Busy Day

I had two doctor's appointments today. My first one was the final follow up with Dr. Hunter, my radiation oncologist.  He was impressed at how quickly my skin has healed from radiation. Up until this cancer, that's been the norm in my life. I rarely got sick, but if I did, I healed quickly.  Now that an undetected lump smaller than an inch was the cancer that will forever change my life, my world as I know it seems a bit tilted. I hope that it's just a bump in the whole landscape of good health from now on, but of course, only God knows. Anyway, Dr. Hunter said he'd be happy to be a resource if I had any questions on anything going forward. He also invited me to stop in socially when I'm going in for an infusion, since radiation oncology is now just around the corner from infusion. Everything is so new on this side of the hospital. All the construction tape is down, and the hallways and offices are now open. It looks quite a bit different than when I was coming here just a month ago. When Dr. Hunter talked about coming by sometime to say hi, without specifically saying the words, however, we both knew we didn't want to meet up again for medical reasons. He reminded me of all the things I needed to continue to do (I'd be disappointed if he didn't!) to move my chances nearer to the 90% rate of no recurrence. Exercise, as he so often repeated, is one of those things that not only improve my chances of keeping cancer away, but it will also help my heart, my blood pressure, my brain, my joints--things that will benefit me long after I've survived this cancer. I can't lose with exercise, in other words. I'm a big believer in this.

Then I went to the other side of the hospital to meet with my surgeon, Dr. Clinch. He, too, commented on how well everything has healed. I was concerned about what I perceived as some lumps in my right breast (the other side), but after checking both sides carefully, he reassured me that everything was normal. These tiny lumps prior to all this wouldn't have concerned me a bit, wouldn't have even reached the beginning of my radar. But since my senses are heightened and I consider every twinge and bump, I was thankful for this appointment to talk it over with him. He asked when I had my last mammogram (October), and I mentioned I already scheduled my next one (April). The next time I'll see him is sometime in June or July when I get the word from Dr. Kohn that I'm ready to get rid of my port. I'm looking forward to that day so I can start swinging a golf club again. I appreciate Dr. Clinch, not only because he is always on time for his appointments, but he listens and does his job well. He even asked me about things that had nothing to do with the surgery, such as what was the hardest part for me with chemo and how I got through it.  

After my appointments, I had time to make a quick stop at Costco. The guy checking my receipt as I left told me it looks like I was pretty successful. I mentioned I only came in for a few things, but before I knew it, my cart was full. He said he usually spends more than he earns working there. (He looked like he was retired and working at Costco part time.) The kids were happy to see the food I brought home. Our cupboards were getting a little bare. I picked up a couple of athletic pants for the boys, but Ben's was too big. I guess I'll have to fit in another trip to Costco soon to exchange the pants and see what other goodies I can find.

The boys were finishing up the last of their school when I got home, and then we headed out again for their scheduled preseason baseball training. (Becca was at her weekly babysitting job.) Today they were working on fielding. The temperature was in the high 30s (baseball weather around here!) but soon the boys threw off their sweatshirts as they began to work up a sweat. I wasn't expecting to be outside, so since I only had a sweater, I was thankful for Nathan's sweatshirt when he didn't need it anymore.

We are fortunate to have such a top-notch training facility so close to where we live. This was their third session. Usually Ben and Nathan have a session to themselves, but the trainer they were scheduled to have was running late, so they combined with another boy. They matched up well, and on some of the drills, having one extra person before them gave my boys a welcomed breather.

As soon as we were finished here, we went back home so I could pick up Becca for her horseback riding lesson. Today was a make-up lesson from a couple of weeks ago when she was sick. I should have stayed so I could include a picture of her, too, but it was getting dark and I needed to get my walk in. Today was just a shorter, neighborhood walk, but Sugar was good company. Then I prepped some things for dinner and went back out to get Becca. Nathan also had his small group meeting tonight for youth group at church, but thankfully it wasn't my turn to drive carpool on that. When I got home from picking up Becca, I was just able to say goodbye to Nathan as he darted out the door. I got to stay home for the rest of the evening. Walt and I watched the latest episode of Downton Abbey after dinner, and now I'm finishing up this blog before going up to bed. It was a busy but a very good day.