2014...Ready or Not

I am often grateful for the little things, and today that means taking a long, hot shower.  It's amazing how powerful and restorative it can be for your body and your mind.  I am delighted to welcome 2014 with a clean set of jammies and a feeling of being able to care for myself. 

My last doc visit went well.  All is on track.  My only disappointment was that things are going to drag on a little longer than I had hoped.  Next surgery can't take place for at least three months just to give my body time to heal so that means that it will have to be spring break.  (Well, implants can still be appropriate for that holiday as well so the count down continues.)  So the schedule is now visit my favorite plastic surgeon every two weeks, regular treatments still ongoing every three weeks, oncologist every six weeks, cardiology every nine weeks...(being a patient can be a full time job in itself.)  Reconstruction involves expanding the skin over a period of time with a series of injections, which is why I have to visit my plastic surgeon regularly.  (No, it doesn't hurt at all.  It can just be a bit uncomfortable because the skin is pretty tight.)   

FAQ What treatment do you have every three weeks?
I started a treatment called Herceptin on June 7, 2013.  (It was one of the drugs that I got at the same time as some of the chemo drugs.)  The protocol for this drug is 52 weeks, which means that I will continue with this particular drug until June 7, 2014. 

FAQ #2 What are the side effects?
For me, Herceptin has not had any side effects.  Yahoo!  I am also given Benadryl at the same time to prevent any allergic reactions and that makes me feel sleepy and drunk the moment it hits my system.  I sleep it off and am usually fine the next day, although sometimes there is a bit of a hangover. 

FAQ #3 Did they remove the port when you had the second mastectomy?
No, I have to keep the port because it's still in use until the Herceptin treatments end in June.   That will be the final procedure.

FAQ #4 Why do you have to see cardiology?
So far so good but every nine weeks they check to make sure that the Herceptin is not causing heart problems.  I love that my oncologist is very conservative about all this so it's not something that I worry about too much.

It's New Year's Eve and who knows what 2014 will bring.  Last week a friend was diagnosed with cancer but she was not a lucky lottery winner like I was.  She heard those miserable words involving a few months.  About the same time, another friend found out that she is going to have a long-awaited baby.  She is understandably ecstatic.  Both of these friends inhabit the same little corner of the planet but their experiences in 2014 will be incredibly different.  Their journeys will intersect with mine and put me on a slightly altered course as a result.  And that right there is the meaning of life.  May we each recognize the gifts that are walking alongside us in 2014.         

Click here for a little New Year's gift from one of my favorite people, Diana Nyad. 

A Holly Jolly Update

Surgery went as planned on Monday and I even got to go home that same afternoon.  I actually feel pretty good!  This time around is much easier than the first mastectomy because no lymph nodes needed to be removed.  It means I have use of my right hand and arm, and that's made a huge difference.  I also think my frame of mind is so much better that it helps with recovery, too.  This time there are no pathology reports to wait on to see what stage, where is the cancer, what will treatment be, and during all that waiting your mind automatically goes to the worst end of the spectrum, thinking of all the horrible scenarios that could play out.   This time the only thing ahead of me is a pair of beautiful implants and a day at the beach.  So for now I head back to the doc every week or so while my skin expands and will get the implants around Mardi Gras.  How appropriate!  

Twas the Night Before Surgery...

The weeks roll by pretty quickly as I move from one treatment to another.  I just passed the 27th week, which means that I now only have 25 weeks of treatment left!  (Not that I'm counting or anything.)  And my counting confused many people as I was so excited after completing chemo that many people thought I was finished with all treatment.  Not quite.  So yes, chemo is finished but no, all treatment is not completely finished.  Don't feel bad if you can't keep up.  It's complicated unless you are doing the counting - then it's just a simple matter of weeks. 

So, more confusion to add to the mix...yes, mastectomy is tomorrow but no, it's not because I have cancer in my other breast.  It's prophylactic as they say and yes, it was my choice.  This go round is much easier than the last because of that - the waiting for results is a killer - and also because it's been well planned in advance.  Other little details are great, too, like the fact that without much hair I won't have to worry about not being able to wash or dry it for a while!

So in case I am out of it for a while, Merry Everything and here's to an UNeventful 2014!  And remember what Ferris Bueller says..."Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it."  Don't miss it!