Merry Christmas!

Today I had my very last round of chemo! That is the end, there is no more. Merry Christmas. I couldn't ask for a better present. And even better... they are letting me take out this port I've been sporting for the past 5 months. I am ready to be rid of it. It's just uncomfortable.
Next up on my list, I start radiation in 3 weeks, and that should last for 6 1/2 weeks. 3 months after my last radiation, I go in to start the completion of my reconstructive surgeries. I should have one in May/June and the other toward the end of the summer or the beginning of fall. I also get to start taking Tamoxifen, which is a pill that I will be on for the next 5 years. Let's just hope I do well on it. I've heard bad things.
I am so exited that this is coming to an end. I do know that the question that will be in the back of my mind for the rest of my life will be, "Is this cancer going to come back?".
Earlier this month, Elizabeth Edwards passed away from breast cancer. She struggled with it for 5 year. Hers was worse than mine, Stage IV, but still just knowing that it was the cancer that killed her. I see all the survivors and talk to them all the time, so it's hard to take in the fact that there are people who die from this mess. And not just people in movies. Everyone in movies who get diagnosed with any type of cancer, die at the end. The only exception is if they are actors in soap operas. Those people seem to get cured within months, so I just don't understand that...
Anyway, back to what I was saying... Cancer is a strange monster. The day Elizabeth Edwards died, my co-worker's best friend passed too. She had stage III. She had just had her mastectomy a month earlier and had just had her first chemo treatment. She was a healthy woman of spirit and body, but the chemo was too much for her to handle. It caused her to have a heart attack and a stroke, and she passed. Wow! It is so hard to hear stories like that. They have come a long way with everything. Why can't they keep something like that from happening? It blows my mind.
Well, on a not so sad note, I am going to be starting this new year not having to worry about chemo drugs causing me pain, a full head of hair, a thinner waist line once all the steroids are out of my system, and hopefully no more menopausal symptoms. It will be a great new year. 2010 will be behind me, but one I will never forget. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!

A New Word Added to My Vocabulary

Lymphedema. It's a condition that causes swelling in your arm that was affected by the taking out of the lyphnodes. This was one thing I was trying so hard to avoid. I was doing a good job until an unfortunate accident with a pair of scissors a few weeks ago. I cut my cuticle, and it's been down hill ever since.
After having surgery they stressed that you need to be super careful not to cut, burn, or get insect bites on the arm of the side they took everything out of. I now know why. My arm is swollen and I can barely move it without pain. Of course when I think it starts doing better, I have a dog who decides to bite me, and it all starts over again.
I have to start going to therapy where someone will be massaging me arm for an hour a visit. I am looking forward to the pampering. I start next week and I am excited.
Another thing I am supposed to be watching for is lifting over 30 pounds on one side. I have 2 young kids. Do you know how difficult it is not to lift two kids? Especially when I take them grocery shopping with me. Almost impossible. These rules were not made for mothers with kids under 5.