I'm so sorry that I haven't updated my blog in so long! In my last post, I mentioned that my Grandpa wasn't doing well and that I would be going up to see him. Well, he passed away that weekend that I was there visiting him - I'm so glad that I was there to say goodbye to him! He was a very special man and I will miss him so much!
But on the bright side, my tumors continue to shrink! In fact, I had another ultrasound today and the tech couldn't even find anything except for a tiny lymph node in my arm pit which is the one that my doctor can barely feel. But nothing else! Hallelujah! I'm praying that the lymph node will continue to shrink even more with the last 5 treatments! Yes, only 5 more! And I'm getting a little bit of peach fuzz coming in on my head. I think I have like 5 hairs that are 1/2" long! I'll take what I can get!
On the other hand, my fingernails are worsening. Two of them are lifting from the nail beds so I have to constantly disinfect them and bandage them so that they don't get caught on things. I complain about them a lot - my poor husband puts up with it! I'm actually complaining a lot these days . . . I'm just getting weary of chemo every week and my fingernails almost falling off and my hair being gone . . . and I've been getting mouth sores because my white blood cells are getting low. But today I feel brighter because of the good news at my ultrasound! And knowing that after tomorrow I'll only have 4 more treatments!
Also, if you are in the area and want to do the race for the cure on September 19th with my team "Team Pinkalicious", then register soon so that we can organize something fun as a group like get t-shirts or pink hair extensions or something like that! Time is ticking away so we need to all get registered soon! Thank you so much for your support!
Rock on!
Thursday, July 29, 2010
Friday, July 2, 2010
Eight more to go!
Only 8 more chemo appointments left! Yay! It sounds like a lot still, but it's whittling down! Today went fine - I didn't have to see the doctor this time - she will be seeing me every other week now since there's really no reason to see me every week. This is fine with me because it saves us money on co-pays and it's a shorter day for me then too on those weeks that I don't see her.
Yesterday evening I had a blood transfusion at the Newberg Hospital. It was kind of weird at first thinking about someone else's blood going into my veins, but I got over it! It just took awhile for the transfusion - longer than chemo! But they fed Todd and I a complimentary dinner - and it was pretty good! They were very nice and spoiled us while we were there! And I feel so much better today - my heart doesn't pound when I go up the stairs now! The nurse today said that my numbers from my bloodwork all look really good! Praise the Lord! And thank you so much to the person/people who donated the blood that I was able to use - whoever they may be!
Update on my fingernails - I started bandaging the really bad ones last week, but it was such an annoyance, and then when I would wash my hands (which is, like, 20 times a day at least, especially while I have this horrible cold and I'm blowing my nose all day long) the bandaids would start to come off. So, I gave up on that idea. I put Sally Hansen's Instant Strength polish on them which is what the nurse suggested to me and I did tape them up really good before I cleaned my friends' house yesterday to prevent too much pain. So, anyway, I'm just praying that I won't lose any fingernails! But so, far, so good!
Todd and I met with a plastic surgeon this past week and she went over different options for my reconstruction surgery. It looks like she is suggesting waiting to do my reconstruction until 6-8 months after my radiation treatment ends. This is because she wants me to be able to heal really well after the surgery, and she has had some patients take a lot longer to heal when she has done reconstruction at the time of mastectomy (because of the lowered white blood cells from chemo). And also, radiation will really mess up the muscle and fat layer of the breast that had the cancer in it, so they want to give that tissue some time to heal before reconstruction. There are more decisions that Todd and I will have to make, but it's much too involved for me to even type that all in this blog! So, you have the short version!
On another note, my Grandpa is not doing very well so I'm taking a quick trip tomorrow to see him one last time. I was just up there in the beginning of June and I felt like I had said my goodbyes to him, but now that I have a chance to spend one last afternoon with him, I just feel like I need to go see him! I will be driving up with my sister, Lisa. Please pray for a safe trip and that my Grandpa will know that we are there talking to him - even though he is sleeping all of the time.
That's it for now - until next week!
Yesterday evening I had a blood transfusion at the Newberg Hospital. It was kind of weird at first thinking about someone else's blood going into my veins, but I got over it! It just took awhile for the transfusion - longer than chemo! But they fed Todd and I a complimentary dinner - and it was pretty good! They were very nice and spoiled us while we were there! And I feel so much better today - my heart doesn't pound when I go up the stairs now! The nurse today said that my numbers from my bloodwork all look really good! Praise the Lord! And thank you so much to the person/people who donated the blood that I was able to use - whoever they may be!
Update on my fingernails - I started bandaging the really bad ones last week, but it was such an annoyance, and then when I would wash my hands (which is, like, 20 times a day at least, especially while I have this horrible cold and I'm blowing my nose all day long) the bandaids would start to come off. So, I gave up on that idea. I put Sally Hansen's Instant Strength polish on them which is what the nurse suggested to me and I did tape them up really good before I cleaned my friends' house yesterday to prevent too much pain. So, anyway, I'm just praying that I won't lose any fingernails! But so, far, so good!
Todd and I met with a plastic surgeon this past week and she went over different options for my reconstruction surgery. It looks like she is suggesting waiting to do my reconstruction until 6-8 months after my radiation treatment ends. This is because she wants me to be able to heal really well after the surgery, and she has had some patients take a lot longer to heal when she has done reconstruction at the time of mastectomy (because of the lowered white blood cells from chemo). And also, radiation will really mess up the muscle and fat layer of the breast that had the cancer in it, so they want to give that tissue some time to heal before reconstruction. There are more decisions that Todd and I will have to make, but it's much too involved for me to even type that all in this blog! So, you have the short version!
On another note, my Grandpa is not doing very well so I'm taking a quick trip tomorrow to see him one last time. I was just up there in the beginning of June and I felt like I had said my goodbyes to him, but now that I have a chance to spend one last afternoon with him, I just feel like I need to go see him! I will be driving up with my sister, Lisa. Please pray for a safe trip and that my Grandpa will know that we are there talking to him - even though he is sleeping all of the time.
That's it for now - until next week!
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