by Jennifer | Mar 27, 2016 | Blog |
Since the news on Friday, Tom and I have been totally exhausted!! I think we were so geared up to hear the worst, that when we heard the best, there was just this relief and our bodies decided to crash. Fortunatly, they crased with just being tired and not sick. But it’s kind of funny how tired we both were this weekend.
I am overwhelmed by so many of your responses…tears of joy, doing a happy dance, no words, etc. But telling our 11 year old on the phone was the best. She told me she had been praying each night on her own for weeks that the cancer would be gone. That of course made me cry – but tears of joy are good, right? She understands what’s coming and that there is a chance it will return, but I could tell she was very relieved (as were we).
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by Jennifer | Apr 4, 2016 | Blog |
It’s hard to believe it’s been a week and a half since we received the great news from my PET Scan. 🙂 I’ve been able to get the to gym and workout for a few weeks. I’ve been out and about running errands. I wish I could say my energy has totally returned, but I’m pretty exhausted by the end of the day. I also keep waking up a few times during the night, which leaves me feeling tired when my alarm goes off. (But today is the first day of Spring Break and it was nice to not set my alarm!!) I have to take breaks regularly, when I used to never need to. It’s frustrating, but I’m so thankful to be feeling good enough to get some stuff done around the house. So I’ll take what I can get for now.
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by Jennifer | Apr 10, 2016 | Blog |
What else can be cut off, fall out or fall off?????
Well, let’s see . . . my hair fell out and is now very, very short. Most of my eye lashes and eye brows are gone. One of my large toe nails is about to fall off, just in time for spring/summer when I want to wear sandals. And I’m about to have a prominent body part cut entirely off on Thursday. Oh and my ovaries are going to be cut out as well – but at least those are not visible (although the sweat from the hot flashes probably will be).. Anything else want to fall off or fall out? What if my ear falls off in a few months?????? You never know.
I’m not sure whether to laugh or cry. Right now, typing all that, I’m laughing because it just sounds so absurd to me! Yesterday in a store as I walked past a beautiful piece of lingerie, I cried. What can I do? I know who I am is not based on what I look like, but I’m one of those people who always goes out of the house with my hair done and makeup on. I would be lying if I said all this was easy.
by Jennifer | Apr 13, 2016 | Blog |
{This post contains affiliate links. In non-blogger language, that means I might get a small commission (at no extra cost to you) when you click on some of the links below.}
Before we talk about surgery . . .
I still have all my fingernails and toenails after my manicure and pedicure yesterday. I’m sure you were all losing sleep worrying about that, so I just wanted to let you know that first thing. 🙂 Now that my fingers and toes are pretty, I’m ready for surgery.
Last night I celebrated with friends! We celebrated chemo being over, my good PET scan results and just getting as far as I have in this fight. We had dinner, chatted, prayed and just enjoyed being together. I am so thankful for these ladies (and many others) who have helped in so many ways the past 6 months! (more…)
by Jennifer | Apr 16, 2016 | Blog |
I am on some very strong pain meds as I write this. Please forgive any typos!
Before I give an update on surgery I have some very exciting news! Tom trimmed my hair this morning! Woohoo! The back of my neck needed to be cleaned up so he got out his trimmer and did it. With everything I’m going through right now, it’s the little things I’m excited about! Yay for hair trimming!
Let me give a quick update on how I’m doing and then if you want to keep reading all the details about my day of surgery and procedures you can. I wrote as much down about it all as I could in hopes that it would help someone else in the future (and also for my memory which is not very good right now).
It’s Saturday, 2 days after surgery. I’m taking Percocet and a muscle relaxer for pain. I’m tired, but yet can’t sleep, mostly because it’s too uncomfortable to lay down on our bed and I don’t sleep very soundly propped up with pillows. Eventually I will be tired enough to sleep, right? 🙂
I’m really sore, especially under my arm pit, but if I’m just sitting on the bed or couch, the pain is minimal. I can eat and type with the computer on my lap, without pain. But that’s about it. Everything else hurts to do. Thanks to Tom and Mom, I don’t have to do anything. (And thanks to chemo, I don’t even have to worry about styling my hair.)
Overall, we are all surprised I’m doing as good as I am. I ate breakfast at the table this morning and sat on the sofa and played mindless games on my phone while laughing at I Love Lucy episodes with Mom. I also sat outside in the sun with Tom as he worked for a bit in the yard. (more…)
by Jennifer | Apr 20, 2016 | Blog |
6 days after mastectomy – I met with the plastic surgeon today. He was able to remove one drain. Having a drain pulled out from your body isn’t the most comfortable thing and under my arm is now really sore. But I’m still glad it’s out. That means I’m one step closer to being able to take a shower. The second drain is still producing about 60ml a day and it needs to be below 30ml before it can be removed. As soon as it drops to that point, I can call the office and go in. I managed to hide the drains enough to go out in public yesterday and today. But the drain is annoying, especially because of this crazy warm weather we are having. I was all prepared to hide it underneath sweatshirts and it’s way to hot for that. 🙁
I’m done with the Percocet and am just taking Tylenol for pain. This means I’ll be taking Tylenol PM tonight before bed and hopefully be able to sleep. Plus, it’s a little cooler tonight which should help.
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by Jennifer | Apr 22, 2016 | Blog |
I was not prepared for Thursday afternoon. I can’t pin point it to anything, but all of a sudden I went into this deep depression. All I wanted to do was cry and curl up into a ball on my bed away from everyone. Hoever, it’s uncomfortable to lay in that position and I had 2 very concerned family members in the house that didn’t think I should do that. They wanted me to get out of the house. I knew that I should, but I really, realy, really didn’t want to. Like I said, I just wanted to be left alone to cry for a long time.
Nothing is horribly wrong. Yes I have cancer, but it’s not something new. I just had surgery a week ago and I’m feeling good, far better than I ever did on chemo. And I don’t look as physically horrible as I thought I would after surgery. I am sporting this lovely necklace right now… (more…)
by Jennifer | Apr 25, 2016 | Blog |
We met with the surgeon this morning. We got some good and not so good news. The tumor in the breast shrunk down to 2.5 cm (originally over 7) and the surgeon was able to get clear margins (the tumor and enough around it). That’s the good news.
The not so good news is that 2 out of the 3 lymph nodes that were removed during surgery had cancer cells. The surgeon is waiting to talk to the Oncologist (hopefully today) to discuss either surgery or just radiation for other lymph nodes that are nearby the ones taken out.
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by Jennifer | Apr 30, 2016 | Blog |
It’s really hard to plan things any time in advance right now. I feel like our lives have been up in the air since my diagnosis in September. I’m such a planner. This is really hard for me! Any little get-a-way we’ve done since then, has been last minute. Thursday and Friday were no exception.
Friday, I was scheduled to have an appointment to meet with the oncologist to find out what the next steps are in this journey I’m on with cancer. We had planned to take the kids out of school on Thursday since Mom is here and I’m feeling good, and head over to Leavenworth, Cashmere and Wenatchee and do a marathon day there.
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by Jennifer | May 2, 2016 | Blog |
Tom, Mom and I met with my oncologist today. He is recommending radiation to my sternum, lymphnodes and possibly to the breast area. We will be meeting with the radiation oncologist next Tuesday to talk more about that. It’s unsure at this time as to whether radiation or reconstruction will come first. We need to find out from the plastic surgeon how long his plan is for reconstruction. If it’s longer than 6 months, we’ll have to do radiation first (unless the radiation oncologist feels differently).
On Wednesday when I go in to have my port flushed, he is going to test my hormone levels. If chemo put me into menopause, and my ovaries are not producing estrogen, then my ovaries can stay put. If not, out they come. Yay! Another surgery!! The Dr. thinks it’s unlikely that I am in menopause, but we’ll find out for sure later this week or early next week. Wouldn’t that be great if I was in menopause? (And I might be one of the only women to ever say that – lol!)
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