Halfway Done!

Ok, so I’ll go ahead and apologize for being MIA on here. Truth be told, I don’t enjoy writing but I do like to keep you guys informed.  So, if anyone has any questions that I don’t address, please feel free to ask!

I’m half way through chemo, and it feels pretty darn good! They always say “3^rd time’s a charm” and in my case, that was true! The last chemo was sooo much easier than the previous. I was never really sick. My doctor finally gave me Emend in my IV during chemo…. IT IS AMAZING! Emend is an anti-nausea medicine that works up to 72 hours after administered chemotherapy drugs. I also took Dexamethasone, which is another anti-nausea medicine, for 3 days after chemo and it worked wonders too! I have had a good appetite the whole time. Like my sister said, AMEN for EMEND!

Secondly, I STILL HAVE MY HAIR! I know that may sound vain, but who cares! I’m so thankful that (so far) the cold caps have been working! Of course, my hair does shed like crazy. I feel hair that has fallen on my arms all day and a good bit comes out when I wash it twice a week. Yes, I can only wash my hair twice a week. I have to be very careful. Here's the proof!

 

"Gross" -Ross

My hair is important to me. It’s strange because I never appreciated my hair until I was told that I was going to lose it.  I think if I had to look in the mirror everyday and see that I was bald, I would feel sick. It’s mental. I can go out in public and not have people feel sorry for me and I can just blend in with the crowd. For me, that helps.  I currently still have my eyebrows and eyelashes but I can live without those.  I’m sure those will shed soon. Thankfully, I never had nice eyelashes so that won’t be a big loss.  I still have some…. lets just phrase it as, "all the other hair that you have to shave". However; it grows very, very slowly and I can go a long time before I have to shave them. That’s ONE (and the only) benefit of having cancer.

I have had several follow up appointments at Moffitt since I last wrote. I saw the amazingly talented urologist, Dr. Wade Sexton, who performed my nephrectomy (removed my kidney) a few weeks back. He said I healed nicely and that I have no restrictions with daily activities. He does not need to see me anymore unless I want him to read any future scans of my kidney, so he can assess that my right kidney is performing well. Typically he would order periodic scans but since I have a unique (crappy) situation  (I have so many different cancers), my oncologist will order scans from here on out. I also saw my breast surgeon and oncologist at Moffitt last week. They each just wanted to check in when I was midway through chemo. My main questions for Dr. Lee, the breast surgeon, was if she thought I was still going to need radiation and when can I do reconstruction? If you remember a while back, my lymph nodes were negative for cancer. I’ve been told when you get a bi-lateral mastectomy and your lymph nodes are negative for cancer, than you typically don’t need radiation. Well, Dr. Lee said, in my case, even though my lymph nodes were clear, the amount of possible cancerous or pre-cancerous lesions seen in my mammogram show that they are really close to the surface of my skin (on my right breast). They will need to “scape” the skin really well and do further pathology after my surgery. We won’t know until after the mastectomies if I’ll have to have radiation. Oh and my next surgery will be at the end of September…about a month after I finish chemotherapy.  I PRAY I DO NOT HAVE TO HAVE RADIATION! If I do NOT have to go through radiation, I will most likely be able to do reconstruction about 3 months after surgery. That would make for a fabulous Christmas present! However, if I DO have to have radiation….which is typically 5-6 weeks long, plastic surgeons like to wait 6-9 months after to allow the skin to heal. So again, I DO NOT WANT RADIATION! I want BOOBS! J In all seriousness…well wanting boobs was being serious, but the MOST important thing is getting RID OF MY CANCER once and for all, and if that means going a year without small mountains on my chest and stuffing my bra, that’s what it means.

So, that’s what’s up! I want to give a special shout out to my Junior League of Ocala ladies for sending me special letters the last several weeks, AND for their generous donation. I’m so proud to be a part of such an amazing group of supportive ladies! Love you girls and I can’t wait to get back!

This is them wearing pink for me at the last meeting.

Yes, I promise I’m wrapping this up now but I have one more thing to say…..my family has had a tough last few weeks grieving the loss of a great man, my step dad, Jimmie. He battled heart disease for a very long time and beat the odds, repeatedly, by living FAR past what doctors expected. He was a strong man and truly lived life! I’m thankful he came into our lives years ago. He was a true representation that miracles happen. I AM GOING TO BE PROOF THAT MIRACLES happen too! Just watch! We love and miss you Jimmie!

Much love and thanks to GOD and you all!

Abby