3/23/2013

I finished radiation on March 13th! I'm so happy to be done with this part of my treatment. Overall everything went really really well. Dr. Khater and his team were so great. The most irritating part was a burn under my armpit, but it healed up pretty quickly. I tried to get some exercise in almost everyday and I think that really helped with fatigue. I went to see Dr. Jones on March 18. I was kinda nervous about that appointment, because I hadn't seen him since I started radiation and was curious about how he thought my skin looked in terms of reconstruction. I know radiated skin can be more challenging for plastic surgeons. But the it went really well! Dr. Jones couldn't believe I was only 6 days out from radiation. He thought my skin looked great. He was very impressed with Dr. Khater's work and even wanted me to make sure I let Dr. Khater know how impressed he was. Yay! So I had a fill on my right side, I only have one more to go with that. And I was able to schedule my implant exchange surgery for August 1st! I am a little anxious about it, especially with all the issues I had with healing for the mastectomy, but I am mostly excited to move on to this next big step and I just need to have faith everything will go smoothly. I am planning on going back to work on April 8th and I'm excited about that. I still will be getting my Herceptin every three weeks. I have a lot of follow up appointments to go to...but I am just hoping everything continues to go well and I will continue to move forward!

Right now we are in Florida with Tony's family and it's awesome....warm weather, family, and fun. Tony definitely needed a break, he has been so amazing through out everything.
I have such a huge and strong support system, I am so grateful for everyone's thoughts, prayers, and actions....I truly feel lucky and blessed! THANK YOU!

3/8/2012

I'm at the clinic today. I'm getting Herceptin. My ECHO results were good. My blood counts are still a little low, but higher than they were last week. The nurse says sometimes it just takes a little longer for some people to bounce back, but at least it's improving, so soon it will be back to normal. I have finished 30 out 33 radiation treatments, my last treatment is this Wednesday. Whoo-hoo! So excited to be done with this part. It's been going really well. My armpit is burnt and irritated, but it's manageable and I can get thorough it...almost done! I will see Dr. Jones next week and hopefully he will say my skin looks good and I can finish up getting fills on my right side. I don't know when I will have my reconstruction surgery, I haven't really thought about it too much, but I will probably start to talk Dr. Jones about a general game plan. I have been feeling pretty good. I have been trying to exercise a lot, it helps with the fatigue and feels great that I can tell I am getting stronger. I also finished up seeing my physical therapist for the lymphedmema. She was awesome and very helpful. I don't have any more swelling and feel like I have a handle on how to manage it. My hair is coming in, it looks darker to me, so it will be interesting to see what it ends up looking like. I'm still wearing a hat, but maybe I will be able to go "topless" this summer or sooner? Can't wait! I'm starting to get ready to go back to work and really looking forward to it. It will be quite a change from being home myself to back in a middle school, I'm a little nervous, but mostly excited. I work with such wonderful people and have such nice students, I have really missed being there. We are also going to Florida with Tony's family for spring break, it will be great to celebrate completing another part of my treatment and just have a fun, warm, relaxing time together. We are really looking forward to it. The farther I get from chemo the better I feel. I am so happy to not feel sick, to able to workout, to be able to get out of the house and see people...I know it will take a while before I am 100%, but it so awesome to know that each day gets better and better. I know I have made it this far because of my amazing support system, thank you so much for all the prayers, positive thoughts, and kindness.