Back to Work

I have decided that today is the day that I go back to work but I find myself sitting here at the computer not knowing where to begin (so I thought I would blog). The coffee is brewing in the next room ....I can hear it...I can smell it....but I cant have it. It may upset my tummy. That makes me sad because I love my morning cup.

MY husband is at work too and that makes me sad because I want him with me all the time. He has been my rock and holding my hand through all of this and it's so scary when he is not around. Don't get me wrong, I know I can do this, it just so comforting to have him around.

Today I feel light headed, a little nauseous but so far no vomiting or diarrhea. The hair is still intact but I'm sure we wont have long on that. I give it about 7 more day and the clumps will start falling. I told Nick last night that it going to be like Desi Arnez and Fred Mertz sleeping in the same bed. He laughed a minute and then probably didn't think it was so funny.

My sister Rachel brought us dinner last night. So very sweet and thoughtful. Its hard when I'm the one that usually puts dinner together and suddenly we have to come up with a new plan. Rachel...the dinner was amazing and we are so very grateful.

MY final shout out of the day goes to CANDY who went out of her way to come over and give me one of my injections to improve my white cells. I couldn't get myself to self inject and Nick couldn't do it so Candy to the rescue.

Oh well...that's it for now. Going to go back to staring at my computer screen for the next few hours.

Keeping the faith and remembering I am truly blessed....Love you all.

The Day After

Well...it's the morning after and I can enthusiastically report that I slept through the night without any issues. I'm just hoping that this isn't the calm before the storm. I know the hair will go and that will be a little hard to take but if the rest can be calmed by medication, I'm perfectly fine with that. So different from 20 years ago. my only complaint is that I'm really weak and tired. Sounds like a normal day for me. ;)

The support from family and friends has been overwhelming and I am so appreciative. I am the type of person that never wants to take advantage of anyone but I guess if they didn't want to help, they wouldn't offer. I need to learn to let go a little.

A big shout out to the nurses at Wilshire Oncology. They made me feel so comfortable and at home. Its a sucky situation that has been made comfortable in a loving environment. This is a blessing.

Keeping the faith.....remembering that I am truly blessed.... love you all (especially Haylee and Tori :)  )

ROUND ONE.....in the books.  Spent six hours (10:30am to 4:30pm) in the chair today. Nice, semi-comfortable recliner and received 4 different bad drugs along with 2 nausea meds, fluids to stay hydrated and Benadryl. I feel good all things considered. However, I am extremely tired and weak. My legs feel like jello and it was a little difficult getting up the stairs to comfy home. I am so glad to be home and listening to Tori sing in the shower. It's music to my ears. Nick spent all day with me and it was such a great comfort to have him there with me. That's it for now. I'm tired.

Keeping the Faith and focusing on my blessings. Love you all

Well tomorrow is the big day. I'd like to think that I am ready but I guess you can never be prepared for something like this. I'm just hoping it goes smoothly with minimal adverse reactions. I am grateful that my husband will be by my side the entire time. Please continue to pray for me for I know that with God by my side, I can do all things. I am truly blessed.

Well, it's finally official. We begin treatment on Wednesday, August 27, 2014 at 9:45 am. According to the schedule, I will be receiving four different drugs that will keep me in the chair for 4.5 hours. All my chemo will be done at Wilshire Oncology in West Covina and thankfully I will have my wonderful husband next to me for the entire time. He plans on bringing Friends DVDs so we can laugh our way through all of this.

I met with the nurses today that I will be working with. They seem extremely nice and caring except for the front desk nurse. It's bad enough I have to go through all of this. The least I can get is a little compassion and a smile. How about a HELLO?

 Dear Front Desk Nurse....I believe you have not found your calling. I am sorry that my cancer is inconveniencing you in some way and you have to stop what you are doing to hand me a clip board to sign in. Please go back to your solitaire. You are rude.  Sincerely, Me

I feel great today. A little tired but that's mainly because I didn't sleep well last night. I have a million things running through my head. I'm not worried about the treatment or what's to come but mainly how everything else is going to get taken care of. I don't want to be a burden on anyone. Maybe I need to learn to lean on others.

Keeping the faith and remembering that I am truly blessed. Love you all.

August 20, 2014

Wow. This is more difficult than I thought it would be. Where do I begin? How about....Here we go again. I am about to begin something that I thought I left in my past almost 20 years ago. Unfortunately our past tends to creep up on us and eventually taps us on the shoulder.

As most of you already know, I was diagnosed with breast cancer last month. I went in for a routine mammogram and they found an abnormality. The abnormality turned into 4 hours of ultra sounds, more mammograms and a biopsy. The tests were conclusive and I was left with a "potential" stage one diagnosis.

An MRI confirmed the diagnosis and so it begins....4 months chemo followed by a double mastectomy and immediate reconstruction. The only upside to all of this is that they will be moving my belly to my chest. Yes, that's right, I will be receiving a tummy tuck as well and potentially a larger rack. Yippee!!!
 
Next step....surgery was scheduled to insert a port into my chest. I lack greatly in the vein department. The port was implanted just above my right breast. It sucks. It's weird to have a foreign object under your skin. I don't even want to touch it and I'm not looking forward to have the nurse insert something into it.
 
Which leads me to me to my good friend chemotherapy. Oh how I haven't missed you. YOU SUCK!!! I hate the fact that you will be taking my hair again but I guess it will cut back on prep time for work in the morning and as far as Halloween costumes go, I now have several more options...Mr. Clean, Dr. Evil...perhaps Nick and I can go as twins.

Speaking of Nick...he has been amazing and it really is wonderful having someone to go through this together with me. He even bought me a bell so I can call on him at any time. HE'S IN TROUBLE. ;)

I want to thank all of my family and friends that have been so incredibly supportive at this time. Please understand that it is very difficult for me to ask for help and your initiative has made my life that much easier.

One more thing...please forgive grammar, spelling, etc. I will be posting updates regularly and writing what is on my mind. The chemo will be killing my brain cells and I apologize in advance if I say something that you don't understand or offends you in some way.

Keeping the faith and remembering I am truly blessed. Love you all.