Sunday, September 18, 2011

Waiting and Walking

The first week of school is over!  A real busy time and one that last year I just kinda sailed through in a fog.  The first surgery was ahead of me; chemotherepy was on the horizon and I was so scared of it, and I was just trying to keep my head above water.

Now, it is a year later and I FEEL like a SURVIVOR!  It has been a very hard, long journey to get here; but I am so proud of myself that I made it this far and I am still intact and ready to do whatever I need to.  Lately, I have heard from some people who had relapses, and of course, this is always on a survivor's mind.  But I can't dwell on thinking about that too much when I have come so far and see "an end" in sight (we do know there is never an end, but I am speaking metaphorically).

I went to my plastic surgeon on Tuesday for that dreaded red spot and once again, it looked "better"; but it is not "good".  A hard decision for him now to make.  But he asked my how much this is all "getting to me"...and I told him honestly that it's not "paradise", but I am willing to do what I need to do to make it better.  He decided that he is going to expand me some more to give him some "extra skin" to work with, and soon he will take out the extender (in surgery in his office), "clean me out well", and then put a whole new extender in.  He feels there is still some underlying infection that just will not ease.  He thinks this will help to clear it and feels it is a good option to try.  So, as of today, this is the game plan.  I will be going back to him on this Tuesday, and the area is retaining some fluid as it has been...so we will see if this plan still is a "go".

I also had my "every 3 week" Herceptin on Friday and it just seems to go so quickly now that it is just the one drug.  I was out of there by noontime.  My oncologist told me that my anemia is getting much better and that my latest heart scan (which I had last Friday) shows the heart ejection factor up to 60...which is "normal"! These things were good news!

This week I also went to see Andrea Bocelli in concert at Central Park; visited with some friends, went to a large Firefighters Parade, had dinner and saw a band (that used to play "back in the day" when Jim and I were much younger).  It was a very full week and I am tired....but such a good, good tired!

I also have a team that will be walking in the "Making Strides Against Breast Cancer" walk at Manhattanvile College on October 16th.  We have about 30 walkers on our team, "Rivertown's Bosom Buddies".  We have raised (as of this date) $3,320!!  I remember this walk being held last year and thinking to myself that if I was able this year....I wanted to be a part of it!  So glad to be able to do this to "give back" so others may not have to go through what I did.

So this week, I wait for more news and get ready for some good things to happen.  Thanks for your continued support and prayers and please know I still need them! 

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