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Archives for November 2011

27
Nov 2011

Sunday, November 27, 2011

105_1120_kim_and_allen_by_fp_at_cc_displayHi friends and family,

I hope you all are doing well and had a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend. Mine was so great as I got to spend it with my family. It is hard to believe that my cancer treatments are coming to an end. I can now count on just two hands how many days I have left with radiation. That’s right, after months and months and months of treatments I now only have 10 days left!!! I have completed 23 days of radiation so far and will go to radiation five days this week and then five days the following week finishing my last radiation treatment on Friday, Dec 9!

The radiation is going well. I did have some pretty bad reactions to the radiation on my skin and my doctor even had to adjust my schedule to give my skin a few days off because it got so bad. I even had to treat some of the areas with burn cremes that they give patients who have second and third degree burns. I am not going to complain though as I know this is just temporary and my skin should hopefully return to normal at some point.

I am still doing really great. My Mom is back in town to help out which is really great. The new drug I have been taking since the start of radiation (Tamoxifen) has been giving me hot flashes which can be annoying but I just power through them and they pass pretty quickly. I am still waiting for my eye lashes to return. What is taking so long? I was told the eye lashes are the last to fall out and the first to come back. Up until last week they were still falling out! The hair on my head continues to grow really fast although the color is more gray than I would like to see. Emotionally I am doing great and am loving being involved in life again. I really do appreciate every bit of everything I get to do.

This weekend I was looking through some old pictures that my Dad had taken the day of my last chemotherapy treatment. There were pictures of my friends setting up the rainbow of balloons out front of my house. There were pictures of them putting up the sign and rainbow colors on our garage door. I had never seen these pictures before until this weekend. I noticed in the pictures how happy they all looked. It made me so happy to see those pictures and the fun they were having before I arrived home that day. For ALL of my friends and family: I know I have said this before but thank you to each and every one of you who didn’t ignore me and asked me how I was doing, or told me you were praying for me, or emailed me when you saw some concerning Facebook posts from me early on, or dropped off a meal for our family, or sent me a card to say hi, or gave me beautiful flowers, or just said hi as we passed on the street. I will forever be grateful for you.

My purple & pink pinwheel flower is still in our front yard and is still spinning and spinning and spinning. That flower has never given up and has always meant so much to me. I look at it every day. I told my friend (who gave it to me right after I was diagnosed) that I will take my pinwheel down on Friday, Dec 9, my final day of radiation treatment. I am sure I will shed a tear as I celebrate!

Lastly, I wanted you to know that I have added 7 new pictures to my photo gallery. One of the pictures is a picture of my radiation machine for those wondering what a radiation machine looks like. Another picture is the Cancer Center decorated for Christmas. It truly is the most wonderful time of the year!

Love,

Kim

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Filed Under: Kim's Blog

12
Nov 2011

Saturday, November 12, 2011

Hello friends and family,
I hope everyone is doing well. I figured it was time for another update so here we go.

I am doing really great! I have completed 15 days of radiation therapy. I have 18 more days to go and then I will be done with radiation. Other than an itchy rash on the area being radiated, I am doing just fine with radiation. I have come to enjoy the drive each morning after the kids head off to school. One of my friends joined me last week and we went to breakfast afterwards which was really great.

Every day I can feel myself getting stronger and stronger. Another big milestone was yesterday. Yesterday was my six week mark from my very last chemotherapy treatment. My doctor had told me it would take six weeks for my body to feel somewhat normal again. He was right. As the days and weeks go by those trips to the doctor for infusions seems so far away. I ask myself, did I really just go through four long months of chemotherapy? I feel a sense of accomplishment that I made it through to the other side and that I have all of that behind me now.

In less than a month I will be all done with all of my treatments (except for the Tamoxifen pill I will continue to take for five years). Thursday, Dec 8 will be my very last day of radiation and I think at that point I may start to consider myself a survivor. I will visit my Oncologist in January for follow up blood work to make sure my levels are all back to normal. And then in Feb/March I will have my first post BC diagnostic mammogram with a follow up visit to the surgeon. I will not be able to go to that mammogram appointment alone I can tell you already. I will for sure need my hand held that day.

What about my hair? Good news is my hair continues to grow in. It may be about an inch long now. I am still wearing my halo/hats a lot. I am not wearing my full head wig very much. I am thankful to be past the scarf stage. I am having fun with this and recently went hat shopping for some really cute fall/winter hats that will keep my head warm. I am guessing by the spring I should have enough hair to have a cute short haircut. My eyelashes and eyebrows are filling in as well. It sure will make putting on mascara a lot easier when I have more than two lashes to paint.

Emotionally I am in a much better place now and I hope it continues that way!!! Thank you again for all of the wonderful support I have received from all of you. The love and support given to me has been amazing and I plan to pay it forward.

Love,
Kim

Filed Under: Kim's Blog

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