Oh, Happy Day!

     Great news from my mammogram I had done last Friday! No signs of cancer showed up in my mammogram!!! Whew! It's nice to be out from under that dark, threatening cloud!

 

Now, I am officially listed as NED..."No Evidence of Disease". That's the new term for what used to be called "in remission".

 

It has been one year, one week, and one day since I had my lumpectomy and half my thyroid removed. It's nice to be moving beyond all of that. So, this is the plan for now...

 

 

Memories

    
 

Today was a tough day. I had a mammogram.

It was the first one since those devastating words, "You have breast cancer" were spoken at the last one.

All the memories of my last mammogram, when I found out I had breast cancer, flooded over me like a dark, swirling force. That was the day my world changed.

 

Even though this mammogram was at a different hospital, the flashbacks were hard and heavy...

 

The events of the last 13 months played over in my mind...

The first and second mammogram...The nurses saying, "Don't worry, second mammograms happen all the time. Everything will probably turn out just fine.".

 

The radiologist pointing out areas in the films of an "abnormality", then later the doctor saying that it is definitely cancer.

 

Getting continuous phone calls from the doctors as I tried to teach my little ones, each call bearing more bad news.

 

The absolute raw fear I felt as I met with my oncologist, surgeon, and radiology oncologist for the first time, waiting for the "course of action" plan.

 

Trying to make the choice between a lumpectomy or a mastectomy with the information the doctors had given me and with what I had read online.

 

 Trying to be brave on surgery day.

 

Being upgraded (or maybe I should say downgraded) from Stage 1 to Stage 2, after surgery because they found cancer in a lymph node.

 

Trying to be brave the day they put in my port.
 

 

The six grueling months of chemo, steroids, Neulasta shots, mouth sores, lost toenails, diarrhea, ER visits, low blood counts, no appetite nor energy, and meds and more meds.

Having to shave my head after chemo began.

 

The 33 radiation sessions (which I probably shouldn't even list because for me it was truly a cakewalk compared to chemo).

All these memories bombarded my brain. I felt like I had no control over the continuous replay in my brain.

And so now I wait...

I have an appointment with Dr. Bouton, my surgeon, on Wednesday to find out what this latest mammogram has revealed. I'm sure everything will be fine but after you have cancer, you always have a little nagging voice in the back of your brain that whispers unwanted thoughts.


I did have two events today that helped me not think about the "what ifs". This morning, I spent time at school helping Brody's (our grandson) class make their Mother's Day gifts. There's nothing like 23 first graders to take your mind off things! Thanks, Jodi (Mrs. Helander, to the first graders!) for helping me get through the morning.

This evening, Arland had his Exchange Club's "Fun Night". I helped take tickets at the door so I got to see and visit with lots of teachers, friends, and many acquaintances. That also helped keep my mind busy. So many kind people asked how I was doing and expressed their continued thoughts and prayers, which I genuinely appreciate.

In between the two events, there were some tears shed because of the stress of the day. I don't cry often but it was hard to contain the overabundance of emotions today. It's a day every breast cancer survivor has to face and just get through!

So until Wednesday comes, I'll just have to wait and have faith......


 

The Celebration

      It started out quietly enough. One little chime on my phone let me know that someone had sent me a text. Because I was just about done with my last Herceptin infusion, I ignored it, thinking that when the nurses were done I would check it.

 

     Then it happened again. Now I really wondered who needed me so badly since I never gets texts THAT close together! And then it chimed again!!! REALLY!?!  The IV infusion line was being unhooked from my port so I thought the texts would just have to wait.

    

     And then another chime and another and ANOTHER! GOOD GRIEF!!! What is going on???

 

     And then it hit me. It was over and my celebration had begun!

 

 

 

My day started off like most other infusion days. Arrive at the RMCC at 7:20am, get weighed and have my port accessed at 7:40, blood draw at 7:45, wait for blood test results and Dr. Terstriep's appointment at 9:00 and then begin my Herceptin infusion at 10:00.

At 10:00, a familiar face suddenly walked into my infusion room. Katie, our youngest daughter, came to spend time with me! She said that since she had sat through all my chemo infusion days with me, she certainly wasn't going to miss my last infusion! I very much appreciated that because I know how VERY hard it is to miss school...especially if you're the TEACHER!!!

 

 

We chatted away as the IV fluid flushed my port and the Herceptin was ordered. You can't really see it but the IV is hooked up in this picture. Scarves are so nice at covering things! :-)

Soon I heard another familiar voice. Wow! This was getting good! Kristi, our oldest daughter, also took time to come see me during this last monumental infusion!!!

 

Ooops! I forgot to hide the IV line in this picture.

It was fun to have her and Katie there to help pass the time. By now, the Herceptin had arrived and was being added to the IV.

 

I should have recognized a pattern here but I didn't! Sure enough! Here come more visitors!!! 

 

 

This littlest visitor was extra special! Bob, our son, wasn't flying that day so he brought Olivia, our sweet granddaughter, to see me! That was very special to be able to show her off to the nurses I've come to know so well. All three of our children have been so kind, thoughtful, and wonderful during this venture.

 

 

I thought my surprises were over but then my last visitor, Arland, appeared with the most gorgeous bouquet of a dozen deep pink roses! I think they were the prettiest roses I have ever gotten from him! I will include a picture of them in another post.

 

After 334 days of cancer treatments, I was closing the "active treatment" (surgery, chemo, radiation, and Herceptin infusions) chapter of my life! It felt great!

 

And that's when the chimes began...

 

So many wonderful friends began texting their kind wishes to me. I was overwhelmed at the support I was receiving! I felt surrounded by love, warmth, good wishes, happy thoughts, and sweet comments that were being sent at just the right time to help end that chapter.

I found out later that Kristi had put it on Facebook that Wednesday was my last treatment and since I'm not a "Facebooker", it was a totally wonderful surprise to receive all those texts!

Thank you, dear friends, for everything...all the texts, calls, meals, visits, cards, love, and support. I wish I could convey to you how much it has meant to me since I began this journey 13 months ago. Thank you!

  

We decided to celebrate by going out for lunch at Toscana on Broadway. We had a scrumptious, relaxing meal there...and the chiming continued!

 

 

L to R - Kristi, Katie, Arland, me, Olivia, Bob

 

 

The celebration on Wednesday marked the day that my active cancer treatments had officially been declared...
DONE!