Makoto's Pesky Cells

That’s what they call it anyway. Doxorubicin also known as Adriamycin which is the “A” in AC. Makoto’s first dose was this last Tuesday, and I think we all collectively held our breath to see what the effect would be. So far, it does not seem to be awful, but it is having a much…

Makoto is finally feeling better and can get sleep again at night. Given everything else, that’s really good news. It’s been a bit of a whirlwind the last few days. On Tuesday we finally went to a deserted Urgent Care in the city to get her checked out. A battery of tests, including a CT…

The last MRI of the tumor was in April. This week Makoto got another MRI and Friday we heard from the surgeon on the results. THE TUMOR HAS SHRUNK BY 50%!!!!! MRI results are returned as a set of three dimensional coordinates. Front to Back, Side to side, Top to Bottom. In two of the…

This week was week 11 of the first round of treatment. It was the 4th week of the Carboplatin + Taxol treatment regimen. Next week will be the last week of Taxol + Carbo, then a week break. After that week there will be an MRI to see what impact the first rounds have had…

We got the MRI results back on Monday and were super happy to see that the tumor has started to shrink! It looks like it’s smaller by almost 7mm, which is good news! The “but” comes in the form of Dr. Oncologist wanting more. She had been hoping for more of a reaction to the…

A few years ago time and genetics caught up with me. I remember very clearly the day Makoto shaved my head the first time with clippers while I sat in the bathtub. It’s become a bi-weekly ritual for us. How odd it was then that a little over a week ago Makoto and I traded…

What a week. 2020 feels like a waking up from a nightmare into a new, somehow worse nightmare. San Francisco is now in a shelter-in-place mode. Schools are closed. Both our offices are work from home. It’s also raining a lot. My dad is here supporting us and has basically taken over Soren’s schooling, which…

皆さん、応援ありがとう！日本語でのポストが遅くなり申し訳ない😅　2/25から抗がん剤と免疫療法の治療が始まり、今日で３回目。コロナウィルスの影響でいつもは人でごった返しているUCSFも今日はとても静か。病院までの交通もとってもスムーズで、コロナの影響力はすごい。アーロンの会社も今週から全社員自宅勤務、私の会社も自宅勤務を推奨してます。とにかく今私の免疫力が低いので、我が家は家族全員手洗いとアルコール消毒を念入りにして、感染を防いでいます。 今のところ、週に一度、抗がん剤(タキソル)、免疫療法の投与。副作用としては、疲労、身体の節々の痛み、下半身の湿疹、下痢、くらいで特に問題なく進んでいます。ただ、昨日の血液検査で白血球値がかなり低くなってしまったので、明日から白血球値を上げる薬を自分でお腹に注射することになりました。 副作用のコントロールや自分の免疫力アップするために、週に一度の針治療、毎日軽い運動、治療中はアイス手足を冷やす、食事を菜食ベース、瞑想やヨガ、治療の前日と当日はファースト(断食)、ビタミンDの摂取、などをしています。これらはUCSF のIntegrative Oncologist (統合的ながん治療の専門医) から推奨された事で、がんに負けない体を作るためにこれからも続けて行こうと思ってます。もちろん、ストレスをためないでポジティブに生活することが一番。乳がんになってしまったことはとてもショックだし、将来の事を考えると不安になりますが、自分の健康や「今出来ること」にフォーカスしています。と、ここまでは、3クルー目の抗がん剤投与前に書いていたのですが、抗ヒスタミン剤を投与された瞬間に寝てしまいました。😅 昨日の夜は熱、関節の痛み、寒気が出ましたが今朝にはすっかり良くなり、頭痛も針治療に行ったら随分と良くなりました。今日は午後から私の大嫌いなMRIをして、これから白血球を上げる注射をするところです。 今日もサンフランシスコはいいお天気！草廉の学校も月曜日から3週間休校です。 また近いうちにポストしますね！

Here are good things that have happened: Zero problems with the infusions. After the first week the surgeon said that on examination, the tumor has become soft. That’s good after a week. After yet another week the oncologist mentioned that the tumor has become quite soft now and is flatter. Another good sign. We heard…

Makoto and I both want to write a bit more about this subject in the near future, but Triple Negative Breast Cancer is an underfunded condition right now in terms of research dollars, etc. There are reasons for this, some of them historical, some practical, but others ugly. One thing that Makoto has thought a…