Emily Gawaran Breast Cancer Fund

We had a great turn out today for Emily at our live event at Fozzy's Skybox and are so grateful to all who have donated their time, talent and support.
We will keep this page live for a few a more days, we know many of you have been away and life is busy.

Emily's latest update, Friday 1/26/24:
Friday means chemotherapy infusion day. #9 out of 12! Hooray!
Life has to go on for all of us. I thank God for friends that I saw and chatted these past weekends. I thank God for family that came and visited and are respectful of me being immunocompromised. I miss you all. Few more days, we will be into February. For me, that means being so close to end of chemotherapy infusion. I can see a flicker of light at the end of the tunnel. Liver enzymes went down although still high. I stayed away from fried foods and greasy stuff. I had more vegetables after the holidays so I think that helped. CBC are stable although hgb is still on the low side. Wbc and platelets are normal. Whew!
As usual, I slept most of the infusion time. I tried to chew ice to help with preserving my taste buds. Those are pretty much shot nowadays.
Today is also start of a new cycle so I have appointment with my oncologist before infusion. I told him my concerns of neuropathy. I rely mostly on my hands and finger tips at my job. I do small surgical procedures and basically tons of shave biopsies everyday. He is hopeful that it is temporary but it is slow process for it to resolve. So I painstakingly iced my hands and feet today throughout the chemo and 1 hr post infusion. I also mentioned exhaustion and bone pain although I knew it is part of the process and side effects. He said it is tough but it will get better once I am done.
There is still offer for fluid infusion during the days I feel dehydrated but I don't think I need them yet. I will just have to force myself to drink more fluids. I hate to go back to the clinic except during my infusion but glad to have that option. Plus,I have PTSD for fluid infusion since I had fluid overload when I was pregnant with Enzo. Not able to breath laying down is scary.
We brought Panera bagels to the crew at the hematology and infusion clinic today since my day started at the clinic at 0730. First one in. I know for a fact that in the clinic, we always love food. They were appreciative of the little treat this morning. I was meaning to do this since last month but it seems like every infusion day, today is the only day that is not very cold, no winter stormy weather or raining. So today is the day.
Went for a nap after late lunch at home.
Now that dexamethasone is doing its thing. I am going to walk a little bit using the treadmill and read a book. I am celebrating each " I feel good day". I try to be productive so i have something to check off as "Done". I will deal with the rest when it comes.

Can't wait to see you all there!

Emily's last Tx update as taken from her feed. Please keep sharing our fundraiser page.

EmDon Gawaran
3 hours ago
·
5th infusion done
7 more to go. Yay!
After a scary situation yesterday, Chest CT is negative for PE. We decided to not delay treatment so I asked if we can do one today. Chemotherapy infusion went uneventful. I feel good to plan a little bit of life this afternoon.
I truly appreciate all your kindness, words of encouragement and help.
I am not one of those that accept or ask for help readily. It is very hard for me to ask for help because I can still move and not invalid. There are others that needed help more than me. When I help others, I do it without blares and noise. Therefore, opening up with my current condition and allowing people to help me is a hard thing to do. However, accepting them makes this journey easier. Knowing that I am not alone gives me strength and courage.
I sincerely appreciate all those that sent messages, cards, called, included me in their prayers, sent food and doordash/ GC. I am humbled by your kindness. May God bless your hearts.
Cheers to a better year this 2024!