8/31/2012

Well, there has been some change in the plan. I am not having my port surgery today. My incisions have been not healing as quickly as we would have liked. Two weeks ago Dr. Jones had to re-suture my left incsion. At that point we were just going to wait and see how the right side was doing and hoping it would heal up on it's own. Dr. Jones went on vacation for two weeks. Last week I saw his P.A. and the left side was looking good and the right side hadn't really changed, but we thought port surgery would still be ok. My right side continued to not make any progess and on this Wednesday I noticed that it seem to be worse. On Thursday, I called the office to tell then about the situation and they had me come in that day. I saw Dr. Mammolito, Dr. Paulson, and Dr. Rashid, another plastic surgeon in the pratice. The good news is that there was no sign of infection on the right side and the left side looked good and seems to be healing correctly. Dr. Rashid needed to withdrawl some fluid from the expander to release some pressure and then he re-stitched up that side. Dr. Paulson did not want to do the port surgery on Friday, he thought it would be in my best interest to give the wound a chance to heal a bit more and did not want to increase my risk for infection. Although I am disappointed in the delay, I really do appreciate his concern and caution and I know I am good hands.

So, I have an appointment on Tuesday with Dr. Jones and Dr. Mammolito. Dr. Jones will need to assess the situation and let me know when I can have the port surgery and start chemo. There is a chance if everything looks good to go on Tuesday that I can have the port surgery on Tuesday afternoon, but it all depends on how everything is healing.

It is a little frusterating, but I am trying to remain postive. I am mentally ready to move forward and start my next treatments, but my body is just not quite there yet. We will get there and I am just working on healing, getting ready for the next steps and focusing on the positives. My sister, two awesome friends, and I went wig and scarf shopping last weekend in Chicago and had a blast and a lot of laughs. Starting the school year has been great, I have really nice students and my colleagues are so supportive and fun. We are celebrating Violet's first birthday this weekend, I can't believe she is going to  be one! :)

Thank you so much for all of the support, prayers, and kindness!

8/18/2012

Just a quick update on how things are going. I went to see Dr. Jones on Tuesday and determined one of my incisions wasn't healing as quickly as we would have liked. I went back to see him on Friday and he cleaned up the wound and re-stiched it up. It wasn't too bad, it looks much better, and I am glad he did it. Hopefully that will do the trick to get things healing correctly and quickly. Once I am completely healed then I will be able to start chemo...just not totally sure when that will be. Other than that I feel good. I am going to start the school year on Monday and I am really looking forward to that. It will be great to get out of the house, see friends, meet my students, and focus on something else for a little while. :)

Again, a big thank you to everyone for their support, prayers, and words of encouragement. I feel so lucky and blessed to have such a vast network of wonderful people wishing me well! Thank you.

8/12/2012

The appointment with Dr. Thomas went really well. There was a discrepancy in the original biopsy report and the final pathology report after the surgery. A small percent of my tumor was estrogen positive. This means in addition to the chemotherapy and the herceptin, I will also be taking tamoxifen, a pill for 5 years. Dr. Thomas is also going to get a second opinion on the pathology, just to be sure we are all set before we begin treatment. I still need a few more weeks to heal from my surgery before I begin chemo. Right now the plan is to have my port surgery on Friday August 31st. I am told this should be a fairly simple procedure and I will be going home the same day, so I am hoping that is the case. Assuming everything goes smoothly with my recovery, I will be starting my first round of chemo the first or second week of Sept. I will be getting 6 treatments every 3 weeks. The treatment will last between 3-4 hours. If everything goes well with no delays, I will be finished with the chemo right before Christmas. The drugs I will be getting are Taxotere and Carboplantin. According to Dr. Thomas, the side effects of this treatment aren't usually too bad, but everyone responds differently, so I'm just hoping for the best. I will be losing my hair, ugh. Dr. Thomas is calm and confident about everything, so that is reassuring to myself and my family. 

I still need to clarify a few things with Dr. Jones, my plastic surgeon and Dr. Khater, my radiation oncologist, but I think the next steps will be to recover from chemotherapy, have my implant exchange surgery, recover from that, and then begin radiation treatment for 6 weeks. 

Right now I am just focusing on healing from the surgery. It's been about 2.5 weeks and it's amazing how much better I feel. I have been working on my arm exercises, taking walks, and was able to spend some time with friends last night, which was awesome. I still get tired a little more easily than I am used to and I can't pick up the kids yet which is really tough, but temporary. But I really feel pretty good. My incisions seems to be healing well and I have follow up appointment with Dr. Jones on Tuesday and hopefully he thinks so too. I am also preparing for starting chemo, I have a "chemo class" on Tuesday as well. 

I can't even begin to describe how thankful I am for all the support and love I have. Tony does an unbelievable job of taking care of Leo, Violet, myself and everything else, I am so lucky. Our family and friends have been amazing, thank you so much for everything, the cards, the food, the help, the prayers, the words of encourgement, and the positive thoughts...it has made such an impact on helping me staying strong and happy! Thank you so much. 

8/7/2012

I finally got the last two drains removed today, what a relief. We are so happy they are gone.
Dr. Mammolito's P.A. gave me the go ahead to start moving my arms and working on some arm exercises and I can drive again! Dr. Jones said things are looking pretty good. The incision on my right side is great, the incision on my left has a little redness. We are just going to keep an eye on it, change the bandages three times a day, and keep it covered in antibiotic cream. I will be going back to see Dr. Jones next week for a follow up. I am also going to postpone the port surgery at least a week to make sure everything is continuing to heal. We also need to have my appointment with Dr. Thomas on Friday to coordinate when to have the port surgery and when to begin chemo. I am feeling good, so thankful to have some more movement and freedom. We are looking forward to the appointment on Friday to get more information and to get a better understanding of what the next few months will look like. Thank you so much for all the support, kindness, prayers, and positive thoughts. It is so appreciated and needed through out this entire experience. 

8/3/2012

The appointment with Dr. Mammolito went well. I was able to get one of the three drains removed, so I guess that is better than none. She was pleased with the way everything is healing. I have another appointment next Tuesday with Dr. Jones and Dr. Mammolito's P.A. I will mostly likely get the other two drains removed then (can't wait). We also met with Dr. Paulson, the surgeon who will put in my port for chemotherapy. He was really nice and reassuring. We tentatively have a date scheduled for that surgery in two weeks.  I  still need to have my appointment with Dr. Thomas, my oncologist, on the 10th to determine when I will be able to start chemo. I am continuing to feel better each day. Thanks again for all the support!