With Radiation over, we are looking forward to the next phase of this journey.
My hair is growing back! I'm please to report my eyebrows are both back - after falling out one at a time. That was a good time. I again have eyelashes and the hair on my head is thicker. It is still very short but now looks like a choice versus an unfortunate accident. I'm looking forward to it no longer sticking straight up. Unfortunately - the hair on my face is growing back and my complexion is no longer beautiful. I feel like I'm 15 years old battling teenage acne again.
My strength continues to improve. It feels good to be able to walk quickly again and go up and down stairs without tremendous impact. My desire for sleep continues to be all consuming with a need to sleep 10 hours every night. The neuropathy is still there but the pain is much less. It feels good to be able to stand for longer periods of time without it hurting and to wear high heels again.
We've met with Dr. N (Breast Surgeon) and Dr. A (Plastic Surgeon) to discuss the second mastectomy. It was agreed that this was a good decision based on the cancer stage, the hidden second tumor and aggressive nature of the cancer cells. There will be a follow up appointment (early July) to schedule the surgery date (end of July). The last surgery - reconstruction will be around the month of October after sufficient healing time. We plan to take a family vacation in between to enjoy the summer.
Yesterday we met with Dr. L (Oncologist) and went over my numbers. My white blood cell count is continuing to improve. I'm just under 3000 with normal being between 4000 to 6000. I am able to fight infection but this could explain my continued fatigue. The only outlier continues to be my liver enzymes which are still lower than they should be. This and an unexplained 10lb weight loss prompted the decision to do an abdominal CT scan to determine if I have 'fatty liver' and to rule out liver cancer. This will happen next Tuesday and the results will be given on Thursday.
I start my 5 years of Tamoxifen this week which is a maintenance drug designed to 'hook' onto cancer cells instead of estrogen. This will in essence starve any remaining cancer cells by not feeding them the estrogen which makes them grow. I'm not looking forward to this but understand the necessity.
In the meantime, I'm feeling good and back to my old self (almost). I enjoy working and being actively involved with my family life again. It was wonderful to participate in the Komen Race for the Cure and celebrate Breast Cancer survivors and their families - as well as honor those who have lost the battle. I was overwhelmed by the outpouring of love and support. It was a sea of pink in every direction. Amazing.
