{NOTE: This was originally published on Vanessa’s CarePage. We are copying all those posts here to have her story in one place that all can access. We are back-dating the posts to match when she originally published the post there, and are marking the blog post here with Vanessa as the author, as these words that follow are her own.}

Posted Apr 28, 2007 4:27pm

Me (with my curly wig) and Jess at the NCC Gala looking all pretty.

So chemo #3 went good. (And I didn’t get sick!…just really tired, but turned out pretty darn good considering.) Dr Brennan said he was certain the tumor is shrinking which is fantastic! He said it started out about 4.5cm x 5cm, and now it is somewhere in the 3-3.5cm range. He also was confident that the cancer in the lymph nodes is also getting smaller. Which means we are on schedule and things are going as planned. :) He said best case scenario would be that it shrinks entirely and melts away completely, but even it that happens, I will still need surgery and radiation. But it is good news about it getting smaller, because for some people, the tumor doesn’t always respond to the chemo, and there is no change in size. So thankfully for me al this chemo is doing something good! :)

Next on the agenda is to talk to the genetics counselor on Monday and get more information on the P53 test. Since my BRCA results came back normal, we are still trying to figure out if my cancer is something genetic. It all still a big mystery, but we are hopefully getting a little closer to some answers. But it’s all in Gods hands, so I know everything will turn out OK!

Other than that, no new developments…still usually wearing the wigs when I go out, but “letting it all hang out” when I am at home. I’ve gotten pretty good feedback on the wigs looking “real” so that makes me feel better. It still feels like I’m wearing a hat with hair coming out of it or a costume wig or something, but I’m getting more used to it. I braved the baldness (well, sorta – I had a handkerchief on) when we visited Christina last weekend, but it was still kinda weird just walking around acting normal! So far my eyebrows and eyelashes have stayed put, so I’m hoping they can tough it out and stick with me, but we shall see!

That’s about it really…your prayers are doing wonderfully!

Mom, Jess, and Christina feeding the alpacas...I kept my distance (they were snorting at me!)