Well I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas holiday! We were pretty busy even though we didn't go anywhere this year. Mom and Dad came down and we all had a nice Christmas Day here with my sister and her fiancee and my brother and my beautiful twin nieces.
I finished up my 2nd last chemo this past Tuesday which is great! Only 1 left. Can you believe it's been 6 months? Still feeling not bad today. I imagine it will hit me tomorrow but that's ok since it's New Years Day and you have to take it easy that day anyway.
I also had my appointment this week with my surgeon. We went in to discuss what the surgery was going to be and get it booked. After my exam he confirmed what Dr. Young has also said that he couldn't feel anything in my breast anymore which was good but could feel a slightly enlarged lymph node but not the same size it was back in August. So no surprises he has recommended a mastectomy which I was prepared for and was going to insist on even if he hadn't recommended it. I will also have a good size of tissue removed under my arm to remove all the tumors in my lymph nodes. My surgery is being based on my original MRI that was done in August even though we are doing another MRI at the end of January to see how much the tumors have shrunk since the beginning of chemo. He said to get the best possible results and to make sure there isn't any residual cancer cells around it's better to take the original area. The MRI at the end of January is mostly for documentation purposes and to see if anything else has developed. I'm hoping not. I don't think so though since I haven't felt anything in a couple of months.
I don't have my surgery date yet, they will be calling me with that in the next week. It will be after March 1st though since we don't get back from Jamaica until then. I will be in the hospital for a couple of days after so they can see how I am doing. Usually you go home the same day but apparently when you do chemo first they like to keep you just in case. I'll be off my feet for a couple of weeks with no heavy lifting just some light arm exercises to prevent the lymphedema from developing. I'll most likely be off work for 4 to 6 weeks total to heal and then I start radiation for 5 days a week for 5 weeks. I'm not looking forward to driving out to the General everyday for 5 weeks. :-(
Thanks to everyone for all the wonderful Christmas cards and well wishes over the holidays. We wish all of our friends and family a very Happy New Years with best wishes for a happy and healthy 2010!
I finished up my 2nd last chemo this past Tuesday which is great! Only 1 left. Can you believe it's been 6 months? Still feeling not bad today. I imagine it will hit me tomorrow but that's ok since it's New Years Day and you have to take it easy that day anyway.
I also had my appointment this week with my surgeon. We went in to discuss what the surgery was going to be and get it booked. After my exam he confirmed what Dr. Young has also said that he couldn't feel anything in my breast anymore which was good but could feel a slightly enlarged lymph node but not the same size it was back in August. So no surprises he has recommended a mastectomy which I was prepared for and was going to insist on even if he hadn't recommended it. I will also have a good size of tissue removed under my arm to remove all the tumors in my lymph nodes. My surgery is being based on my original MRI that was done in August even though we are doing another MRI at the end of January to see how much the tumors have shrunk since the beginning of chemo. He said to get the best possible results and to make sure there isn't any residual cancer cells around it's better to take the original area. The MRI at the end of January is mostly for documentation purposes and to see if anything else has developed. I'm hoping not. I don't think so though since I haven't felt anything in a couple of months.
I don't have my surgery date yet, they will be calling me with that in the next week. It will be after March 1st though since we don't get back from Jamaica until then. I will be in the hospital for a couple of days after so they can see how I am doing. Usually you go home the same day but apparently when you do chemo first they like to keep you just in case. I'll be off my feet for a couple of weeks with no heavy lifting just some light arm exercises to prevent the lymphedema from developing. I'll most likely be off work for 4 to 6 weeks total to heal and then I start radiation for 5 days a week for 5 weeks. I'm not looking forward to driving out to the General everyday for 5 weeks. :-(
Thanks to everyone for all the wonderful Christmas cards and well wishes over the holidays. We wish all of our friends and family a very Happy New Years with best wishes for a happy and healthy 2010!
