Fight like a girl.

  I had another infusion last week. I was calculating it and I may only have two or three more infusions. I started January 7th. I'm supposed to receive the Herceptin for a year. I have one after Thanksgiving and then one in December. I'm not sure if they'll want me to get one more dose in January or call it good after the one in December. It doesn't really matter to me. It's pretty quick, especially when I don't see the doctor. It's about an hour for the whole process.  I get to the office, check in, wait for the nurse to call me back, have them access my port and then they tell the back room I'm ready. The "back room" mixes up the drug and then they bring it out and hang it for 20-30 minutes. I always forget how long it is. Anyway, it infuses for the amount if time it's supposed to and then they de-access my port and I'm on my way.  The worst part is getting my port accessed. They stick the needle in and it's a poke but you have t...

 I wore these shirts just about every night when I was going through radiation. See how there are some dark spots on them? Ya that is grease from the ointments I used to keep my skin from cracking and burning. I used old shirts knowing they would probably get ruined. Well the time has come for me to throw them away. They are so greasy, but they saved my sheets for me (for the most part). Thank you t-shirts but I don't want to see you ever again. 

  I saw this hanging in my bathroom the other day. It brought back some memories.  This is the little pouch that I would hang my drains in after I had my mastectomy. When I would shower I would put the drains into each side of the pouch and hang it around my head. This way they weren't freely hanging, tugging on the stitches in my stomach, that were holding them in place.  I thought about Ryan stripping the tubing every morning and night, emptying the drain into a container and writing down the amount on a piece of paper. I had to divide the paper into right drain, left drain, date and time. And it had to be emptied and recorded every morning and every night. I couldn't get those drains out until I had less than a certain amount of output for three consecutive days.  I remember I went to the Garth Brooks concert with Ryan, my sisters, and their husbands. I had driven to the concert with Ryan's brother and wife who were also going to the concert. When I had gotten in ...

 I celebrated my birthday last week. It seemed a little more significant this year; not just because I'm getting closer to 40 (😬), but because I'm alive and I GET to celebrate another year of being alive. I was heading to lunch on Tuesday and I got a little emotional thinking about this past year. I had an aggressive cancer that would’ve taken my life 20 years ago. Due to medical advances, I was able to receive, and still receive, a medication that's very effective against my type of cancer. I'm so very grateful that I live here and now and that I'm able to continue to live and raise my children and grow old with Ryan. 

 Man. I was scrolling through my instagram pictures from this past year. There is a lot of emotion looking at the different stages I went through: surgeries, first day of chemo, last day of chemo, being bald, having my siblings with me, Ryan taking care of Courtney.... There have been so many hard things. But there have been so many good things. But so many hard things. Ha Ha Ha.   I pray that I don't have to do this EVER AGAIN. 😉

 Radiation done! Ryan and my friends were like, "We need to go celebrate!" I'm kind of like, "Eh, no big deal. We don't need to celebrate. Chemo was WAY worse than this." BUT it's another box checked off on this list of cancer treatments. I only have to finish out my year of Herceptin and then the exchange surgery. Hallelujah!  I ran into a lady this week at the cancer center. She was getting ready for her radiation treatment while I was heading out the door. We started chatting for a minute. She made the comment- so this is your first dance with cancer? I said, "Um yes my one and only dance." I was thinking, no I'm not doing this again.  I saw the doctor and nurse yesterday. The nurse sat in with me first asking about my skin and fatigue. She looked at me and said, "You look like you're ready to fall asleep." I was super tired yesterday and yes I needed a nap. She also said that my skin will continue to react for the next ten...

Alright, I did pretty well with the lack of skin issues with radiation. I've started with a pink sunburn this week. It's not too bad on my back but it's quite tender under my arm. I know it doesn't look like much in the picture but it hurts a lot more than it looks. And think about your arm moving constantly throughout the day and rubbing against the sunburn.  On my neck/shoulder/back, my bra strap rubs. It's not a huge problem but just a little discomfort. These pictures are from the beginning of the week so it's a little more red and tender now.  This week was kind of a roller coaster. Tuesday morning, I got up, went and worked out, got going with my day and was feeling really good. I called the hospital, labor and delivery, and said, "Hey I'm feeling pretty good. What if I come and break some nurses for lunch? I could do one break before radiation and one after radiation." So I got Courtney off to school and headed to the hospital. I sent one nu...