'last call' with surgeon...

Met with the surgeon today for my post-op. She said the incision looks great and that I should be all set for what's next...we know what THAT is! Also said she thought it a good idea to begin some kind of exercise program to strengthen the arm that she removed lymph nodes from. A little sore, but do-able! Will see me in six months which should be after all my treatments. She's confident I'm doing the right thing by chemo. Am I SO CONFIDENT? Not too sure..but she told me to stop second-guessing myself and go with it, I will be so much better off for it later on. Oh so easy for someone else to say. Need to grab Sandy and go 'wig-shopping'!!

Meeting with Oncologist 10/23/09

Just got back from my appointment with the oncologist. How lucky was I to have my daughter in law Susie accompany me to this appointment? My son is a very lucky man! We went over the 'course of treatment' and that will begin on Thursday, November 12. I will start adjuvant chemotherapy with four cycles of Adriamycin and Cytoxin. After that four weeks, I will then begin another four weeks of Taxol. So much medical jargon..so much to read, so many 'side effects'..geez...will I get through this? I know I will, it's just so much to take in at once. After each treatment I will go back to the cancer center and have an injection to boost my white blood cells which will be killed off with these medicines. I've opted to do my treatments on Thursdays...so of course the next few months a holiday or holiday eve falls on a THURSDAY!! So, we'll work around it! Guess it's time to go 'wig-shopping'!

GOOD NEWS!

Came home on Wednesday to great news. The surgeon's office called and said the 'margins were clear, no more surgery'! How exciting. I would've been even MORE excited had they said you're clear, so let's forget the chemo!! Appointment with oncologist on Friday, October 23. I am sure she will have the information I need to begin treatment. I think I need to gear myself up for this and look at it as a healing process. I have more offers of 'chemo angels', I am so very lucky. I hope that I can take advantage of asking friends to share in this journey with me. I think that it will be an easier process for me to digest. Thank you to all who have been there with words, cards, phone calls and most of all, prayers! I know it's going to be a tough road ahead, and I am going to try my darndest to get through it.

surgery ...again

On Friday, October 16, 2009, I went in for more surgery. THIS time, it was to 'clean out the margins' around the lumpectomy. I opted to stay awake during this surgery, which was great, it only took less than a half hour. I could hear what was going on but never felt a thing!! Guess it's good to be in la-la land every now and then!
It is now snowing. Imagine that. Life does go on and so does the weather!! The PATS are beating up on Tennessee. The key players have been pulled..well, most of them, so this should be a good coup for our team!!

...surgery

Returned to school on September 1. The long Labor Day weekend was set aside to go to Normandy Farms in Foxboro to camp for the weekend. Friends and family consisted of Debbie, Scott, Jayne, Joey, Jenn, Jillian, Amy...Jackie & Skylar, Derek & Friends and various folks who 'dropped by'. The weather couldn't have been better. We swam in the pool in the day, did a little shopping (well of course I DID!!) had great food, lots of laughs and it gave me a time to put it all into perspective. In a few weeks I would be going in for surgery.

September 24..surgery at South Shore Hospital.
Arrived at 7:00 a.m. for scheduled surgery at 10:40. Around 9:00 they sent Barry home and brought me to radiology. I had three mammograms done (ouch) and then the radiologist inserted a needle to help guide the surgeon to the site. Back up to wait, it was 12:45 p.m. before I was taken down to the OR. What a long day..I was starving, even with the IV fluids in, I just wanted something to drink!! Saw Jayne who was to be with me during the surgery, then off to sleep I went! I awoke in recovery around 4 pm. I guess it all went ok..I was told later that Dr. Suniti Nimbkar took out 23 lymph nodes and three were cancerous. I went home around 5:30 p.m. and I was beat. So many wonderful people left off food and I was left to rest. The next day (Friday) I was beat, so I spent the better half of the day just relaxing, resting and taking it easy. I do believe that on Saturday, September 26, Susan came over and took me for a ride. We went to the beach and lunch and did a little retail therapy. What better way to recover than to shop!? That night the four of us (John, Susan, Barry & I) went to dinner. I felt pretty good..considering I was a bit sore under the armpit! I stayed home from school for 7 days opting to go back after my visit with the surgeon on Oct. 6. She gave me the ok to 'work as needed' without pain or discomfort. Didn't want to use up too many sick days as I knew the 'best was yet to come'!! She informed me at this visit that she would like for me to begin chemotherapy treatments in a month or so....what was I THINKING? This could be a 'walk in the park' for me? Radiation for a few weeks and I'd be home free? I guess not. She threw me for a loop. My class reunion is coming up in a few days...I am going to party like it's 1969!! AND I DID! What a blast. Us gals (Housekeepers, as we so aptly named ourselves years ago...) met at Carol's house in Walpole for a sleep over and 'fashion show'!! The girls brought out a cake for me...sang "HAPPY CHEMOTHERAPY" to the tune of Happy Birthday..and gave me a beautiful journal for my thoughts. So now I am going to have to use this as my 'chemo journal' in addition to this blog! If/when I figure out if this blog is going to work and anyone out there cares to read it, then maybe this journey won't be so bad after all!!

...and so it continues

I needed to get out on Friday night, August 28, be with family, friends, anyone who would help to get me to understand and realize that this is the real deal. Dinner with friends/family at Nino's in Weymouth was a great diversion. I laughed, I had a glass of wine, but to beat the band, I had a lousy dinner!! So much for that. I am beginning to prepare myself for what is to be. The oncologist has decided to do a lumpectomy and check out my lymph nodes. I wouldn't find out for a few days when the scheduled surgery was but got a call that it would be on September 24, 2009. I was starting back to school on September 1. Who do I tell? Who do I not tell? Does everyone, should everyone know?? Of course I had to tell my 'girls'...the PINK FABS...Mary Alice, Patty L., Sandy, Vicki...and of course the support from them was overwhelming. M.A. came over, we had a long talk, she has been through this, WE will get through this together. I knew that. Patty..bless her soul, she wants to give me a 'pink dinner'. We need to ask the 'young un's' ...Laurie, Katie and Chris. It was all set to have this dinner the weekend I planned our trip to Ogunquit, Maine for Barry's birthday. THIS trip was going to be a blast. The gang from 40 years past was going up and we were going to re-live our "TOBY WEEKEND" from 1972! How fun would that turn out to be? Ok. I can get home by 4 pm for my 'pink dinner', but not before I have a blast with David, Joe, John, Lorraine, Kevin, Jean, Trish, Kay, Marie, Bill, and Rich Carlson. Saw Sally Struthers at the Ogunquit Theatre in "ALL SHOOK UP", had drinks at the FRONT PORCH; lunch at "BLUE WATER"; walked the Marginal Way with Joe and David; walked the beach...stayed at THE ANCHORAGE and shopped! What a whirlwind weekend. They made me laugh, they gave me the support I needed to know that I would be going in for surgery the following Thursday and prayers galore!! I can do this..I have the BEST support system ever!!

The Journey has begun

My journey to learning I have been diagnosed with breast cancer began in July, 2009. After a routine mammogram, I was asked to return for an ultra sound. Not realizing then that I should be 'worried', I went for my ultra sound and the radiologist recommended that I have a biopsy. Since I was doing my summer camp job, I asked if I could postpone that biopsy until the end of August. This was do-able, so on August 25th, I went to SSH and had the biopsy done. I went alone, thinking I would be ok and the radiologist said that I would have results sometime by the end of the week. By Thursday, August 27, I got that call I had dreaded but not quite had come to grips with...the radiologist said the biopsy was malignant and that he found cancer cells. NOT what I wanted to hear all by myself on a beautiful sunny day in August! Immediately I knew I had to call someone...so it was my sister Elaine in California. After a few 'choice words' she calmed me down and said ...'IT WILL BE OK, we're in this together'...Soon after that, Barry came in and he knew by the look on my face that something was up. Not long after that I got a call from my doctor's office that I was to go to the Breast Care Center in S. Weymouth to meet with an oncology surgeon. This appointment was on Friday, August 28. ...