Monday, September 5, 2011

Happy Labor Day everyone! Here in the Chicago area the weather has finally turned cooler. For some this means pulling out the jeans and long sleeve shirts. For me this means wearing my wigs and hats without sweat dripping down my face and feeling overheated. I welcome the cooler temps! You can’t even imagine how happy I am that summer is over and that fall is pretty much here. To me no more summer means that I am that much closer to the finish line.

My #5 chemo is this coming Thursday which means Wednesday night Mom and Dad arrive back into Chicago and I get to start with my premed steroids. I have had a good 10 days after chemo #4 and have been feeling better and better by day. It has been so great to have the stamina to do the normal things again. I am so blessed to have had this time. Chemo #2 and #3 I didn’t have a lot of this happy time because I was severely anemic. After this chemo round I am still anemic but I don’t have any crazy side effects from it right now. Yeah!

My last chemo #6 is scheduled for Sept 29. So, I can officially say I will be done with ALL of my six chemo treatments in just 24 days. WOW!!!!!! This means by October 15 I should be feeling better.

I have already scheduled my outpatient surgery to have my Port Catheter removed. This surgery is scheduled for Thursday, Oct 20 (3 weeks to the day from my last chemo treatment.) I have loved having the port for ease of getting fed the drugs but to be honest I can feel the port almost everyday. Each time I drive a car the seat belt rubs on the port and gets irritated. When I lay on my left side the port gets squished and is irritated. It will be so great to have that foreign object removed from my body next month.

The plan is I will start my six weeks of radiation on Monday, Oct 24. I saw on the calendar that this is National Breast Cancer Awareness Day. I can’t think of a better day to start my radiation. I think the feeling would be similar to flying your American Flag on the 4th of July, Memorial Day, 9/11, etc… Instead it will be me going to start my radiation on the National Awareness Day. According to the current schedule I could be done with everything by Dec 2. This is earlier than I had anticipated. Yay!

I am still amazed how so many of you out there continue to help me through this in so many ways. I promise I won’t need dinners forever.  All of the dinners continue to be so greatly appreciated. The cards and gifts continue to roll in weekly. The flowers I received this past week from several friends uplifted me so much. Talking to friends at Jacob’s soccer tournament this weekend that I hadn’t seen or spoken to in a while was so great. Visiting with Allen’s Mom this weekend was so very nice.

I will close with a song that Martina McBride just came out with called “I’m Gonna Love You Through It” and it is a song about helping someone get through Breast Cancer. I loaded this song on my Kim’s Crew iPod song mix. When I listen to this song I always insert “two” instead of “three” for the number of kids. And the part about wanting to feel like a woman again isn’t because of my breasts but for me it is the losing the hair and wanting to feel like a woman again without having to wear wigs and hats. But the rest is right on. I dedicate this song to all of you who continue to help me get through this.

Love,
Kim

“I’m Gonna Love You Through It” by Martina McBride

She dropped the phone and burst into tears
The doctor just confirmed her fears
Her husband held it in and held her tight
Cancer don’t discriminate or care if you’re just 38
With three kids who need you in their lives
He said, “I know that you’re afraid and I am, too
But you’ll never be alone I promise you.

When you’re weak, I’ll be strong
When you let go, I’ll hold on
When you need to cry, I swear that I’lll be there to dry your eyes
When you feel lost and scared to death,
Like you can’t take one more step
Just take my hand, together we can do it
I’m gonna love you through it.

She made it through the surgery fine
They said they caught it just in time
But they had to take more than they had plannned
Now it’s forced smiles and baggy shirts
To hide what the cancer took from her
But she just wants to feel like a woman again
She said, “I don’t think I can do this anymore”
He took her in his arms and said “That’s what my love is for”

When you’re weak, I’ll be strong
When you let go, I’ll hold on
When you need to cry, I swear that I’ll be there to dry your eyes
When you feel lost and scared to death,
Like you can’t take one more step
Just take my hand, together we can do it
I’m gonna love you through it.

And when this road gets too long
I’ll be the rock you lean on
Just take my hand, together we can do it
I’m gonna love you through it.
I’m gonna love you though it.