who had just finished their morning water aerobics in the pool and were heartily sudsing up and spraying their soap all over the place, having loud conversations over the jacuzzi jets about how the sauna was broken yet again and shoving around to make room in the big bathtub for their friends. I ended up showering quickly (without covering the rest of the bathers with my shampoo, I know proper communal bathiquette) and getting dressed to go out and wait for S.

He was surprised to hear about the crowd as the men's room is only busy in the evening. We've figured out that lunchtime might be the best time to go as the morning class ladies will have finished by then. I went yesterday to try this theory out only to find one woman paddling around horizontally in an undignified manner in a quarter of the usual amount of hot water as the tub wouldn't fill any farther due to some problem with the boiler. She shouted out happily to all who entered (not as many as the previous morning, as suspected) that as the sauna was still broken and the bath wasn't filling up, this was the only way to get warm after her morning swim. Great, a foot bath...The showers are powerful and hot anyway.

Today I took the kids to the local shrine's annual bean throwing event so I don't know how the gym is on Saturdays. There is a supermarket on the first floor of the gym so I can do the daily shopping on my way home from working out. I was glad that S was so encouraging about getting started as my 2 or 3 long walks a week don't seem to be enough to keep (more like "get") in shape and I won't be able slack off if he's there too. I think that he uses the bath and sauna more than the gym when he goes though...

Good News

The results on possible genetic blood disorders have come back and the news is good. I don't have the "faulty" gene that messes up my blood clotting abilities (or rather ability to stop clotting at the right point) or any other conditions that increase susceptibility to clotting and the blood clots are most likely from the Tamoxifen after all. This means I don't need Coumadin just yet and pressure stockings, walking and a little bit of daily aspirin should do the trick.

It was so uplifting to be told that I don't have an inherited condition
that I might just become a hypochondriac and go get tested for all
sorts of things so I can hear that I don't have them. Let's see, I know I don't have an under active thyroid, I'm not pregnant with quadruplets (even if I look like I might be...) I don't have plantar warts, my liver is healthy, my cholesterol is low(per to monthly blood tests)...there is all sorts of good news.


Today we take M to the junior high school for uniform fitting and purchasing a couple hundred dollars worth of gym suits and authorized school shoes. J's uniform already seems a little small even though we bought it "large enough to grow into" last year so we'll probably be a little more generous on the growth predictions this time around.

I had my 2nd Zoladex injection on Wednesday and got results from last week's ultrasound of the veins below my heart down to my ankles. I'd had a blood clot in my left calf two years ago when I was on Tamoxifen and now that my onco. wants to combine the previously ineffective Tamoxifen with monthly Zoladex, he wanted to monitor how the veins are handling it. It turns out that what I had thought to be sore muscles from ice skating around and around and around counterclockwise in the indoor skating rink was actually a 5cm clot in my right calf.

The soreness went away, but the clot was still visible by ultrasound last week. Knowing of my concern regarding Factor 5 Leiden (a genetic blood disorder), my onco. thought he should send me to the top hematologist in Japan for testing before prescribing warfarin etc. This means a trip with a letter of introduction to another hospital (Keio) between the cancer center and my home. I went right away, that same day, to be turned away at the reception desk for arriving 5 minutes after the 11 a.m. deadline for outpatient service.

I did learn that the "top specialist" would be on duty next Tuesday, so I'll try again then. Here's hoping that he won't need me to stay overnight for Heparin and observation....I'm wondering if taking an aspirin a day might be enough, but I guess this is something that I should let the experts look at as I really don't want a dislodged clot reaking havoc when it reaches my lungs and heart.

In my rush to get to the new hospital, I forgot to stop by the pharmacy near the Cancer Center and pick up my prescription so I had to go to 6 pharmacies near my home this morning to find one that carried the specific brand (not Nolvadex but a cheaper equivalent, which the pharmacies and doctors don't like to offer because their commissions are lower and they feel loyal to the drug companies for some reason) my doctor prescribed. What a pain in the...but good excercise, cycling around the city.

It was fun terrorizing all of these places just by walking in the door. They see blue eyes and immediately start pushing at each other to see who should attempt to help the foreigner, like penguins pushing to see which bird will jump into the freezing water first. Then two or three of the pharmacists will approach the counter together to help each other if I should suddenly say something in English. When I greet them in Japanese and explain what I need, the extras all bow and retreat to continue whatever they were up to before I graced their establishment. The next Zoladex shot will be on Feb-13, when the four hard core survivors have their elegant ladies lunch, to which I've been invited as a fifth member. Then I get a CT scan w/contrast on Feb-22 and discuss the results of that in early March to see if the Zoladex and Tamoxifen are working or if I should start Herceptin (if I can figure out how to afford it without taking food out of my children's mouths...) I really hope that the Zoladex and Tamoxifen are working for now so I don't have to make any big decisions just yet.

Anyway, I feel fine and am glad that things are calming down at home now that DH is recovering from his surgery and the kids are back in school after New Year's vacation.