At last, treatments have reached the end!

I cannot believe that it has been almost 4 months since I wrote my last post about Cycle 3 of treatment and now it is finally over (along with busy season which I am potentially even more excited about)! 

April 5, 2014: last Temodar pill was taken

April 11-19, 2014: went to Italy and had an amazing time

April 24, 2014: had my first, post treatment MRI and it was clear!

The cavity that remains in my brain, open, where the tumor cells were removed, will have to be watched very closely over the next year, MRI's every 3 months. A year from now, we will say that I am in remission. Dr. Weaver said that after that, they can spread out further and that hopefully it will be a decade or more before we notice changes in the cell behavior and at that point, will determine the next steps. My hope is that we put this thing to sleep for 70 years, then I'll be 94 when it comes back and at that point, SEE YA!! Those of you who do, please continue to pray for me. 

Want a little more positive news? My hair has started to fully grow back! Remember those pictures where I got a little too brave and showed the world my missing hair. Well world, it is coming back!! Slowly, but surely. For now, the bangs and headbands will continue to be my best friend. 

If anyone is interested in my trip to Italy, I put up a couple hundred pictures on facebook and so did everyone else on the trip! I'm also going to summarize the trip on here and tell everyone what we ate each day because it was quite amazing. 

We left Hudson at 1pm on 4/11 on a bus to Boston Logan, where we flew directly to Rome at 10:40pm (Eastern time) for arrival in Rome at 12:40pm (Italy time, would be 6:40am here) on 4/12. While in Boston, we had a lot of extra time to spare so we found a restaurant, had dinner and some vino, then after dinner, had a little more at the wine bar. We just wanted to relax you know before the 7 hour flight! Well, it worked, I slept 90% of the flight! 

Once we arrived in Rome (Day 1), we visited the Trevi Fountain and the Pantheon. Most of us threw coins into the fountain and made a wish. It was pretty insane seeing all the tourists! I felt like I was in NYC while in Rome, only difference, NYC doesn't have Gelato. And yes, on day 1, we all got some Gelato and it was worth it. Now I know why everyone told me ahead of time that I will love it. After this 1/2 day, we went back to our hotel. I was lucky to bunk with one of my best friends (and now actual "buddies") Jess Shader. Our room was pretty sweet. We had a nice balcony which was the best part! The shower was a bit small, but come to find out, that is standard for Italy. Small showers, toilets with no seats and the famous, Bidets. I regret to inform everyone that I did not try out the Bidet. 

Anyways, that night for dinner we had Margherita Pizza, salad and an icy lemon type dessert drink. Can I just say, after not having cheese for the past few months with very rare cheats, this pizza was AMAZING.

I'll try to make the rest short and if anyone is interested in what we did or saw, they can look it up! :-)

Next day (Day 2), we went to the Catacombs (15 miles of underground burial grounds), the "Wedding Cake", Piazza Venezia, walked around a lot and noticed a lot of beggars, people doing weird yet cool stuff for money, break dancers, etc. For lunch I split pizzas with my cousin, Lexi, it was delish. Dinner that night was spaghetti with bacon/ham - it was okay. The Rome food was very salty!

Day 3 was our busiest Rome day. We saw the Vatican, the Basilica, the Roman Forum, the Colosseum. Lots of touring, lots of learning. That day for lunch was pretty awesome. We found this cute little street, we had guys playing an accordion for us, singing, a little dancing, we saw a woman have her purse stolen right off of her chair while sitting down and eating lunch. Luckily, the woman's kids jumped up and caught the little thief! My lunch was some delicious spinach ravioli and we all split some antipasto salad for an app. Prior to meeting back with our group, a few of us (shout out to Gram) decided to have a few cocktails, margaritas for Jess and I. Dinner this night was this amazing lasagna. Jess and I were left in the dust by the adults and ended up sitting with the high school boys. Turned out to be fun! This was 1 of 2 of our not so sober evenings in Italy. We skipped the night tour and went to another bar. Thanks to Laurie Wordon for taking care of us! 

Day 4 woke up fully clothed, greattttt. Had a bus ride to Assisi which was my favorite of all places. We stopped for wine, crackers and samples on the way to give the bus driver a break (Paulo). I can't believe I have yet to mention our, very attractive tour guide, Stefano! Anyways, Assisi was beautiful. Even the St. Francis of Assisi church was amazing. During our short stay in Assisi, I managed to purchase leather  boots and flats. Oops. I split some focaccia bread with zucchini and cheese on it with Jess. After this, a 3 hour bus ride to Florence, where we got to the hotel and ate dinner, pasta, salad and pork. This hotel was NOT our favorite. But as Jess said, we can't always have the best room. I mean, I guess things could be worse than cardboard blankets and sandpaper towels. Or maybe not. 

Day 5 we find out the shower is broken as well, just lovely. Saw a gothic cathedral in Florence, shopped a lot, bought a few two three things at Zara, had the BEST lunch of the trip, this seafood pasta with mussels, shrimp, squid, clams and a bloody mary. Also had an amazing dinner this night (thanks to Mrs. Barletta). It was this vegetable stew/soup, pasta, pork, roasted potatoes. 

Day 6 Free day in Florence - did a lot of walking, picture taking, enjoying ourselves, shopping, etc... Had spinach ravioli for lunch, so good. Then a 4 hour bus ride to Venice. This hotel was our favorite! Had a great dinner and hung out with the waiters until way too late. Got to facetime with my love, +John Bunnell that was fun :-) I know they enjoyed the Jess and Erica show. 

Day 7 Bus ride to Venice, water taxi in, went on a walking tour of Venice. Took a Gondola ride which was amazing. This is a place I would LOVE to visit again. The streets are all very tiny and it is very easy to get lost. We had an amazing lunch right on the water. Split some Caprese with Jess and had green ravioli with bolognese. Mmm! Dinner was pasta, beef/steak and potatoes.

Day 8 The journey home :-(

If anyone has a chance to go to Italy, do not pass it up!!! Great trip!

So Happy about my clear MRI!

Stay positive everyone!!

Side Note: Can't wait until +Laura Konderwich comes back to the US. I'm really starting to miss this biotch.

<3 Erica Nicole

The Dawn of Cycle 3 of Chemo treatments, Busy Season, AND Creepy Selfie Pictures!

I have had some recent requests lately to update my blog. I can't believe it has been over a month since my last post! I guess I have been busier than I thought because this past month, all holidays included, flew by! I can't believe it is already January! January means a start to longer days at work and Saturdays in the office. I have been back to work just as usual!

Here is my medical situation/update: 
(1) every two weeks, blood work
(2) every four weeks, appointment with doctor to get next cycle's meds
(3) first MRI since starting the chemo will be at the end of January 

Two weeks into Cycle 1 (250 mg of Temodar), my white, "fighter" blood cells were very low so they recommend lots of hand washing, staying away from people etc. Four weeks in, they went up but not enough so for Cycle 2, Dr. Weaver reduced my dosage down to 220mg, this remained the same for Cycle 3 which I started Monday, Jan 6. Apparently the dosage may change throughout, depending on my blood work. Its Thursday, and 4 days in, I still feel pretty good. 

I actually went to Brown's tonight with some friends to wish my bestie +Eileen McElduff off to her new career and location! Although she will be missed in Albany, this gives more reasons for group trips :-) LOVE YOU SO MUCH GIRL! GOOD LUCK!!!! 

OH YEAH, getting these pills has been a TRAIN WRECK each month. They have to be home delivered from a specialty pharmacy. Somewhere along the process, something gets screwed up, every time. Also, once a month (and yes, it still gets screwed up), I have to have a 15 minute phone call with the specialty pharmacy to tell them my name, DOB, address, insurance company, dosage, if I have any extra on-hand, if I have any questions, if it needs to be signed for, social security number. Okay, the last one is a stretch but it is just very annoying. AND they don't call you to tell you if it didn't go through, instead, you have to call them and find out that the insurance company didn't approve it and it will cost a low $6,000+ a month, then you call insurance, it's a pain! I have to say, this past cycle (maybe third time is a charm?) went much smoother. 

I started slowly reducing the steroid I have been on since my surgery but then I started getting those weird, hard to explain, headaches, feeling of tightness/pressure, unable to focus, etc. SO, the Dr. says it is probably from that, so I upped the dose again and I have been feeling better. One major negative side effect = sleeplessness. 

So, I think I wrote in my last blog about how my left eyebrow started to thin and "no one noticed" and then every couple days, it would get worse and worse. After crying about it, more than I wanted to, I decided to do something about it. I watched some how to pencil/fill in your eye brow videos on youtube, bought the best products available (Anastasia Beverly Hills), and soon enough, became a pro at making eyebrows. I'll admit, for those weeks where it was completely bare, even the most talented make-up artist couldn't make them look real but I did my best and I had my bangs to help hide them. In addition, I lost a lot more hair than I was hoping. The top and left side was really bad. The clip-in bangs have been really a life saver. I am so used to putting them in and shadowing in my brows, it has become part of my daily routine (maybe have to get up 10-15 min earlier but whatever).

At first, I would say the worst part of all of this was at night and weekends. I still have to take my make-up off and take my clip-in bangs off and then it's just like, oh wow, this still sucks but I'm so used to that now. I can't just wake up on Saturday and Sunday like I used to and run errands without a little work but it really doesn't bother me. And now having people spend the night or me staying else where with groups of people is just kind of awkward. But I just can put on a headband to sleep and wash all the make-up around my brows off. It's worked out so far!

Anyways, Very few people had the "privilege" to see what this actually looked like throughout the process but now that it is finally growing back, I am willing to show the world. I guess I just want to show people again, that life really isn't that bad! 

Brows: Top Left (original), Moving Down (slowly thinning, getting worried), Top Right (non-existent - the WORST few weeks for me, this may have possibly been my most recent break down point), Moving Down (slowly growing back, happy as can be)

Self explanatory missing hair.

BUT, as stated above, I have managed to shadow in my brows, clip in my bangs and get ready for the day! I even look like I did when I was a youngster :-)

Same hair style 20+ years later. Love it!

Or on most weekends and lazy nights, I have been wearing these...

Picture was post eyebrow fiasco.

And I really don't want to gross anyone out so if you hate scars, staples, etc. I would advise you not to look much further (even though you can probably see it already..lol. I'm sorry) but I wanted to show everyone how amazing the surgeon was with re-stitching me and how well it has healed since July.

Who would have thought? Just Amazing.

While I was going through this crazy picture blog moment, I came across this gem that never hit the social world. Me with one of my nurses in ICU after surgery.

I was most likely her favorite patient :-) JK

Alright well I am done with the pictures in this post, I promise!

If anyone is wondering, I had a FABULOUS holiday break. I spent so much time with my family. I got to see all of my friends who live near and far (special shout outs to the out of state and country people, +Ashley Gaylord (Chicago), Randi Williams (Tampa) and Mark Coleman (somewhere in Italy). This was all so special to me! Celebrating Randi's bachelorette was AMAZING! LOVED IT!!! Missed +Laura Konderwich but was able to video chat with her pretty recently :-) LOVE YOU ALL

I also started studying for the CPA exam again. Wish me luck!

Until next time...

<3 Erica Nicole