A Quick Rant and Update

I am officially tired of being a patient. Honestly, I truly do not mind seeing my doctors and nurses, they are all amazingly helpful, understanding and knowledgeable...it is the poking and prodding that I am tired of enduring. I like being proactive, but I officially hate scan months. Even worse than the poking and prodding, I hate missing so much work. Everyone at school must think I am a complete slacker! Cancer is just disruptive to my life. I don't have time for this cancer crap! Okay, rant over.

Complaining aside, here is the latest:

Back in June my bone scan revealed a "possible lesion" in my left humeral head (left arm up by my shoulder). We did not do anything about it because we decided to deal with the mass on my ovary that showed up on my June CT scan. Now that my hysterectomy is over and everything turned out to be benign, we can deal with the arm issue. My September bone scan showed the spot in my arm to be more intense...meaning it was no longer a "possible lesion". Something is actually there. I can happily report that the spot on my arm is giving me minimal pain, and it is small. After much discussion with my oncologist and radiation oncologist I have come to the decision to go back for more radiation therapy. Radiation will take away the chronic pain in my hip, and sterilize my bones to hopefully prevent any rogue cancer cells from flipping off and growing elsewhere. I will have radiation five days a week for four weeks. I went to the radiation oncologist on Thursday and got set up. Seven tattoos later, I look like a connect the dots worksheet gone wrong. (They make itty bitty dot tattoos on me to line me up for the radiation machine. This ensures that I am always in the same position and they radiated the exact same spot each time.) My scans every three months and the decision to have radiation again have helped me to decide what to be for Halloween:

I won't even have to dress up!

:)

Easy Breezy

I was expecting recovery from my surgery to be WAY more difficult but it turned out to be a breeze. Once I was able to sit comfortably, things became easier. For the first 2 weeks I was not allowed to drive or load or unload the dishwasher. For the first 4 weeks I was not allowed to carry anything heavier than a gallon of milk, take out the trash, or do laundry. For the past 6 weeks I was not supposed to work, or walk my dogs "or overdo it".

I went back to work full time after 3 weeks. I couldn't stand it. I did however get released by my doctor first, and there were rules in place. No stretching bending, lifting...etc. I had lots of help at the beginning, and now I am officially back to normal at work.

This was taken yesterday-me back at work...check out all that hair!

Home From The Hospital

This one will be brief as it hurts to sit for long periods of time...
I am home from the hospital. All went REALLY well with surgery. It turns out that I have NO NEW CANCER...yahoo! I had two medium size ovarian cysts-one on each ovary rather than one big as we originally thought. My incision is vertical-23 staples from the bellybutton down...it looks like a huge zipper.

Recovery is much easier than expected. I am getting around well, it just hurts to sit. I prefer to stand or lay down. I do not have the ability to bend down, so anything I drop on the floor is there to stay until someone else picks it up!

My mom is here to help me with the less glamorous things like showering and dressing changes and Scott has been a huge help too. They both remind me to take my Motrin. Surprisingly, I have not needed pain meds much at all!

I appreciate all the well wishes and phone calls from friends and family. Unfortunately I am standing up typing this... so I will update more later.

Surgery Tomorrow

Tomorrow is the big day. They are taking away my girly parts. Total abdominal hysterectomy(cervix and uterus)and bilateral salpingo oopherectomy (both ovaries and fallopian tubes). I figure it this way: if they find more cancer, no problem....by the time I find out about it, the cancer will already be surgically removed. If I have to do chemo again, so be it. I made it through once, I can do it again. If they don't find cancer...well that is fine too! I will update my blog once I am home from the hospital and let you know what they find.
Until then...

One Year

One year ago today, I found out I have cancer. (One year since diagnosis is actually June 22, but I was on vacation when I was actually diagnosed.) So one year later I have successfully made it through the whole thing- chemotherapy, hair loss, radiation, hormone therapy, and countless scans. In the past year my husband and I purchased and moved into a new house, he changed jobs, I completed my eleventh year of teaching, and my first year as a Pampered Chef Consultant. Wow.

This year was a tough one for my family. It is always difficult to watch your loved one struggle through a disease with the unknown always lurking. I have to say my friends and family...all of them, husband, parents, siblings, in-laws, grandmother, aunts and uncles, coworkers, even my students have been by my side every step of the way. I couldn't have wished for a stronger support system, and cancer or no cancer, I think I am the luckiest girl ever!

This year I have met some of the most amazing people ever! My doctors and nurses are absolutely amazing... as usual, there are no words. I know it is their job and all, but how do you say "thank you" for saving my life? My doctor and Oncology nurses go above and beyond for me on a regular basis. They are truly amazing, patient, understanding, and loving people. I hope to know them always.

Although I continually complain about being at the hospital so often (don't believe me? Ask my mom!) ...especially on scan weeks, I believe that it is a blessing in disguise that I am there so often. I have met some of the nicest people in waiting rooms. Some have been encouraging to me, others have needed encouragement. The cancer experience has introduced me to many survivors that will be my life-long friends. I can honestly say that I would never wish cancer upon anyone, however my journey hasn't been so bad. There are so many positives that have helped balance the unpleasant things that come with cancer diagnoses.

So here I am one year later, gearing up for my trip to Chicago for the Pampered Chef National Conference, and then our yearly trip to the beach. Upon returning from North Carolina, I will go under the knife yet again. My last round of scans revealed a new, very large cyst on my ovary. I have no symptoms, but this cyst was not there in March when I was last scanned. Due to its large size, the doctors say it must come out, and with it will go my ovaries and uterus. A hysterectomy is in my future. It turns out ovarian cysts are extremely common, and I am not worried about this being another malignancy...besides, by the time I find out what kind of cyst it is it will be out of my body. I am not looking forward to the six week recovery and delaying my start of the new school year. However, with news of surgery comes good things too. I had the BRCA test done to see if I carry the "cancer gene" my results say I DO NOT carry the gene! This is great news for me, my mom, and my sisters! :)

NYC

Check out this video...

What else can I say? We love each other!

Scans

Scans on March 21st revealed no change to my hip, and no signs of new cancer. :)

I continue to have Herceptin and Zometa treatments every three weeks. Other than that I have had follow up appointments with my surgeon, and radiation oncologist. Everything seems to be going smoothly.

In other news. Scott and I have purchased a new home and have been busy moving. We upgraded from our last home...it is SO nice to have space, however I still hate moving!

Back to unpacking....

Hooray!

It is official. I am SO done with radiation!
:)

5 more!

Five more sessions of radiation! I have made it through regular radiation, and now I have five boost doses left. HOOORAY!

Nine more treatments and radiation is over! So far it has been an absolute breeze. Driving to the hospital everyday is a bigger pain than anything. I am just starting to show signs of skin reaction, but so far it just looks like weird tan marks. No pain, so I am happy.

I have been busy trying to get my Pampered Chef business going again. We had three snowdays this week, and instead of working on school stuff like grading papers and lesson plans, I worked on booking kitchen shows... it is amazing how happy I am when I am selling kitchen tools! :)

School is also keeping me busy. I've been trying to get my students back on track now that I am feeling better. I just haven't been dedicating the time to school that I used to, leaving right at the end of the day to make my radiation appointments has really thrown off my work patterns.

Click here for radiation pix.

Radiation

I know it has been ages since I have posted, which means I must be feeling better. Actually I am feeling much better and I am thrilled to be done with chemo! I can't express the gratitude I have for the help and support so many of my friends and family have offered, it is truly overwhelming.

So much has happened lately. My sister Halle came in to town for thanksgiving. It was SO good see her and Lewis.

I finished 2007 with my last of my chemotherapy appointments. Somehow my last few chemo appointments were actually fun...is that possible? Click here to see pix.

Beth and Josh gave birth to a bouncing baby boy, which means I became an AUNT! After my last chemo I had the opportunity to return to NYC this time without visiting the hospital. It was wonderful to spend some quality time with Beth and Josh and my nephew Jacob! This child is going to be sick of the camera before he hits 6 months...but it is hard to avoid snapping pictures, he is absolutely delicious! The adorableness factor just seems to increase as time goes on. Check him out: The Daily Jacob

In other news, I had my first consulting appointment for radiation. I will be undergoing Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy (IMRT). The bottom line is that it's the good stuff. They will be radiating my chest wall, under my collarbone, and local lymphatic areas as there is no "tumor" remaining. These sites were chosen based on statistical recurrence. Also, the decision has been made not to radiate my hip. Radiation to the femur can impede both the short and long term development of bone marrow essential for sustained and perennial health. It appears I have responded positively to chemotherapy so my radiation oncologist feels strongly that we not prematurely limit the alternatives.

Aultman added there latest IMRT vessel just this March. It appears to be the 3rd or 4th generation of the technology. This version includes real-time multi-imaging and instantaneous motion correction among other things I can't comprehend.
IMRT - Aultman

On December 31st I returned to radiation ocologist for a mock up... they have to prep me and the machine for my daily appointments. Setting the machine up is a process, as the radiation I will be receiving is very specific. The process was extremely interesting, however as always, the pictures truly tell the story.

Not photographed are the "tattoos" they gave me in order to correctly align me each time. They gave me a "tattoo" about 3 inches above my scar, and on each of my sides...under my arms. Each tattoo is so small, it actually looks like a blackhead, but it will make it take less time to set me up in the machine everyday. I will have radiation treatments five days a week for six and a half weeks. I begin Tuesday.