I met with my Oncologist today for a quick check-up.  He moved my bone strengthening infusion to every 3 months instead of every 6 weeks and I will be having a PET scan on October 4th (about a year from my last one).

So far, no pain with this new pill, but I am having some fatigue.  I thought I was just tired from summer, but when I rest, or even when I get up in the morning, I’m still tired and feeling a little week.  The Dr. ordered a blood test to check my iron level and thyroid and they came back normal.  So we are going to see how the fatigue plays out in the next month or so. read more…

It’s been just over a week and so far so good with the new hormone blocking pill. 🙂

I met with a new plastic surgeon earlier this week.  I’m having some severe itching and occasional pain on the large scars on my healthy breast and it’s bad enough that I want to have them taken care of.  He recommended removing them surgically and then doing 3 low dose rounds of radiation to make sure they don’t come back.  I’m waiting to hear back on the cost, but thinking about trying to wait until the first of the year, so that the cost will go toward our max out of pocket for 12 months instead of just a few months. read more…

I’ve been off the hormone blocking pill for 2 weeks and my pain is gone.  It’s nice.  🙂

So I start a new pill tomorrow (Wednesday).  Please pray the side effects will be less, or none.  I meet with the oncologist next week for a quick follow-up.

I’ve now been off the hormone blocking pill for 1 week and the pain was much better for a few days, but unfortunately, it is back.  While not quite as bad as before, it’s definitely back.  🙁  Please pray that over the course of the next week it will go away.  If so, I will start the new medication.  If not, I’ll contact the Dr. and I believe we look into a scan to see what’s going on.  Please also pray that I will not worry during this time of waiting.  Thanks for praying with us.

I will admit, one of the first things I did when I found out I was going to need a mastectomy was search for what type of bathing suits were out there.  This was before I knew anything about surgery or reconstruction.

Turns out there are quite a few post mastectomy bathing suits available, but I don’t need any of them.  Honestly, I could wear a bikini and you wouldn’t be able to tell I had surgery.  (Not that I’m going to do that, but you get my point.)  I am very thankful for the plastic surgery options that are available.

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I REALLY thought that after active cancer treatments were over, things would just get back to normal.

That is so far from reality.

I had no idea.

There is a new normal, but it’s very different than before.   read more…

Pain, pain, go away.  Come again another….well actually, just go away.

I’ve been struggling with really bad bone pain lately.  I had my checkup with the Oncologist today and we talked about it.  The plan for now is to stop the hormone blocking pill I’m on (Aromasin) and let the symptoms go away.  Then start up another hormone blocking pill (Femara), hoping for less side effects.  If after 2 week of stopping the current pill, I am still having bone pain, we’ll talk about doing a scan to find out what is causing the pain. read more…

My Facebook memory this morning was a picture of my first morning of radiation last year.  I am so thankful that I don’t have to do that EVERY DAY this summer.

A year later, you would never know I had radiation, with the exception of the 3 little dot tattoos that I will have forever.  (Although I only grow hair in about half of my left arm pit, thanks to the radiation.  I know…probably too much information, but I find it funny.  You’re welcome for that little bit of personal information.)

So instead of driving to radiation, I woke the kids up (our 3 and 1 friend) and took our oldest to an orthodontist appointment.  She got her expander out and her mouth is much happier!! read more…

Me again…haven’t posted in a while…because not much is going on cancer wise.  However, since I so brilliantly titled the blog, “Leaving Cancer Behind,” a friend mentioned that I could just write about what life looks like with cancer treatments behind me (mostly).  So I guess that’s the plan for now.

But before I write about life, here’s my cancer/health updates:

• I cancelled my Oncology apt. a few weeks ago since things are going fine.    I have occasional bone and joint pain, which I hate, but there’s nothing the oncologist can do about that so I just deal with it and try not to complain. 🙁
• I’ve decided to look for a new plastic surgeon.  I’m still having some issues with the scars on my healthy breast and want to get a second opinion on what I should do.
• I know I go back and forth, but I gave up on growing my hair out.  I can’t deal with the awkward stage.
• PT is helping my back.  Last week I started to wean myself off the Gabapentin (nerve meds.) and the pain came back and my general practitioner referred me to a spine specialist.  I saw him today and he said I’m on the right road to recovery.  He recommended weaning off the Gabapentin when I am feeling good enough to stop physical therapy.  He didn’t think surgery would be necessary.
• My memory is HORRIBLE!  🙁

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Hello everyone…it’s been a while since I’ve blogged, which I guess is good.

I’ve had 4 weeks of Physical Therapy and my back pain has decreased a lot!  It no longer hurts when I drive over a speed bump!  I can unload the dishwasher without having to squat down or kneel down and I’m not in as much pain when laying down in bed.

When I was in CA last weekend, I spent a lot of time standing around talking to people and noticed that was quite uncomfortable, so I mentioned that to the physical therapist.  Hopefully some core exercises will help with that. 🙂

Speaking of CA, I surprised my Dad at his retirement party!  I just loved surprising him!  It was great to spend time with him, my in-laws and nieces and nephew, and my aunt and uncle.  I was also able to see many of you at church and even managed to sneak a few quick friend visits in!  It was a very full 4 days, but since it was just me and I didn’t have to worry about the kids, it felt relaxing.  This week back was a really hard one, so I’m ready for another vacation!!

Happy (almost) retirement Dad! (His last day is May 31st.)

In other medical news…I had an infusion on Wed.  My port worked the first time and no side effects. 🙂

On Friday, I have a PT appointment and then follow up appointments with both the oncologist and the plastic surgeon.  (The scars from the breast lift on the healthy breast are HORRIBLE and very large in comparison to the scars from my mastectomy. Hmmmmmm.  A few months ago they were pretty painful.  I’ve had silicone gel strips on the scars for the past few months which are supposed to help.  They’ve done nothing…so we’ll see what he says.  The scars no longer hurt, so maybe that is a result of the gel strips.  But they look the same.  All in all, it really doesn’t matter as only Tom and I see them.)

That’s it for now.