I met with the plastic surgeon on Wednesday of this week. Dr. Holding is a very smart woman and I am confident she will help me close the chapter when we are ready. A lot of the plastic surgery and radiation depends on what they find at the time of surgery. So we are praying for no lymph node, chest wall, or skin involvement. That will better my chances of not having to have radiation. If they do recommend radiation I have some questions for them such as what are my options if I have a recurrence. Although I do not want to think about that, and statistically my chances are small, it is still a reality that will be a part of my life forever. I will always be a breast cancer patient. There is no ''cure'' for breast cancer, so I will never be completely ''out of the woods''. Every year that you survive gives you lower chances of recurrence and 5 years seems to be the magic year, but it is something that I will always carry in the back of my mind. My surgery has been scheduled for January 6th, 2015. I will finish the first week of the new year "cancer free". It feels very surreal and I do not think that I have come to the realization that we are on what I hope is the down hill slide of this journey.
Some things I have been thinking about are what my new ''normal'' will look like? Craig and I were talking the other night about what we are going to do with our time when all of this is over. I don't know that I care - I just know I will be thankful for no more chemo. While I did sleep through the bad days of last treatment I have been very tired the other days. Still napping and resting in the chair most days. I have a cold. A sore throat and a cough. My oncologist said that they do not want to give me medicine unless I develop a fever. I am taking my temperature a few times a day to make sure we are on top of things. I'm just drinking lots of water and fighting through. It really has wiped me out though, the first day I woke up I had ZERO energy and laid in bed all day.
Thanksgiving week is coming up! Can you believe it?! When we started our journey it was only about 10 days after the Fourth of July! Time really has been flying by. I plan to work only half days this next week. We are giving out Thanksgiving dinners at my work so I think that will be good for my soul to give back. What plans do you all have for Thanksgiving? Are you traveling out of town? My parents are hosting Thanksgiving this year, which will be perfect as I still have a bedroom there so if I get tired I will have no problem crawling in bed and napping!
I will have to meet with the plastic surgeon and my breast surgeon before surgery one more time. I am meeting with them the week of December 15th. Then I will hopefully have NO DOCTOR APPOINTMENTS through Christmas and the New Year and then we will be back at it after that!
My hair is already growing back. Which makes me think I may have a an extra hair chromosome! Haha. The oncologist said that it will grow about a half inch a month. I probably have a half inch. Although it grows in stages, my hair dresser said that it will be a little wild for a couple of months until it is all growing at the same rate and then I will be able to cut it. I have decided I will be thankful no matter what it looks like!
I hope that all of you have a wonderful wonderful Thanksgiving and are able to remember all that you have been blessed with, enjoy time with family, and stay safe traveling!
xoxo
Mary Ann