1/31/24:  Updated to post our first family pic of me in my new wig.  Sending love to all! - Chi

Chi completed her fifth chemo treatment a couple of weeks ago on January 9. She’s doing great now, but this round was the roughest yet in terms of side effects. Our experience over the past five rounds has been that she is knocked down pretty good for the first two weeks after treatment, but the third week she rebounds to her normal self until it’s time for the next one. Throughout all of these ups and downs, she’s been doing an awesome job of being intentional with the remaining energy she has to Austin, Nora and myself and maintaining her usual upbeat, positive attitude.

Up until this weekend she was mostly unable to eat any solid food and has been very exhausted. (I think she went an entire week without eating any solid food except for the occasional milkshake or smoothie.) Loving food, one of the most difficult side effects has been the repeated letdown of how food tastes. She will work up an appetite and get excited about eating something, only to find out that it tastes like “cardboard” or “sandpaper” due to how the chemo affects her tongue. We ended up going into the hospital for IV fluids because of how weak and dehydrated she got, and anticipating the same we’ve pre-scheduled IV fluids after her last treatment.

A positive development is that she rebounded after the first wig shop visit. We went to another shop which we really liked and ended up purchasing one (Bernadettes Hair Salon And Wig Studio in Dunwoody). It’s an awesome match. She has yet to wear it out, but the maiden voyage is coming up tomorrow night when we go on a date night.

Regarding immediate next steps, her last chemo(!) treatment is on this upcoming Tuesday, January 30. After that she has a MRI scheduled to check on the size of the tumor and finally consultations with her surgical oncologist and plastic surgeon to decide which surgery is best (lumpectomy, single mastectomy or double mastectomy). Whichever route we decide to go with, surgery is slated for late February.

Thank you for all of the love and support you’ve provided through this journey. It means so much to the four of us!

Brent