Yesterday I had my 17th radiation treatment...so that is half-way done! No major side-effects noticed, although my skin is getting redder especially on my chest and under my armpit. Interestingly, I have a patch of radiation burn on the back of my shoulder as well...apparently it is an "exit wound" of sorts. I'm continuing to slather on lotions and aloe many times a day.
Last Saturday found me getting up and out early...not to go to a midwifery class or music teacher's workshop, as I would have done in my previous life...but to the Cancer Survivorship Conference at Life With Cancer in Fairfax. It was a good experience, very motivating as far as improving diet and exercise habits to maximize health, and I learned some strategies to deal with the emotional aspects of being a survivor. It is a mixed blessing to be in a room full of cancer survivors, though...on the one hand, it helps to be with people who are going through the same things you are, and to meet women who are long-term breast cancer survivors...on the other, it is very hard to see all the head scarves and be reminded of chemo, and to meet women who have had recurrences or who survived breast cancer but now have a secondary cancer. But all in all, I'm glad I went, and am very appreciative of this no-cost opportunity.
This coming Sunday, October 2, I'll be going to Richmond to walk with Emma, and some members of her sorority, in the Making Strides Against Breast Cancer walk. I'm looking forward to hanging out with Emma for the day, and hopefully the walk will be uplifting (and will do some good...we'll be 'creating more birthdays' as the American Cancer Society slogan says...). Here's the link to my page: http://makingstrides.acsevents.org/site/TR?px=22962404&pg=personal&fr_id=36177.
A huge thank you to Heather and Hope, who rode 100 miles on their bikes on September 18th, in a Century Ride to raise money for me! And a huge thank you to everyone who donated money to me through the ride...I am so very very grateful! Heather and Hope, you are amazing and inspiring.
So I am still feeling pretty good physically, although a bit more tired over the past few days...not sure if that is related to the radiation treatments or not. My hair is starting to come in a bit curly! And gray! I think some hair dye is in my future. Emotionally, I've hit some rocky periods again...not sure if that is due to the tamoxifen, or just the usual emotional roller coaster ups and downs. Sometimes it all becomes too much, and I feel pretty depressed...but there are happy times too.
The girls are doing well in their new school. I am enjoying walking them to and from, with Griffin in the stroller...it's so nice to be able to do that, rather than driving down 395 twice a day. Griffin is cute as can be, but a real handful...all boy, and getting more active every day. My kids bring me such joy!
Well, I will post another update soon when I'm done with radiation...it sure is going by quickly. Thanks to everyone for your continued support and concern. And a big thanks to Sara for coming over today to watch Griffin while I went for my treatment!
Love you all,
Liz
Tuesday, September 27, 2011
Tuesday, September 13, 2011
Surgery Date is Set
So I decided that I don't want to wait until January to have my DIEP Flap surgery (the reconstruction). These expanders are just so uncomfortable (the rib pain is not getting any better), plus psychologically it would be good for me to finish everything this year, and start the new year fresh. I was hoping to do it at the end of November, or beginning of December, so it wouldn't be too close to Christmas...but the only available date was December 14th. I debated a bit...it's a 4 to 6 week recovery, and I don't want to mess up Christmas for the kids...but decided to go ahead and do it. I plan to get all my holiday shopping, wrapping, etc done before the surgery, and then enjoy the actual day from the comfort of the sofa.
Good news: I got the pancreas biopsy results back...it was benign. Whew, a big relief. The doctor recommends getting another MRI in a year, I guess just to monitor for any changes.
Radiation continues to be uneventful. I am getting a slightly red area on my upper chest, which looks like a mild sunburn. I'm putting aloe and lotion on many times a day, and hope that it won't get any worse.
I happened to be surfing around the National Cancer Institute website and found a "Breast Cancer Risk Assessment Tool" (http://www.cancer.gov/bcrisktool/). I thought, hmm, I wonder what my risk of getting breast cancer is, according to this tool? I answered the questions as I would have when I was 40 years old (three years ago, in case you don't know!)...and it estimated that I had a .5% chance of developing breast cancer in the next 5 years (the average 40-year-old has a .6% chance). Wow, how did I manage to be the 1 in 200? Who knows how useful that assessment tool is, really...but it just added to the "why me???" feeling I've had all this time.
Which reminds me, if you are a woman who is 40 or older, please go out and get a mammogram, and a clinical breast exam! The best protection is early detection! If you want to learn more about breast cancer, VA Hospital Center is hosting "Ladies for Life: a free breast cancer education event for women of all ages", Saturday, October 1, 9:00-11:00am.
Love you all,
Liz
Good news: I got the pancreas biopsy results back...it was benign. Whew, a big relief. The doctor recommends getting another MRI in a year, I guess just to monitor for any changes.
Radiation continues to be uneventful. I am getting a slightly red area on my upper chest, which looks like a mild sunburn. I'm putting aloe and lotion on many times a day, and hope that it won't get any worse.
I happened to be surfing around the National Cancer Institute website and found a "Breast Cancer Risk Assessment Tool" (http://www.cancer.gov/bcrisktool/). I thought, hmm, I wonder what my risk of getting breast cancer is, according to this tool? I answered the questions as I would have when I was 40 years old (three years ago, in case you don't know!)...and it estimated that I had a .5% chance of developing breast cancer in the next 5 years (the average 40-year-old has a .6% chance). Wow, how did I manage to be the 1 in 200? Who knows how useful that assessment tool is, really...but it just added to the "why me???" feeling I've had all this time.
Which reminds me, if you are a woman who is 40 or older, please go out and get a mammogram, and a clinical breast exam! The best protection is early detection! If you want to learn more about breast cancer, VA Hospital Center is hosting "Ladies for Life: a free breast cancer education event for women of all ages", Saturday, October 1, 9:00-11:00am.
Love you all,
Liz
Saturday, September 3, 2011
Radiation Begins
I have now had two radiation treatments. Turns out, even radiation oncologists take Labor Day off, so I have three days off, then back to going every week day. Now that everything is in place, the treatments are very quick...I show up at 1:30 and go straight to the changing rooms, get my own gowns and change, and then sit down in the lounge; I barely have time to open a magazine before they call me in; I get into position on the table, and have to pretty much lie there limp while they scooch me into just the right spot by pushing and pulling on the sheet underneath me (it's hard to resist the urge to help, but they don't want you to, you have to let them do it); they put a warm wet cloth over my breast area, called a bolus I think, to increase the radiation near the skin; then I lie there not moving while the machine does it's thing, for about 5 minutes--it rotates around zapping me from different angles--I don't feel anything. Then I'm back to the changing rooms...about a 20 minute visit in total.
The girls and Nathan made a paper chain for me, with 33 links. They wrote little messages on each link, and I get to tear one off after each radiation treatment. A great way to count them down, and a nice boost to read the sweet and funny messages. I am also slathering on lots of stuff, to try to prevent radiation burns to my skin; my mom took me to Sandra Cope, a woman in Old Town that makes special lotions and has a reputation among breast cancer patients. She sold us two bottles of fresh cut aloe vera gel, as well as two kinds of creams. I soak a cloth in the aloe and apply it to my skin right after each treatment, then rub on the cream several times a day. I'm hoping it will do the trick. Thanks to Libby Garvey for telling us about Sandra!
The endoscopic ultrasound and biopsy last week was not a lot of fun. I'm not sure why it upset me so much, because I've been through worse...I think it was a combination of the fear that I've been keeping at the back of my mind all this time that it would turn out to be pancreatic cancer, and that having to be back in the hospital getting poked and prodded brought back unpleasant memories. Of course I didn't feel the procedure itself...they put me under. The worst thing to me was a plastic thing they stuck in my mouth, to open it and protect my teeth during the procedure...but they didn't warn me ahead of time, and suddenly stuck it in there...I couldn't swallow, and it felt like a gag was put on me. I like to know what's coming, and I wish they had explained it first, and told me that I would only be aware of it for mere seconds before going to sleep. Anyway, the good news is that the doctor told me right afterward that he didn't see any signs that the cyst is cancer, it still looks very benign to him; unfortunately, though, I have to wait 6 weeks for the pathology report to come back to be absolutely sure. I have heard 'it looks benign' before, so I won't fully relax until I get that report.
All is still good with the tamoxifen...the very slight nausea I was feeling is gone, and the hot flashes are minimal. I have added more supplements to my daily pile of pills...bee propolis and bee pollen (recommended by Sandra Cope), Quercetin (an anti-oxidant), Seratran (to 'repair, rebuild, and reactivate'), and most days I take probiotics. I am still juicing, and have a glass of fresh veggie juice first thing every morning. Physically, I feel pretty good in general--a normal energy level and a desire to get out and do things. Still experiencing a lot of rib pain on one side from the foob...but otherwise good.
It has been a very strange summer, all in all...I've been through a lot, but it has also been very nice being at home with the kids and just bumming around. I think we are all ready to get back into a normal routine, though...the routine of school for the girls, playgroup/music class/nap time for Griffin, and daily radiation for me. I hope there is a healthy, normal, uneventful fall in store for my family...and for all of you too.
Love you all,
Liz
The girls and Nathan made a paper chain for me, with 33 links. They wrote little messages on each link, and I get to tear one off after each radiation treatment. A great way to count them down, and a nice boost to read the sweet and funny messages. I am also slathering on lots of stuff, to try to prevent radiation burns to my skin; my mom took me to Sandra Cope, a woman in Old Town that makes special lotions and has a reputation among breast cancer patients. She sold us two bottles of fresh cut aloe vera gel, as well as two kinds of creams. I soak a cloth in the aloe and apply it to my skin right after each treatment, then rub on the cream several times a day. I'm hoping it will do the trick. Thanks to Libby Garvey for telling us about Sandra!
The endoscopic ultrasound and biopsy last week was not a lot of fun. I'm not sure why it upset me so much, because I've been through worse...I think it was a combination of the fear that I've been keeping at the back of my mind all this time that it would turn out to be pancreatic cancer, and that having to be back in the hospital getting poked and prodded brought back unpleasant memories. Of course I didn't feel the procedure itself...they put me under. The worst thing to me was a plastic thing they stuck in my mouth, to open it and protect my teeth during the procedure...but they didn't warn me ahead of time, and suddenly stuck it in there...I couldn't swallow, and it felt like a gag was put on me. I like to know what's coming, and I wish they had explained it first, and told me that I would only be aware of it for mere seconds before going to sleep. Anyway, the good news is that the doctor told me right afterward that he didn't see any signs that the cyst is cancer, it still looks very benign to him; unfortunately, though, I have to wait 6 weeks for the pathology report to come back to be absolutely sure. I have heard 'it looks benign' before, so I won't fully relax until I get that report.
All is still good with the tamoxifen...the very slight nausea I was feeling is gone, and the hot flashes are minimal. I have added more supplements to my daily pile of pills...bee propolis and bee pollen (recommended by Sandra Cope), Quercetin (an anti-oxidant), Seratran (to 'repair, rebuild, and reactivate'), and most days I take probiotics. I am still juicing, and have a glass of fresh veggie juice first thing every morning. Physically, I feel pretty good in general--a normal energy level and a desire to get out and do things. Still experiencing a lot of rib pain on one side from the foob...but otherwise good.
It has been a very strange summer, all in all...I've been through a lot, but it has also been very nice being at home with the kids and just bumming around. I think we are all ready to get back into a normal routine, though...the routine of school for the girls, playgroup/music class/nap time for Griffin, and daily radiation for me. I hope there is a healthy, normal, uneventful fall in store for my family...and for all of you too.
Love you all,
Liz
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