Here we go again!

Radiation starts tomorrow! I can't say I am looking forward to it but at least it is the last leg of this journey. Dr Conrad said that without radiation the recurrence rate is 15-20 percent and with it, it goes down to less than 5 percent. So it is a no brainer of course. I have to throw everything I can at it, as with triple negative there is no hormonal treatment like with other breast cancers. 

Praying for all to go well for this next process and also hoping for good driving weather if at all possible.

 

A lot left to live for

 

Hair update #4

9 weeks past chemo and the back is filling in quite a bit! The front hairline is getting there too but it is slower than the rest still :)

 

 

Brows and lashes are close to fully back!

 

A couple of new ornaments for the tree :)

Bought these beautiful ornaments off a Canadian seller on Etsy :)

 

 

Radiation start date

I finally received my radiation start date, my first session will be Wednesday, December 14th, at 4:05pm.  Lousy time but the person who called said that hopefully they will try to work with my request for mornings going forward. I think I will be getting weekly schedules, so it may not be the same time each day.   The sessions should be about half an hour so that's good, and I will also have to see my oncologist every Wednesday, so that will extend the time at the hospital on those days. I have to do 30 sessions, and with the weeks of Christmas and New years being only 4 days (no sessions on the Mondays), if all goes well I will be done January 26th.

I am really hoping it all goes well and that I have minimal burning and peeling.  I have seen pictures though, of other women in my online group, and they did burn and peel quite badly near the end. The key is to moisturize several times a day. 

30 sessions is the max anyone can do.  Just like chemo, they are really throwing this at me!  Given other women I know have done 20 or so sessions and had bad burns I am a bit nervous.  But they did heal quite quickly and well. 

I have to wait 4 weeks to be in the sun, so we booked our Jamaica trip for March 1-10, which is 5 weeks after I finish.  I should be healed by then :)
It is nice to have something to look forward to!  That trip will be well deserved for sure.  After the marathon of these past months, I can't wait to do something fun and indulgent.

Racing against time

https://www.facebook.com/RethinkBreastCancer/videos/10154581184302552/

Appointments with dr Amir and dr Hunter

First off I have to say how much respect and admiration I have for these two doctors. Well all the doctors on my team really. 

I saw dr Amir yesterday as the follow up to the pathology report. It was a bit anti climactic as I knew the results already but still nice to close the loop and to thank him for everything he has done for me. Really the chemo regime he put me through, as much as it sucked like nothing I have ever done before, saved my life. How can you thank someone enough for that? 

I also took the opportunity to ask about chemo brain, and he told me it usually hits it worst peak 6 weeks after chemo (which was 2 weeks ago for me) and it may get better in 6 months to a year, it varies by patient. I hope it gets better before I go back into the workplace. I might try doing brain exercises.

Dr Amir said I can come back to see him in six months as my last appointment to discuss any concerns or lingering side effects. It is a bit scary that I won't be under his care anymore. But I think my surgeon will continue to see me regularly.

I went to my appointment with dr Hunter next.  It was a great session, I always feel so validated and less weighed down after we talk.

I recapped my last month and the surgery and pathology report and he seemed genuinely happy for me that the cancer is gone!  I talked to him about how cancer is a crap shoot, and with the anniversary of Carmen's death also this month I said how crazy and unfair it is that if you don't catch it early enough you are screwed. I get to be here and she doesn't and I do feel like a bit of survivor guilt about that. But what was I going to do, lay down and die? Not a chance and she wouldn't want that either.   Given how emotional this month has been I told him how I feel grateful but also exhausted and he said of course you do.

Even with the good news, I still have trouble sleeping through the night. I usually wake up around 2am and am awake for an hour or more. He suggested trying a meditation app that I can use anytime really but I can turn it on when I wake up in the middle of the night like that, to try to get my body back to a restful state.

I am hopeful it will help.

Overall it was a good day at the hospital. Still waiting to hear when radiation starts. I may not have to go down at all this coming week, which will be a nice break before 6 weeks of treatment.