Chemo #4: Genetic Mutations, Hair Loss & St. Patrick's Day Tutus

Last Friday, I went through my 4^th round of Chemotherapy. It was a double dose so it was a longer session. My friend, Viviane and sister-in-law Cindy were there to make the time in the infusion center a little more pleasant. Thank you, girls!  Things are going pretty smoothly on Fridays. I am learning the routine and becoming friends with the staff. I also have a plethora of technology with me at all times so I can watch movies, play games (words with friends-hit me up!), Facebook etc. I really don’t know how people survive 6-7 hours of infusion without these things!  They are like the must-haves for all Chemo treatments.  Oh, and the Toms! Can’t forget the Toms!  Comfiest shoes ever.  So, far I am the only one in the infusion center who has them but I think they are going to catch on.

So, through this whole Cancer ordeal I have really tried to remain positive and look at the bright side of every situation. But, let’s be honest, you can only do that to a certain extent.  I mean, of course I feel like this should not be happening to me. How could this be happening to me?  I mean, I have 3 really cute kids, a good career (aside from the pink slip I was given this month), a happy marriage and super cool friends! I always ask Junior, is this really happening? The answer is yes, but he is always very calm and collected and always reminds me of the positive things that will come of this.  He reminds we how lucky we are that we were able to participate in this trial and that we have a phenomenal medical team. We really do. He also reminds me that we are seeing such miraculous results. He’s got a good point there. So, after our conversations, I get back on the happy bandwagon. Thanks, Jun!

Felicitas and Cindy during her treatment

This week, I also spoke to my genetic counselor. She informed me that I have a pretty rare genetic mutation in my BRCA 1 gene. Apparently, I am completely missing an entire allele of the gene. The fact that it has been deleted makes me predisposed to breast and ovarian cancers. I actually had and 87% chance of getting breast cancer and a 44% chance of getting ovarian cancer. So, I guess you could say this was inevitable. Had I known, I could have started the appropriate screenings at 25 years old. So, now when I ask myself why this is happening, I actually know. I know that it was nothing I did. It wasn’t the donuts in the lounge or the Chamango’s (if you don’t know about them, you need to) at lunch.  Now that we know, a lot of people in my family, including my own children, can be tested for the same mutation. Now, I feel good. Like I have helped my family and hopefully because of me, my whole family will be more proactive and have the information they need to take better care of themselves.  The genetic counselor also said that it was more than likely that my mom carried the same mutation, but that it wasn’t until recent years that they were able to test for this specific mutation- the deletion of an allele. This news also changes the course of my surgeries. With this mutation, the chances of reoccurrence are extremely high, so I am guessing that we are looking at a double mastectomy and removal of ovaries. I have not spoken to my surgeon since these results, but I am positive this is the direction in which she will head.

This week I have been feeling a little more sick physically and a little more down in the dumps about the hair loss.  But, I know that this means that the chemotherapy is working and that this is part of my cure.  I have to get through this to get to my cure.  Besides, Nikki at The Lab Salon is taking care of me today.  I told her I just wasn’t ready to go GI Jane, but I was ready for Halle Barry.  We will see.

Viviane and Felicitas at Chemo

On another note, the girls are very excited for St. Patricks day!  The Rayray girls love any excuse for a free dress day. We are working on some very festive tutus for them to sport at their preschool tomorrow. This mama needs to get crackin’.

Thank you for all of your continued love and support, prayers and good thoughts. I cannot tell you how uplifting the cards and notes and packages are.  This week I had my friend Cheli and Karla visit on two separate nights to help with dinner, the kids and give Junior a little break.  Thanks, girls!  We are also very anxiously awaiting the arrival of my godmother, Nana Janet!  She arrives tomorrow and everyone is really excited! 

Chemo, Week 3

I stayed with the Rayray's for four days last week. It was so great getting to spend such quality time with my funny, sweet, beautiful friend. We've had girls getaway weekends over the past years and she's brought her girls to stay with me for a night or two, but it's been a long time since we've been able to spend so many days together. I mean, how often do you get to move in with one of your best friends? We had so much fun! We spent the time organizing her linen closet, running errands, spending time with the kids, making dinners, going out to lunch, doing laundry, and we even got to shop a little bit! Somehow doing all the day to day chores was much more enjoyable at her place than at mine! But honestly, my favorite part was just getting to sit and talk to one of my favorite people every night.

Felicitas and I during her chemo infusion

We also went to her appointment with Dr. Parker on Thursday and I went with her to her third round of chemotherapy on Friday. It was hard for me to see how Felicitas' life has changed. She walks around UCSD Moores Cancer Center with such familiarity now. After all, she's in the Infusion Room every Friday and all of her doctor appointments are there. Of course I wasn't surprised to see her nurse Martha, cheering when she found out Felicitas was her patient and another nurse disappointed that she wasn't going to be treating her that day. She has such a positive attitude. People just want to be around her. She's the only patient joking and laughing her way down the infusion room. This week was the shortest infusion yet, but it was still 6 hours. The first thing the nurse does is draw blood for her labs. She then has to wait anywhere from 1-2 hours for those results. Then she receives her premeds, Benadryl and Decadron (a steroid) and finally chemo. This week she was given only one type of chemotherapy, Taxol.


The Rayray's continue to be amazed with the amount of support they've been receiving! The dinners people have been providing are such a huge help! Thank you! Also, Felicitas has been getting cards in the mail everyday. She really looks forward to these and has enjoyed hearing from you all! Especially all the memories and stories you've been including. She's also received such generous donations and gifts.  Thank you again for all your love and prayers!!! Like Junior said, "3 down, 17 to go!" With all your support, our girl is going to beat this!! Love you Felicitas!!

Visit with Dr. Parker

Yesterday, Felicitas had an appointment with her oncologist, Dr. Parker and received some more great news! Her tumor, which originally measured 8cm x 8cm, has shrunk even more to about 5 x 5 cm in size and feels much less dense. Her left axillary lymph node, in her armpit, has also reduced in size from 3.5 cm to 1.5 cm. The biopsy and MRI she'll have done next week will provide more precise measurements, but the Rayrays are feeling encouraged since the tumor is continuing to shrink after only two treatments.

Dr. Barbara Parker

Dr. Parker was surprised that Felicitas still has a full head of hair! Since she's receiving a lower dose of the Taxol every week, the process is taking a little longer than normal. But over the next few weeks, she will begin to lose her hair. She was given a prescription for a wig, so she'll get to go "hair shopping" soon.

Results from her blood draw showed that she has Neutropenia, a common side effect of chemotherapy that causes her white blood cell count to be low. She can continue with chemo, but it does mean she is more susceptible to infection. So the doctors advised her to be really careful and try to limit her outings in crowded places where she could be exposed to germs. To help raise her count, she'll now begin getting injections of Neupogen.

Since Felicitas has been feeling well and hasn't lost her hair, she was joking that she should be the "poster child" for the I-SPY 2 trial. Well, yesterday she got her wish! Dr. Parker mentioned that they were looking for a patient participating in the trial to be interviewed on the news, and possibly create informational videos on YouTube. Of course, this is right up Felicitas' alley and she agreed. So she'll be our own little celebrity!

Chemo, Week 2

After only 1 week of chemotherapy, Felicitas received some fantastic news! After a manual check, her doctor could tell that her tumor had already shrunk approximately 2 centimeters in size and was less dense than the previous week! The lymph nodes are also smaller by about 1 centimeter. So the Rayrays had plenty to celebrate this past weekend between Mateo's 1st birthday and this positive news!

For the second week of chemotherapy, Felicitas' brother Vinicio traveled from San Jose to be with her. This treatment was a little shorter since she only received Taxol this time. So far this week, she's been feeling much better. Her appetite is back and she's not feeling as tired. She said she should be the "poster child" for breast cancer! So it seems that the weeks she gets the two types of chemo, the Taxol and the Carboplatin, are going to be much harder on her than when she only receives the Taxol.

On March 8, she'll have a biopsy and an MRI as part of her clinical trial, to see the exact measurements of her tumor and lymph nodes.

Happy Birthday Mateo

Dear Mateo, 
I want you to know that you have the bravest of all parents, straight ninja-type parents, who after 3 months of finding out they were pregnant with you, were no longer scared out of their minds. After having your sisters, we were convinced that you were also going to be a girl. But at our ultrasound, the technician, announced that you were a boy. Daddy was dead silent. Mamá was bawling, rambling and texting......all at the same time.  You will soon find out that this is a common trend around here. 

On February 25th, 2010 at 12:10 am, you were born. So perfect and so sweet. So warm and so cuddly. So stinky and so smiley. So yawny and so grumpy. All at once. I know, mamá likes to make up adjectives. But you were and you still are. You have been such a miracle for our family. You are the only one that everyone fights to be next to. The only one that everyone fights to spoon feed (please do not get used to this). The only one that no one can ever be upset with and the only one who has never been to time out. Your sisters enjoy reading to you, showing you how to do things, watching you take a bath and pretending to know what you just said. 

You love learning new things. You love to dance as you listen to music (you always listen to Shakira because daddy says he is your favorite-hmmmmm). You enjoy being sung to (Pon, Pon, Pon and La araña pequeñita are some of your faves). You love trucks and electronics but you also enjoy playing Disney Princesses and Barbies with your sisters. Don't be embarrassed, this is  totally normal. 

This past year has been a little hectic, managing three kids has not always been easy. Sometimes daddy and I don't always know the right thing to do or say. But, I think daddy and I finally have it down. We realized what makes everyone happy. Love. All we have to do is love you. You fit in perfectly in this family because you love to be loved and we are all pretty darn good at it. 

Tú mami que te quiere.

Chemo, Week 1

1st Chemo Treatment

Felicitas had her very first chemotherapy treatment last Friday. The treatment should normally take a few hours because pre labs must be completed beforehand and pre meds need to be administered first. Unfortunately, this treatment lasted a long 7 hours. The first chemo drug she was scheduled to receive was Taxol. Her mom had been severely allergic to Taxol, so they had a nurse and physicians assistant monitoring her, ready to step in if Felicitas had a reaction to the drug. Her oncologist, Dr. Parker also checked in before her infusion, to make sure the nurses were aware there could be a possible allergy to the drug. Within a minute and a half of the Taxol infusion, she began having severe stomach cramps, was feeling extremely hot, and was unable to breathe. This was understandably very frightening. The staff explained that she isn't allergic to the Taxol, but was having a reaction because of the rate it was being administered. After a short recovery period, they tried giving her the Taxol again, but ended up decreasing the rate in half. So it took twice the amount of time to administer the drug, but Felicitas was able to handle the infusion well with this change. After receiving the Taxol, she was given her second chemotherapy drug, Carboplatin. She will get this drug once every three weeks. 

Felicitas and Lisa

Obviously after being there for 7 hours, she was completely exhausted! After chemo, she was able to come home and sleep for 3 hours. Her amazing comadres and friends of 15 years, Lisa Shimomura and Kristine Sterchi were at her first chemo treatment, along with Junior. They had been in town the week prior, helping the Rayray's prepare for chemo, run last minute errands, watch the kids, take care of the house, and keep Felicitas company. They also helped put together the kids' schedules, Felicitas' medication chart and organize all her medical paperwork. These were all tasks that needed to be completed before the Rayray's have family and friends staying with them to help. It meant so much to Felicitas to have had these two helping her through this difficult week. She feels so lucky to have you both in her life and loves you both so much!!

Kristine and Felicitas

For the most part, Felicitas has been feeling okay. She's definitely exhausted and feeling short of breath, but her nausea has been mild, although she doesn't have much of an appetite. She's currently taking anti-nausea medication, so hopefully that combined with a lower dose of weekly chemo treatments will help her not feel so sick. Thanks again for all the love, prayers and kind words!!!! It means more than you know!

Chemotherapy Update

Last week, Felicitas had a surgery to put in her Portacath. This device will be used to administer her weekly chemotherapy treatments. She also had a series of tests done in preparation for the clinical trial (Ispy-2), biopsies of tumor and lymph nodes, mamogram, ultrasound, MRI, and lab work. All the tests were sent to UCSF to be reviewed. This week, UCSF returned the MammaPrint, a microarray based test in which the result classifies analyzed tumors as low or high risk for recurrence of the disease. Her results indicated that her cancer is high risk and that she is eligible to participate in the Ispy-2 Trial immediately. I have included a link to an article explaining Ispy-2, the clinical trial that Felicitas is particpating in under "Important Links."

Yesterday, UCSD randomly assigned her as part of the 80% of participants to receive an experimental drug in addition to the standard chemotherapy.  Felicitas will go through 12 cycles of Taxol and 4 cycles of Carboplatin (1 cycle of Carboplatin every 3 weeks).

At 7:30 this morning, she met with her oncologist, Dr. Parker to discuss all of the details of her chemotherapy. Her first round of chemo is tomorrow, February 18 at 8am which is exactly one month to the day from when she was diagnosed. 

Felicitas has been completely overwhelmed by the love and kindness from all of the people who have reached out to her over this past month. Friends and family have been so incredibly generous. She has been receiving cards filled with encouragement and support, flowers, had her house cleaned, and been given meals through Dream Dinners that have already proven to be a huge help! The care packages have also been a wonderful distraction during this time. They've been filled with healthy snacks, items to make dinners, lotions, and gifts for the kids, just to name a few. Graciela and Maya are especially loving being able to open these weekly packages! A huge thank you to the staff of Juarez Lincoln Elementary, where Felicitas teaches. They made her a beautiful quilt where each staff member said a prayer while tying on a piece of yarn. They told her when she wraps herself in the quilt, she will be surrounded by their love and prayers. These amazing gestures combined with your thoughts and prayers are giving Felicitas the strength she needs to face each day. The Rayray's feel truly blessed to have such wonderful people surrounding them. 


Here's a message Felicitas wanted to make sure I included:
"Thank you so much to my incredible husband who has been so unbelievably positive and encouraging through this entire journey. He's spent countless hours researching on the internet, come with me to every doctor appointment, asked questions I wouldn't even think to ask. I mean, the doctors were so impressed with his questions, they asked if he had a medical background! He's making sure I stick to my "no refined sugar" diet (which isn't easy!) and even allowing me to sleep in! I have seen a different side to him through all of this. He's the husband I never knew I had! I love you Jun!"