No matter how hard we try, we can’t stop time, and it really seems the older we get, the faster it goes.
For me, time has been flying by in nano-blinks (new term, but seems to make sense). Since i last wrote so much has happened in my life.
- I had my final reconstruction surgery (I hope), removing the tissue expanders and inserting the permanent implants, have to admit, the expanders felt like rocks, as far from real as could be, the implants do feel real, or at least as real as can be expected. 🙂
- The Herceptin isn’t toxic to the veins like the harsher chemo, so i had my port removed with the final reconstruction surgery. The surgeon was able to remove the port from the inside, without having to re-open the incision used to insert the port, what good news 🙂
- I am back to work full time. Only missed a month 🙂
- I am on just Herceptin for my chemo treatments which means side effects are much lower and fewer sick days !!! 🙂
- Hair is growing back
- It started coming in gray, then started getting dark, darker than anything I ever had, now, like my oldest daughter says, it looks like a Dalmatian.
- Hair is growing very slowly, started growing around first of July and now it is reaching the equivalent of the ‘terrible twos’, it truly has a mind of it’s own
- Doc told me that since my hair is normally very curly it would come in straight, and be straight for a year… well, it was straight for a month, now that it is long enough to wave, it is waving all over the place 😦 I was really looking forward to straight hair after spending so many years with keratin treatments.
- Ugh, i have to shave my legs every day again!!! It was so nice not having to shave, if there was a way that I could possibly bottle the no hair from neck down I think i could be a bajillionaire 🙂
- Not wearing the wigs anymore 🙂 The blue wig was the best, you couldn’t help but feel better when you looked in the mirror and saw yourself with blue hair 🙂
- Fingernails are growing back, yes, you heard me right, the chemo took my fingernails too. they didn’t fall completely off, but they receded drastically. what was left from the nail bed was so weak and shredded they were terrible. They haven’t grown to the end of my finger yet, but they certainly are growing. And believe it or not I am getting ingrown fingernails, like people do on thier toes. They really are painful but i think i am getting past them. My fingernails split down the length of the nail, very painful.
- Nausea is much less frequent and my meds that i am taking are greatly reduced
- I still go through puberty during each chemo cycle, breaking out on my face, but it is a much smaller period.
- My neuropathy isn’t getting worse, but it isn’t getting better eirther.
- primarily on my right side, right foot and leg the most
- what good luck, the hot tub actually makes it feel better 🙂
- what bad luck, being on my feet for extended periods makes it feel worse
- Fatigue is very real, your get up and go, got up and left. . .
- Hair is growing back
- Mom had to get a new aortic valve and a double bypass the first part of June. I could see her room from my chemo room, at that time my chemo was taking 8 – 9 hours, now i am in and out of there in an hour and a half. 🙂
- We went to Alaska for my nephews wedding, what a beautiful place, we would love to go back. We were there the longest day and went to the midnight sun baseball game. the game is in Fairbanks and starts at 10:00 and is played without lights. 🙂 Crazy awesome having such long days in the summer, think it would be crazy bummer having so little light in the winter.
- 8/20 I got married!!! 🙂 Married to my best friend and soul mate and couldn’t be happier!!
- Looking forward to honeymoon in November
- 8/22 Alaina, my oldest is back to school at IA state
- 8/22 Anna, my youngest shipped for Marine Boot Camp, Parris Island
- I cannot believe how dependent we have become on cell phones, now that Anna is off to boot camp, the only way to communicate with her for 13 weeks is via good old pen and paper!!!
- I have been one of those that will actually go days without looking in my mail box, now i find myself stalking my mailbox!!! waiting for the next letter and reading and re-reading those letters she has written, they are very dog eared and very loved.
- How bad am I, I have printed sheets of address labels so I can quickly zip off cards and letters to Anna. I have even sent Anna some stamped and self addressed envelopes… lol, she ran out of stamps and stationary, she has been wonderful about writing to so many of us, i feel very fortunate, i know there are many parents that go weeks waiting on communication from their recruits.
- Looking forward to her graduation date 11/18.
So here is the question – what can I do to help those that are going through or about to go through what I have experienced and continue to experience…. I share these nuggets with you.
- Never give up your faith, i know that my faith continues to pull me through.
- Good things happen to good people and bad things happen to good people. Stuff happens, we need to keep our faith always and know that God is always with us, He will never leave us to endure alone.
- Don’t give in to that crummy sick feeling, force yourself to get out and do things, but remember everything within moderation.
- think about it, if you are going to feel crummy no matter what you are doing, you might as well at least try doing something fun 🙂 Unless of course you are feeling so crummy you can’t leave the bathroom… that happens 😦
- sometimes you just feel like crying, that’s o.k.
- Keep working your brain, chemo brain is a real thing that affects the short term memory in a strange way, it makes you feel like you are walking through a dream
- Take up those offers from family and friends to help out, they want to help, but you need to tell them it’s o.k.
- One of my favorite things during chemo is a friend that took me to lunch each Wednesday before chemo Monday’s, it really meant a lot to me and got me out when i wouldn’t have otherwise gone out.
- Get back into your normal gradually, if you have read my previous blogs, you will know that i have had a problem with this one, get back on the horse, leave the bronc in the paddock for another day… 🙂
- Don’t sweat the small stuff. Seriously, if the roof leaks, the cheese got moldy or you didn’t make your bed, it isn’t the end of the world, those things are easily corrected and we move on.
I promise not to be so long before the next post. Keep faith and know that you are never alone, God is always walking with us. We can all beat this thing called Cancer. My prayers are with you. 🙂 Til next time. 🙂
iowagirlstrong 