Grateful and a Tiny Update.

I would like this to be more of a gratitude post, but at the end I do have a quick update on whats up with my health these days. First as I have looked back at the end of last year and up to now of this year, I have so much to grateful for. My cancer could have been a lot worse. My prognosis could have been much worse. For this I am truly grateful. I have healed really nicely and the scaring is really not that bad. It could have been much more disfiguring considering how deep they went and the fact there are two incision sites. God has truly been good to me. There is a part of me that thinks I went through this process to encourage others. So far we have had two new employees at my work place. One was the friend I posted about earlier. The second person was part of the management team. She has been diagnosed with breast cancer. Her cancer situation is almost identical to my cancer. I am so grateful that I was able to help her through educating her on what to expect. I sat there and cried with her because she is so scared. Okay, just a quick note about my progress. I went to my radiologist oncologist today. Everything is looking great, as I said before my breast have healed better than I or the doctor expected. I have three doctors following me with this cancer. Actually four if you count my family doctor. I am battling bronchitis right now and am taking Cipro and predione. I am not feeling well at all but when the antibiotics kick in, I expect life will be better. Take care my friends and God Bless.

Short update!

Hello my friends! I wanted to update my blog on what has been going on with my journey. The good news is I am almost completely healed from the radiation. I still get tired by 2:00 pm every day, but I guess that is par for the course. The new medication I am on is suppose to cause my bones to become brittle. I have to have bone density test quite frequently. I had my first one today, it took about ten minutes. Nothing to that at all. I have to go for another mammogram ,week after next. My surgeon had called the hospital to give them an order.I was not expecting this, it came out of the blue.But I am praying for good news! Today a friend at work confided in me that she found a lump in her neck. She had lymphoma in the past in her spleen. This poor lady has been through so much. If you would graciously remember her when you pray I would greatly appreciate it. Her first name is Jennifer! Jennifer is just the sweetest person, but she is struggling to keep it together right now, she is fearful her cancer has returned. Hope you all have a great weekend.

Current Update!

Hello Friends! I wanted to up date you on where I am at in my journey. Things are going well and I feel I am making progress. I continue to heal from the burns caused by the radiation. My breast has a raw spot around almost in a perfect circle around my nipple area. This spot is raw and tender. The burns under my arm and along the site where they checked the lymph nodes has turned a deep brown and is peeling,but are not as painful as the area around the nipple area. I continue to use the Alra lotion to treat the burns. I had a follow up visit with my regular oncologist today. He and I discussed that over all I have done well through this process and diagnosis. My prognosis is very good. He did start me on a " anti- hormone pill" called Letorozole. This medication is used to treat my type of breast cancer and to prevent it hcoming back in breast or another area of my body. I have to stay on this medication for five years. Therse are side when taking this medication, as they are with all medications. Some of them are hair loss, joint and muscle pain, tiredness and hot flashes. I told him I already had most of these symp.toms any way due to old age. LOL I will be meeting with Dr Goldberg every three months, to keep check on my blood work and how I am doing on the medication. Well, thats about it folks. Thank you again for your support and encouragement. May God continue to bless all of you.

Just to Touch Base.

Wow, I just have three more treatments left. Now they are just focusing on the site of the lumpectomy. This treatment process last only a minute and I am done. The worse is over. Praising God and doing a happy dance. However I am suffering from a severe burn under my right arm due to the radiation treatments. The doctor told me it would take about a week to heal. As if I was not already having enough fun, I had cataract surgery on my right eye yesterday morning. The surgery went well and was not as bad as I thought it would be. Last evening my hubby was driving me to my treatments and he ask me how I was seeing. Well, what I was seeing in front of my eyes was this pretty rainbow colored bubble. I was scared that something had went wrong. This morning when I woke up my right eye was so cloudy I could not see anything. Of course I thought the worse. I need to trust God more. I went to see my doctor and he said the cloudiness was due to swelling while I was sleeping. This evening when hubby was driving me, I was able to see like I use to. It was so good to be able to see the road at night again. Hope everyone is having a good week. For my friends up North, I am praying the storm is not too hard on you. Please keep warm and I will keep you in my prayers.

The generosity and kindness and support I have been given since this diagnosis is surreal to me. It amazes me how thoughtful people in blog land and even in the real world can be. I want to say Thank you to Susan who sent me this beautiful gift. It is filled with spa products to pamper my body as well as my soul. I am really appreciative of this gift of love from Susan. But she gave me an invisible gift as well, she gave me faith and hope that I will get through this. Susan thank you sweet friend for your support and encouragement and kindness. I continue to go to treatments every night. My skin is getting more red each treatment. But praise God I can see the light at the end of the tunnel, I have only 8 treatments left to do. God is so good!

Quick Update!

I just wanted to post a quick up date of my journey. Its been a while since I posted anything on either blog. I am now in my 23 rd treatment so I will be finished with this the second week of February. Praising God! The treatments have made me really tired. I have no energy. It is so hard for me to go to work, but I have managed to go and do my job. I have not burned much so far. I had one small spot under my arm. I use Alray lotion every morning and night and this helps prevent the drying of the skin. The doctor gave me some Aquafor for the spot under my arm and that is a fast healing cream. My hubby has been a real trooper. He drives me every evening for my treatments. That means we are eating dinner around 8:00 pm every night. Needless to say we have had some fast food meals more than once. I can not see to drive at night because of the cataracts. My surgery was postponed so I will not have that until February 6. I am scared of this surgery. Your eyes are so important. That is about all the update now. God Bless all my supporters, you mean so much to me!

Continuing my Journey

Hello! I wanted to continue to share my journey with The Pink Ribbon. I have started my radiation treatments. They are going well, or so they say. Every evening when I get off work , my hubbie and I get into the SUV and drive to the Cancer Center. There I am told to undress from the top only. They walk me down this long hall to the treatment room. There my "cushion" which is personalized just for me is place on the table. I climb up and take my gown off at the top. I then pull my arms above my head and place them into cuffs that are specially molded just for me. Once they have the alignment right , the treatment can proceed. It takes about ten minutes. I get dressed and I drive home. It all sounds so simple, and it really is. The only thing that has complicated matters is that I have the flu. I was getting diarrhea and nausea. I thought it was caused by the radiation treatments. The doctor says no, that I have a flu that is going around. This has been going on for about two weeks now, feeling weak. I am so tired today that I slept most of this day. Yesterday, I went out to do some grocery shopping, and I went to Kirklands. When I got home and walked in the door, my husband stated I was white as a ghost. I was determined to get the things I needed to do done. I did some laundry and did some minor pick yp and cleaning. I finally had to fess up to the fact I could do no more. I don't think I have shared that I have some eye surgery coming soon as well. I have cataracts on both eyes. My right eye is really bad, and my left eye I can still see fairly well. I can not see to drive at night, so that is why hubbie drives me to treatments. In the midst of all this stuff, I am having a lot of dental work done. I have been so stressed that I started grinding my teeth. I ended up breaking a tooth in half. I wish I did not have to work but until I can retire there is not much else I can do. Just having to leave my home every day for an hour is stressful, go figure. I am so sorry I am whining, but I feel that I need to share my total experience so that others who are going through this journey can know what to expect somewhat. Everyone's journey is different, I know reading about other peoples experience with breast cancer and other cancers has helped me to keep things in perspective of how lucky I really am. I continue to praise God and glorify him for his watching over me on a daily basis. God Bless you for you support.