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