Let me start out, Frank never posts anything to fb. He hates it. He thinks it is a waste of time. He is amused with me that I have my friends and I watch what everyone is doing....I like it. It keeps me in touch with frineds when I don't have a chance to talk to them. So that being said....and with the help of our 12 year old he posted this on my wall.
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I have never posted a comment on Facebook but there are accomplishments that deserve to be recognized. Sandy (the love of my life as you all know) has completed sixteen weeks of chemotherapy with an incredible positive attitude, strength, patience and grace that I can’t begin to appreciate or understand. Throughout this scary mental and physically painful process she has kept her sense of humor and a constant positive attitude knowing that there are many others that have gone before her and always thinking – it could be worse. She continues to create a supportive loving environment for our family, life goes on with four kids and teenagers don’t always fully understand the realities and challenges of life. Through her blog (which I have not read) she is reaching out to women around the world sharing her experiences with breast cancer from both a medical and emotional point of view.
You inspire me to be better – I love you very much!
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I was speechless. Chemo has been the most difficult thing I have ever had to do in my life. Yes, the mastectomy was pretty bad but managable. The chemo was different. A challenge that at times I wanted to give up because my quality of life just was awful. All you could do was just roll over, take another pain killer or nauesa med but slowly, day by day, you get better and you snap out of it. On my last infusion for AC, just looking at my book bag I brought to infusion or the drive to the Dr.'s office brought nausea to me. That's how bad it became.
So, I am done, let me rewrite that with some more emotion.....
I AM DONE WITH CHEMO AUGUST 11, 2011!
now let me stand on top of a mountain and yell...
I AM DONE WITH CHEMO
and you know what....you will finish like me, don't worry.
Keep me company as I travel thru my journey facing breast cancer again.
Why would anyone want to read about someone else's problem when you have plenty of your own? Maybe one day a loved one, a friend, or you will be diagnosed with breast cancer. My blog might offer insite into cancer resources, thoughts, questions to ask, or guidance in helping you deal with this disease. These are my experiences and suggestions. Every breast cancer is different. If you are touched by breast cancer, be sure to consult your Dr. for direction in treatment.
I equate my blog to the emergency evacuation instruction the flight attendants do before you take off on an airplane. Nobody pays attention to them but when your plane is about to crash you think, "sh*t, why didn't I pay more attention to them? Which color cord do I pull first again?" We have so many things going on in our lives that one more thing to dwell on that doesn't apply to us right now may not be important but when it does, we wish we would have paid attention.
My blog is something you might read a couple times or maybe follow. Hopefully you gain some knowledge about breast cancer, in particular, Invasive Lobular Carcinoma (ILC). It is the 2nd most common type of invasive breast cancer however it only accounts for approx. 10% of all invasive breast cancers. It is the silent breast cancer. It is generally not detected with a mammo but rather an ultrasound. Invasive Lobular Carcinoma (ILC) is what I have been diagnosed with. My suggestion to every woman who is of mammo age insist on an ultrasound with your mammos.
UPDATE 3/2011
I have had my bilaterial mastectomy and I am recovering. ILC is a sneaky cancer as I said above. My various Dr.'s here and at UCSF confirmed the size of my tumor should be between 2.5cm-3.5cm with possibilty but not most likely, 7cm. After my surgery, my tumor was confirmed to be 11cm. My Dr.'s are very knowledgeable and are on top of things. This is simply the truth about ILC. I had mammos every 6 months, ultra sounds, and MRI's. With all of these, it was not picked up until 1/2011. The good news, if you can call it that, only 1 sentinel node out of 2 has micromastic findings and 5 aux. nodes were negative.
Be sure to start my adventure from the blog history on the right. I have tried to bold points to make it easier to extract the important information. If there is anything you get out of this blog, refer to my Dr.'s listed below if you know someone who has been diagnosed with breast cancer in the East Bay. These Dr.'s; Dr. Gottlieb, Dr. Wotowic, and Dr. Sherman are my 3 musketeers....all for 1 and 1 for all!
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Amazing woman! Wow, what you have done. You are an inspiration. I know your girls will do great things and your boys will respect everyone they encounter because of your legacy. I am humbled before you!
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