Chemo . . . one week later

I thought I should give another update since a few people have mentioned checking my blog and wondered how things are going one week after chemo. The answer is . . . I feel almost "normal." Well, there are some side effects still lingering and more on the horizon (hair loss, for example), but overall, I am completely surprised and grateful that I feel as good as I do. My husband and I went back to Swedish Hospital for a follow-up appointment today and we were only there about an hour! Woo hoo! I had my blood counts done and met with Dr. E., the oncologist.

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Chemo treatment Number One

On Monday, October 20th, I had my first chemo treatment. To begin the day, my husband and I left our house in Mount Vernon at 6:00 a.m. in order to beat the morning rush hour traffic. We arrived at Swedish Hospital in Seattle shortly before 8:00 a.m. Because of the seriousness of our trip, we were both a little grumpy and snapping at each other in the car, so we spent a lot of time riding in silence. I think the scariness was getting to us a little. I had an 8:30 appointment to have my port-a-cath accessed (the nurse used lidocaine-- no pain!). From there, I went to the nuclear medicine department to have a heart scan.

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Ready to cross the rope bridge

Okay, I admit it. I've been avoiding my blog. There's so much on my mind lately, so much to say, that I feel overwhelmed with the time and commitment it would take to share it all. Things happen during the week and I'll think, "I should write about that on my blog." But so much piles up so quickly that I couldn't possibly share it all. So, I'll just get to the point. I had my second surgery for breast cancer last Monday, October 6th. This time, I wasn't nearly as freaked about it because I had a good idea of what was going to happen and since no lymph nodes were going to be taken, it was even a little easier. The difference the second time is that I had a port-a-cath inserted in my upper chest area, left side. It left me a little bruised and tender for a few days, but it's not so bad. It just feels a little weird having it there.

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Time to get the show on the road

I'm writing this on the eve of my second surgery for breast cancer. Tomorrow I will rise at 5:30 a.m. to shower and prepare for my trip to the hospital. When I went through this two months ago, I would have never imagined that 8 weeks later, I'd be doing the same thing again! Well, it won't be exactly the same. I am having a "re-excision " surgery where more breast tissue will be taken out. I had clean margins the first time, but the margins were too slim, leaving me with a higher risk of recurrence. This time, I told the surgeon to take as much as he wanted and I don't care what it looks like! I know that he probably hears this a lot from women. I read that a common response upon first being diagnosed with breast cancer is, "Just cut it off!" And I was no exception. The thing is, when it gets down to it and you are faced with the actual surgery, mastectomy is pretty darn scary. I think it's an easier decision if you have a large tumor or if the cancer has already spread. You're willing to do whatever.

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