Amy's Boobie Blog ..............MY Cancer Story

PARTY PARTY PARTY! The past two weeks have been one celebration after the other and that is how I intend to live my life now, CELEBRATING it. Party at the Fox and Hound! My last radiation treatment was on a Wednesday and by the following Monday I was back at work in Cincinnati. I had a great time celebrating with them.  We had a party after work at the Fox and Hound complete with cake, balloons and wine. Ahhhh.  The pink balloons hovered below the lights and turned the area and our pictures PINK. Party in the Gym! While in Cinci I headed to the hotel gym.  I missed having energy to make it through the day so having enough to exercise was out of the question for me.  I read a lot about how you could reduce the side effects  of treatment by keeping up on exercise but I did little more than walk the dog around the block for the past nine months.  I got in 30 minutes and loved it.  I was BACK BABY!  After returning home I rejoined th...

CROSSING THE FINISH LINE! Today is the day I have been looking forward to, my last breast cancer treatment.  It's been a special day and I have been soaking up the attention.  Everyone around me has been smiling, congratulating, and cheering me on.  My co-workers had a surprise pitch-in and left balloons in my office.  Someone even made my favorite cake, German chocolate! Yummmm I left work ten minutes early for my appointment because I couldn't concentrate anymore and while I was sitting in my car outside the doctor's office Jeff pulled up on the motorcycle.  He even brought my helmet so we could go for a ride together afterwards. When we walked into the Oncology center the lady at the front desk smiled real big before I was even close to the desk and said "Last One!"  I asked her how she knew and she said it was highlighted on the computer.  Isn't that nice!  I would like to shake the hand of the person who thought to add that ...

ZEROING IN ON THE TUMOR BED Yesterday was my last all-over radiation treatment and today they started to zoom in on just the tumor bed.  Rather than covering my whole breast, underarm, and part of my chest, it just covers a baseball size circle around the area where the cancer was removed. Before the machine fired from above me on the right, down across my breast and out my underarm, and then moved to below me on the left, up through my underarm and breast.  I found a graphic that shows exactly what the all over treatment looked like.  This picture is even for the left breast, just like me. Today it was aimed just inches away from my breast and fired straight down on it.  This made me nervous because I remember the doctor saying that they try to aim away from the lungs.  I guess that is what they did the first 26 times, but there is no way they are missing it now! The buzz from the machine lasted about 45 seconds (it seemed) and again I imag...

OLD AMY, MEET NEW AMY... It's all starting to blur together now.  I don't remember one radiation treatment from the other.  I'm stuck in the movie Groundhog Day! Park in the same spot and walk in quickly (because I'm usually running late) Smile at the clerk who waves me on to the dressing room Put on a smock and hide my keys under my clothes - don't even bother to hang them on the hook Follow the tech to the machine Line my butt up with the top of the pad Take my arm out of my smock and put it above my head Focus on the ceiling pictures while she draws lines on my chest and boob Count to 30 while the machine buzzes, then moves to the other side and count to 30 again Wait for her to come back in, get up and follow her back to the dressing room Put on my shirt and pitch my smock in the laundry Turn off the lights and leave the room (I'm the last patient of the day) The whole process takes just 10 minutes and I've done it 25 times so far.  J...

WAITING FOR THE OTHER SHOE TO FALL Today I started my fourth week of radiation and still no skin side effects. I'm trying to let myself enjoy it without thinking about how bad "it's going to get". I'm just feeling so much better since chemo it's hard for me to accept it. Last week the doctor offered some encouragement when he said, "If you haven't had any discomfort yet, it probably won't be bad". Whew. I might catch a break! My hair is still growing but much slower than I want it to. I've been taking biotin (B7 vitamin) to stimulate hair and nail growth. I don't know what it would look like without it, but I don't want to stop to find out. I really just want it to grow-grow-grow! I stopped wearing hats every day because I noticed my hair breaking where my bangs would be. It didn't seem like people were looking at me as much so I asked Grace if she noticed it as well and she had. I feel much more confident with...

LEARNING A LESSON I finished my second week of radiation yesterday. Aside from my normal fatigue (normal for the last 5 months) I haven't had any side effects.  The neuropathy still bothers me but I don't think it is as often (knock on wood). A book I can borrow from my sister Angie.  :-) Work has been crazy. First just because it always is, and second because I've allowed myself back in the circus.  Contrary to the compliments I have received saying how surprised they have been that I have continued to stay engaged at work, I really didn't.  I skimmed the surface, just oiling the squeakiest wheel and putting out fires (my opinion of course).  My projects were in a holding pattern and now I'm feeling the effects.  People want results now and I am months behind on all the "behind the scenes work" it takes to start showing it.  I'm told it is OK by management closest to me, but I can't make myself not care no matter how hard ...

STARTING RADIATION I finished my first week of radiation - 5 treatments down and just 28 to go! A week ago Friday I went in to have a CAT scan and get marked up by the doctor.  I thought I would get small tattoos to mark the place where the machine would be lined up, but they used a Sharpie instead.  The doctor laid it out by pressing on my chest and collar bone.  The process was pretty quick and painless. The following Monday (6 days ago) I went in for my first treatment. I arrived and had to wait for the techs and the doctor to finish their planning session.  They reviewed the CAT scan results and other points in my medical record to lay out how much juice they would give me and at what angles etc.  I was led back into the room where the CAT scan was done and was told they would be taking some additional pictures first.   They left the room and the machine got to work.  About 5 minutes later they came in to tell me they wer...