Update 12/31

I know, I know, its been a while since I have last updated.  Well here it goes...

I need another surgery. : (  I had what I thought would be my only surgery on December 8th.  The MRI that I had done a week or so prior had shown no cancer remaining.  This should have been a good thing - meaning go in for surgery, take out the remaining scar tissue, check a few lymph nodes and be done RIGHT?  Well it didn't quite turn out that way, which sucks!

The results of the pathology report were that the top margin was not clear (there was still cancerous tissue in the breast) and 1 out of 3 lymph nodes that were taken out had cancer in it.  What a let down. 

I had also been having back pain off and on for a few weeks.  In my mind, the positive lymph node plus the back pain meant that the cancer had spread to other parts of my body.  I let my doctor know and he scheduled me for a bone scan.  I went and had that done and then went over to the oncologist right away so he could read my results.  The bone scan showed NO areas of concern.  So, I'm not sure what was/is causing my back to bother me, but its not because of my cancer.  That's one good thing!

I have to allow my breast to heal before my surgeon can go back in and operate again.  My "repeat" surgery is scheduled for January 19th (one month before my birthday).  He will be taking more tissue from the area that was not clear as well as taking out more lymph nodes to check them fully.  Keep your fingers crossed that the outcome will be better this time around.

Because I need another surgery, I have to put off radiation until a later date.  Hopefully I will be ready to start radiation by my birthday.

On a good note though, my hair is starting to grow back!  I have eye lashes, eye brows, and hair on my head all starting to come back - although it is all baby fine and still teeny tiny!

Moving Along

Thursday is the big day... Surgery Day!  I will be having a lumpectomy to take out the scar tissue that is remaining from chemo.  The surgeon is also going to take a lymph node out to test and see if any cancer has gotten past the lump that was present.  He does not expect to have any of it come back as cancerous.  (keep your fingers crossed)  When the MRI and 3-D mammogram reports came back, my surgeon referred to them as "boring"!  That is a good thing, because it showed that the chemo did its job!

I also met with the Radiation Oncologist last week.  I will be having radiation - between 30-36 treatments total - starting either the first or second week in January.  If all goes according to plan, I will be done with everything by the end of February!

Its been a month since my last chemo treatment, but my hair has still not started to grow back.  I've read that it should start growing back around 4-6 weeks after your last treatment.  Hopefully it will start happening soon!

But the best part of all is that very soon I will be able to say that I am truly a SURVIVOR and that I am CANCER FREE!

Ending a chapter

Here's an EXCELLENT subject, tomorrow is my LAST CHEMO TREATMENT!!!! Can you tell that I'm glad?  Hopefully #8 goes as smoothly as the #7. 

After chemo is done, I have a 3D mammogram, MRI, meeting with my surgeon, and numerous meetings with my radiation oncologist either already scheduled or waiting to be scheduled.  I will then have surgery (lumpectomy), followed by 6 weeks (M-F) of radiation.  If I can make it through 8 rounds of chemo, I can make it through anything!

Here's a pic from chemo #7, not sure if i put it in the last blog. 

Looking at this pic, it looks like I really have it made - Munchkins, Juice, People Magazine, iPhone, recliner!
I promise, Chemo really does suck!

You have to have some humor with all of this, so here's a funny story.  Our tub was draining slow, so Mike got the snake out, and headed to the basement to see if he could clear out the drain.  He pulled out the biggest, smelliest, most disgusting wads of hair!  I say wads - plural - because it didn't end after the 1st one.  Mike continued to pull 2 more (equally large) hairballs out after that!  He looked at me as the culprit, and i said it couldn't be - I DON'T HAVE HAIR!  hahaha!

It was probably me, from when I did have hair, but it was really funny at the time!  I said I was going to take a pic of the hairball, and Mike said to put as a caption "the upside to chemo - this will never happen to your drain!"  Again, humor is needed when going through chemo, its the only way to survive! : )  

Making Strides - Worcester

On October 23rd, 29 family members and friends of mine walked with me in the Making Strides Against Breast Cancer walk in Worcester.  There were also a few that wanted to walk, but stuff came up, and they were unable to - but they were there in spirit!  I couldn't believe how many people came to support me!  I can't thank them enough! 

It was pretty cold when we started the walk, but overall it ended up being a pretty nice day.  I forgot to take pictures, but thankfully my Aunt and 2 of my cousins brought their cameras, and I was able to copy the pictures.  Here are a few of my favorites...

(L-R) my cousin Kissy, Me, my cousin Lyndsay, with Anya and Maddie (in front)

(L-R) my brother DJ, My Mom, Me, my brother Travis, Maddie (infront)

The back of Maddie's shirt - Walking for my Mom <3 U

Mike, Maddie and I

TEAM TIFF! The whole group at the start - minus my cousin Johnny who met us at the end!

Update 10/16/11

After chemo #6 I felt pretty good.  My legs were a little achy, the weekend after, as was expected.  My fingers and toes are also numb, which is also a side effect. Other than that I am doing pretty good with the side effects of chemo.

Saturday after treatment, Maddie, Raff (my brothers girlfriend), and I went to Ashby Apples to go apple picking.  Afterwards, Maddie and I hiked Wachusett Mountain.  It was a fun time.

Last Sunday when I woke up, I had a cough and runny nose.  It got progressively worse by Tuesday.  I called the oncologist and the nurse had said that I could take Nyquil and Delsym, and that as long as I didn't have a fever, I did not have to go in to be seen.  I tried the 2 meds till Thursday and my cough was still not better.  I called the doc again and this time they put me on a Z-pack (just in case) and gave me Robitussin w/codeine.  Finally, a week later, I am feeling a little better.  I hope that I am able to get treatment done on Thursday.

Next Sunday, I am walking in the Making Strides against Breast Cancer walk in Worcester.  Are you?  If you are able to walk, I hope to see you there!  I have about 15 people that are signed up to walk so far.  I am excited to see everyone next weekend! If anyone wants to walk, be sure to go to Making Strides and register under TEAM TIFF.

Boston Making Strides & Chemo #6

Last Sunday, I took part in the Making Strides Against Breast Cancer Walk in Boston.  There were over 40,000 people there!  It was a lot of fun, and the rainy weekend actually held off the entire time we were in Boston.  My good friend Krust, my mom Karen, my mom's boyfriend Jimmy, my mother in law Maureen, and my cousin Erin walked with me.  We joined a team called "Miss Pink Queens" that was led by Jimmy's daughter in law Ashley.  Thanks to the friends and family that donated to the walk! 

The following are some of the pics that I took while we were walking.



Our group, Maureen, Karen, Me, Krust & Erin




Krust & I, there were so many walkers, we must have bumped into each other hundreds of times!




Mid walk, I think this was right before some "cheerleaders" started singing Beyonce's "Survivor" to me! Scared the crap out of me!



Almost there!!



Finished with the walk, I needed a bald pic with my wand Cyndy made me!


About midway though walking, we started talking about the Making Strides walk that they are having in Worcester on October 23rd, and thought that it would be fun to invite all of my friends and family to walk with me!  My cousin Erin set up an event page on Facebook and I have set up the team page on the Making Strides/American Cancer Society website.  My team name it "TEAM TIFF".  I would love for anyone that is not busy that day to walk with me!  Registration is between 8-10AM and the walk starts at 10AM.  It does not cost anything to walk, but you may also donate if you would like.  The route is shorter than Boston, it is about 2.5 miles I believe, and handicap/stroller accessible, so it would be good for kids too!  I would love to see everyone there!

Now onto chemo treatment #6.  I had treatment yesterday and I cant believe how much easier Taxol (the new drug) is.  I can tolerate it SO much better than the other drugs.  Besides being a little achy, the only real downside is that between the Ativan (to calm me down) and the Benadryl (to get rid of any allergic reaction) I feel like I am drunk during treatment!  But, if that's the only terrible thing that happens, that's great!

We did remember to take one pic while we were at treatment yesterday.

Yay, feeling good at treatment #6

After treatment #5, I went to get my lab work done the next week to see what my white blood cell count was.  It came back looking good, so I will NOT have to get anymore Neulasta shots and I will not have to get my labs done on my week off chemo.  I get to wait until chemo #7 to check my labs!!

2 more treatments then its on to MRI, surgery, and radiation!  Things are moving right along!

New Treatment

Only 3 more treatments left!!! I have to say that the Taxol treatment is SOOOO much better than the A/C treatments.  My doctor had said that Taxol wouldn't be as bad.  He said that I wouldnt be as nauseous - boy was he right!  I have not felt sick at all!  There was a chance that I would have "flu-like symptoms" but so far I have felt nothing out of the ordinary.  I do have to go get my labs done on Wednesday to see if my white blood cell count is OK.  If it has dropped, my doctor said he may put me on an antibiotic as a precaution.  I will also have to get a Neulasta shot after the next two treatments if my counts go down.  I am hoping that I stay healthy enough so I do not need anything extra.

Just a random note... my eyebrows are starting to come out.  They are not completely gone, just some.  Mike says it looks like i took hair clippers and "cut" a chunk out of my eyebrows!  Nothing a little eyebrow pencil cant fix.  I guess you have to have some humor in all of this!  On a positive note, with the new drug, I could start to see some "peach fuzz" soon.  I still have really blonde hair that had never come out, but I could see "new" hair.  I will have to wait and see.

This upcoming Sunday I am walking in the Making Strides Against Breast Cancer walk in Boston.  If anyone would like to donate or walk with me you can go to this link....

http://main.acsevents.org/site/TR/MakingStridesAgainstBreastCancer/MSABCFY12National?px=22913068&pg=personal&fr_id=36136