Wednesday, October 19, 2011
Hello friends and family. It has been three weeks since my last chemotherapy treatment and I am on my upswing! This one took a while and I am not even close to physically feeling back to normal again but I am through the toughest part of the recovery and it can only get better from here. I still have boughts of fatigue, am still anemic, and I am experiencing some numbness in my left foot, but all in all I am doing well. I still cannot believe I am done with all my chemo. I am so thankful. I am also thankful that my hair continues to grow in. I cannot wait to no longer wear wigs and hats. That will be the best!
Tomorrow is the day I get my port removed. I am very happy about tomorrow. This concludes my chapter of chemotherapy. The only reason I had my port was for the chemo. I can now check that off my list. My surgery is scheduled for 10:00 a.m. tomorrow at Edward Hospital. Check in is at 8:30 a.m. I am so thankful Dr. Montana has scheduled me for the morning since I cannot eat or drink anything after midnight tonight. I should be home probably around 1 or 2 in the afternoon. Please say a prayer for me that the surgery goes well.
Last Friday I had all the prep work done for the radiation. I start radiation this coming Monday, Oct 24. I will go five days a week for six weeks so I should be done by the second week of December. I don’t know the exact end date yet but that will be one of the first questions I ask on Monday. The radiation area is on the first floor of the Cancer Center. The chemotherapy area is on the 2nd flooor of the Cancer Center. I am so thrilled I no longer will need to climb those stairs.
On Monday I also start a drug called Tamoxifen which I will take once a day for five years. At the end of those five years they are talking about me taking a different drug for another five years and then possibly a third drug for five years after that. The drug will block estrogen in my body. They know that my tumor had been fueled by estrogen so by blocking the estrogen it aids in preventing any future cancers of the breast. I am so blessed to have had two beautiful children when I did because at this point in my life it is no longer possible.
My Mom is still here but will leaving to go home right before Hallloween. She will return around the middle of November since I have been told the last several weeks of radiation will make me fatigued and tender. I am hoping that I gain more physical strenth between now and the time she leaves in October so I can take over the household responsibilities that she has helped me with since April. She has been a huge help!
I described to Allen the other day how I personally feel like a nail that has been pounded a little at a time, over time, into the ground. As I gain physical and emotional strength that nail will slowly rise until it comes out completely. I look forward to the day when I can put that nail in a small box and store it away with all my other memories.
Love,
Kim