Highly successful

Those were the words the Dr used to describe the treatment of my "local" disease. He said I was "Highly Successful". Those are fabulous words. You know what else are great words he said "There is every indication that I am in Full Remission". Amazing.... It was great to get an overview of how far I have come from Dr. Eldaly. Sometimes it is easy just to move on to the next piece of business and not reflect on what we have here, a success story.

Once I finished therapy I have felt a bit like I am in limbo. Only a couple weeks ago everything seemed so urgent and time sensitive and now the Doctors and Nurses send me on my way to resume my life like nothing happened. For the most part I have been able to jump back into life thanks to my kids and Brian but I guess I needed a recap. Just to know where I stood.

My "local" disease was considered the breast area, lymph nodes, and all around my left chest. That is the part that treatment was highly successful. What Dr. Eldaly will look for now moving forward is "distant" disease. This is where stray cells may/may not move to other parts of my body and may cause havoc.

Many of you have asked or wondered, "Am I Cancer Free"? There is no way to truly know that I am cancer free. It is a waiting game in effect. After 5 years, I am supposed to be cured. That is why I get routine blood tests to check my body functions, organ function and bone density and function. If for some reason one of those blood tests are off then they know something is going on and will do further tests, etc. It does not mean cancer it just means that they are very in tune to any abnormality.

If you were to ask me, I feel I am cancer free. I feel like I did everything I needed to do to combat this thing and all indications is that I am in the clear. At least that is the way I will choose to live. I don't see any need to sit around and wait for it to return. If is does I can't control it any differently than before so why exert energy worrying about it. I would rather spend that energy staying healthy mind, body and soul. Don't get me wrong, I do cringe just thinking about the possibility of it returning. It does scare me to death but like I said, I can't control it and I have to be OK with that.

I had wondered and I am sure you did too, "Why don't I just get Pet/CT scans. Wouldn't they be able to see the "Hot Spots" on the scan to find any additional cancer? I asked that and Dr. Eldaly explained that the blood tests are more sensitive tool than a Scan. A hot spot would only show up when the cell mass is larger that 5 mm. Not large but anything smaller would not even show up, so it is not a tool used for early detection.

So that is the latest medical update. In other news, Paige had published a book about her experience with having a Mom who has cancer. Everyone loves it. It was written in her words and is really very touching. Gram Kelleher helped her write and edit it and we sent it away to a publisher and we got hard copy version of it. She is very proud and will be reading it out loud in future Breast Cancer Awareness events. Also our family was chosen to be "poster" child for an advertising campaign for Emanuel Hospital. We will be featured in a brochure and newsletter about my success story. They sent a photographer out recently to do a photo shoot of the family and a writer is writing about my story. Should be interesting to see how it works out.

Take care all,

Britt

Life back to normal

It has been a couple weeks since I finished my therapy. I finished on a Thurs, had Friday to prepare for family to visit and then hosted Brian's brother Dan and my sister in law Nicole and my nephews to our house for a week. We had a great week, very busy and fun. I had a couple appts that week seeing my Reconstruction Surgeon and getting some routine tests. Nicole was able to help me by watching Erin that day, so that was good. Last week, Brian traveled with work and the family was gone and I was left in my house alone (with the kids of course) for the first time in probably 8 or 9 months. I was able to return to my old routine of the gym in the mornings and quiet time for me when Erin naps in the afternoon. I had the best week in my own solitude. I am truly happy. Such a weight has lifted that little could get me down. Returning to my favorite class at the gym was a milestone for me because with radiation and a small wig incident during the class (you figure it out), I had not been able to return until last Tues. I completely overexerted myself and was SO sore but I was really happy to be back in the routine of things.

During that week, I had a Herceptin treatment. I asked a friend at the Dr. office to watch Erin while I was hooked up to the medicine. Again, Herceptin is not harmful to my body. I don't have any side effects that I might have had with chemo but I do need a treatment every three weeks until Sept. 09. It is very quick, once I am hooked up, it only takes about 30 mins. Hardly enough time to get into a magazine and I am done. So it was not too much of a problem to bring Erin with me while Paige is in school.

By the end of the week, the kids and I were missing Brian and glad he was home. We went to a local fair and the kids had fun on the rides and petting the animals. I am even going to embrace activities that I had needed to put off because of the crazy medical schedule, it is time to potty train Erin. So we are working on this starting this week.

All and all things are good.

Britt
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