Getting ready for radiation

Everything went well today. They did a cat scan and I only have three marks. They are at the bottom of my ribs, one on each side and one on the front in the middle. She made marks with some sort of marker and then put a tiny tattoo there also. They said it will look like a freckle.

I will start radiation on July 7th. I have to be there at 12:30 that day then after that my appointments will be at 3:30 everyday. I will see the Dr every Tuesday so I will let you know how things go then.

The L's turned 3 today. We celebrated by taking them to eat at Fuddruckers. They are getting so big.

I guess that is it for now.

Have a great week!

Appointment with Surgeon

I went to see the surgeon Dr Brian on Monday. She said everything felt good and was very pleased. You can't feel the tumor anymore. She got me set up with a plastic surgeon, Johnathan Heistein, in Ft Worth. I go see him August 10th and we will decide what our best options are for implants. Dr Brian said she will do surgery about six weeks after radiation. That will make it the end of September or first of October. So there is plenty of time for both of them to get together and make a plan. Dr Brian will take them off and Dr Heistein will put new better ones in their place. Dr Brian will also take out the port at the same time. She said she will also take out a few lymph nodes since the one was compromised but not all of them. I will meet with her again after radiation and get everything finalized.

My next appointment is Monday June 29th with Dr Freeman at Radiation Oncology. I will get scanned and tattooed so I can start radiation the next Monday.

Last Chemo!!!!!!!

Hello everyone. Chemo is done!!!!! I am so excited. I learned something yesterday, that I don't recommend trying at home, mixing Musinex-D with IV Benedryl. I was stuffy and had been taking musinex which works wonderful but I did not take it yesterday until I asked. The nurse said I could take it so when I got to chemo I took the pills and they hooked me up to the Benedryl. Well, I got a really clear nose but before I left chemo I was so tired and after walking for a few minutes I got dizzy which made me nauseous. What a day it was. Other than that Chemo went fine and after sleeping off the meds last night I feel back to normal today. I will see Dr Crim again on July 13th to check my blood and make sure that it is all still normal. Since I am not going to be using my port anymore I will have to get it flushed every month until they take it out to keep it from getting a clot. So I will have that done when I see Dr Crim on the 13th. My port should come out when I have the other surgery. He also will do a CAT scan after radiation and before surgery to see how everything looks. Then he said at some point we will see what meds I have to take. I will still have to see him every three months for a couple of years to get my blood drawn and check everything out.

I am now moving to the next phase of all this, radiation. I go to see Dr Freeman, the radiation oncologist, June 29th to get the tattoos, scans and other markings. Radiation should start July 6th. I will then post once a week on the days I see him. I can't see posting everyday since nothing will be going on other than getting the radiation.

I will see Dr Brian, the surgeon, next Monday June 22nd. She wants to look me over and I will find out how long after radiation it will be before surgery. I will also get the name of the plastic surgeon. I want to go ahead and meet with them so they can get on the same page since they will both be doing the surgery. I don't want any delays moving forward after radiation.

Lets see what else. The kids will be 3 on June 29th!!!! Oh, that's one more appt we have, July 1st their 3 year checkup. We have their 3 year pictures made this week on Thursday, I am so excited. I hope everyone has a great day and great week. I will post next Monday after my meeting with the surgeon. Oh, I almost forgot I get the last shot of neulasta today.

Chemo phase 2 round 3

Everything went fine today. I got good news, he can't feel the tumor! He said there may be a little scar tissue but really nothing. The other Dr didn't feel anything either. Chemo was the same. I was out by 1:30, I went to the parking lot and ate a quick lunch with Brian and the kids and went back inside for my apt at 2:00. I met with the radiation oncologist Dr Freeman. I finally left there at 4:00. It was a long day, I got there at 9:20 this morning. Anyway we have a radiation plan. I am so excited (not really). Well, I am excited we have a plan and once that is over I can move on to surgery. What I am not excited about is I will be going to Ft Worth everyday M-F for 6 to 6 1/2 weeks. Oh well, I know that this too shall pass. The driving will be the worst of it. The longest I will be there on 4 of the days is about 45 min. The other day I see the Dr and it will take a bit longer. We can't start anything until after Chemo though. I only have one more treatment. I am very excited about that!

Here is what June looks like:

Neulasta Shot June 2nd
Last Chemo June 15th
Last Neulasta Shot June 16th
Appt (follow up) with Dr Brian the surgeon June 22nd
June 29th (Kids officially turn 3) Appt with Dr Freeman - I will meet with the dr and then I go get a scan done and the tattoos and other markings for radiation.

Dr Freeman said I should be able to start radiation July 6th. So as you can see I am not slowing down on bit. I am working hard to get this all behind us. Oh, and for those who don't know radiation is just like getting an x-ray, it just lasts a little longer. There really aren't any side effects from it. If anything the skin may turn red kind of like a sun burn or fluid may collect in my right arm because of the radiation on the lymph nodes. But that doesn't happen in everyone so I hope it is like Chemo and I don't have any major side effects.

It looks like late August or early September before the surgery. I will know more about that when I talk to Dr Brian.

I guess that is it for now. I am having fun this month planning the kids party and getting their 3 year pictures taken!

Chemo Phase 2 round 2

I didn't get anything posted last night because I couldn't get this darn thing to work. Anyway, we tried something new. We took the trailer to Ft worth and went camping. There is a RV park in Aledo so it is only about 20 min from the doctor. We went Sunday afternoon and it worked perfect. We didn't have to leave here at some awful hour on Monday and the kids had so much fun. We are going to do that for my next two treatments also.

Things went fine with chemo It only took a little over 3 hours this time. I still feel fine today and after lunch I will head to Stephenville to get my shot. I am supposed to meet with the radiation oncologist sometime soon. The surgeon and him need to make a plan so I can keep moving forward after my last treatment on the June 15th. I have an appointment with him on June 1st. I also have an appointment with Dr Brian the surgeon on June 22. Just a follow up with her to make sure everything is on schedule and moving along like it should. I won't know how much radiation I will need until they get together and figure it out. Then after radiation, the double mastectomy with reconstruction.

I don't know if anyone has noticed but I changed the about me section. I had to write something for MOPS and I thought it would fit there too. I moved all my favorite quotes under the profile because there just wasn't room there. For those who only read this by e-mail here is the new about me. "I was diagnosed Feb 20, 2009 with Breast Cancer. It was a shock especially at 36 to have a disease that I only thought about older people getting. I know there are young people but you never hear about them. The only people I knew were 50 or older. I am determined to beat this and I refuse to let it define who I am. I believe with all my heart that this is just a bump in the road of life and we will come out on the other side even stronger. I know that this happened for a reason. I don't know what that reason is and I may never, but God does. I may one day touch someone and that be it. I get up everyday and put one foot in front of the other and live my life. I hope others see that this is not the end of the world but just another day. Yes, with issues some days but still just another beautiful glorious day. I know God is here with me and has been with me every step of the way."

I know I am rambling on today but one more thing. I saw this yesterday at chemo:

What Cancer Cannot Do

Cancer is so limited......

It cannot cripple

love

It cannot shatter

hope

It cannot corrode

faith

It cannot destroy

peace

It cannot kill

friendship

It cannot suppress

memories

It cannot silence

courage

It cannot invade

the soul

It cannot conquer

the spirit

It cannot steal

eternal life

Well, I guess that is about it for today. Just remember that no matter how bad today may seem there is always tomorrow. So, Laugh at the confusion, Smile through the tears and keep reminding yourself that everything happens for a reason. I hope everyone has a great day!

Next Chemo June 1st.

Feeling Great

Hello everyone! I just wanted to let you know that things are going really good. I appear to have no side effects from this chemo. I feel great (knock on wood). I was really tired the night after chemo but yesterday I felt great and I still do. I got the shot yesterday. I didn't have any side effects from it last time so hopefully my bones won't hurt this time either. I only have 3 more treatments and shots left. I am counting down the days. My last treatment will be June 15. I will then go back to the surgeon to see what is next.

Hope everyone has a great Mother's Day!

Next Chemo May 18th

Chemo phase 2 round 1

What a long day. The dr called on friday and said they needed to move my appt to morning since the chemo was going to take 3 hours. We left here at 7:30 this morning. My appt was at 9:40. Once all was said and done I left the dr at 2:50. I was in chemo nearly 4 hours today. It shouldn't be that long next time but it will still 3 hours. Oh well, I will survive. I would rather sit there for 3 hours only 3 more times than one hour every week for 12 weeks. I haven't noticed any side effects from this chemo other than they give me benadryl by iv and it made me really tired. Benadryl always does so I expected that. The chemo I am taking now is Taxol. The Dr felt for the tumor and he says it is still there a tiny bit but it is not really measurable. I don't feel it but that is his job. I also found out friday that because I am going to be going every two weeks I will still have to have the shot of neulasta. So I will go to Stephenville tomorrow again for that.

My next chemo will be May 18.