Back to Medical Things

Today I went to the hospital for Herceptin. As I drove into the parking lot, all the feelings of being a cancer patient came flooding back. I mentioned before how nice it was to be in Florida, sporting my short hair with a hat and no scarf. It was so much fun to ride roller coasters and go on a jungle safari. We explored the oldest city in the US. I relaxed in a jacuzzi and walked in shirt sleeves. We ate so many delicious meals. It was a great time of getting away from all the things we've gone through this year.

 Here I'm sitting on the steps at the fort in St. Augustine. The kids acted out battle scenes and Walt talked about the history. The sun was shining, and while the temperature was a bit chilly, it still was a remarkable day. 

 We had a fabulous time on all the rides at Disney World earlier in the week. On the wild ones, I took off my hat. I felt a certain amount of freedom feeling the wind in my hair again.  Our expressions are fun..such joy and good times for our family.

 My favorite ride was the Rock-N-Roll Roller Coaster. I went on it with the boys one day, and talked the rest of my family into joining us the next morning. This is us when we finished...Nathan took the picture. (Becca said she wouldn't go on it again, but she's glad she did it.)

Walt and I in St. Augustine. 

For those interested in more pictures and descriptions of our trip, go to our family blog, www.adventuresinalifetime.blogspot.com  I'll finish blogging about our trip there.

Today at my appointment, the nurse withdrew several vials of blood. She jokingly promised she'd leave some blood for me.  I was scheduled for a CBC to see how my white and red blood cells are doing. Dr. Kohn also ordered several tumor marker tests.  If a recurrence of cancer is somewhere in my body, tumor markers can usually be detected in the blood. My prayer, of course, is that no evidence of cancer shows in my blood. 

I don't have the results of the tumor markers yet, but my CBC came out well. Most of my blood counts have come up into the normal range, so that's a great feeling to be bouncing back from the effects of chemo. 

I've had a strain in my back. Before we left for Florida, I treated it with lots of long soaks in Epsom  salts and gentle stretching. Even with the lifting of suitcases and wild rides, my back felt almost 100% when I was in Florida. On the day we returned, I forgot about my back strain and decided to take Sugar for a walk. She was a crazy dog, lunging on the leash and pulling after dogs. I think she was responding to the excitement of having her family home again. I came back, feeling pain again in my back. I am back to TLC to get it back in shape.  It's frustrating that it hurts again, but at least it seems that it is a muscle strain and not something more serious. Any time I have a pain that doesn't go away, we have to consider whether it is something more serious than a muscle strain or sore muscles. My doctor said the longer I am in remission, the easier it'll be to determine if a pain is more than just an ache. Usually if something responds to heat or ice or ibuprofen, then it's not cancer. Anything that lingers, though, will have to be evaluated further. I wish my back pain would just disappear, but I wonder if God isn't using it to keep my attention. Life's been really good. My health is great. It's only this little pain in my back that reminds me that I am fully dependent on God's grace regarding my health.

 Hebrews 4:16 Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

So, on this Friday night, I am glad to be home, although I miss the sun. Herceptin is causing me a bit of achiness, which is normal, so coupled with my back, I plan to head up for a bath soon to relax. I can fully rest in the wonderful knowledge that God loves me and has everything under control. 

Sunday in Jacksonville

We arrived in Jacksonville on Friday night. I wrote this on Sunday night, but never posted it.

Early morning walk in shirt sleeves with Walt. Leisurely trip to church in flip flops (although most of the women were wearing boots!) Now, we are home for lunch and Ben is eager to go swimming. It's been a nice trip.

Cyndi and Scott have a breathtakingly beautiful home right on the golf course. Lydia has generously given up her bedroom for Walt and I, so we have quite the quest quarters. Nathan and Ben are comfortable on blow up mattresses in the bonus room, and Becca has her own room, sleeping on a couch in the office/den.

 This is our bedroom. Isn't it beautiful?

 On the first night, all the cousins together

Pausing long enough for a quick picture, then back to their game

We went to the beach yesterday. It barely reached 70 degrees and was quite windy, but we northerners braved the cold. Ben and Nathan even went into their unheated pool. David and Hannah have acclimated to the warmer temperatures, so they watched from the side. When the Jacuzzi warmed up, all of us enjoyed that yesterday. 

Back to Reality

We had a wonderful time in Florida. It was nice to have a break from my cancer, too. That's probably why I chose not to finish any of the posts I started on my trip. When I rolled off my compression sleeve when we landed in Jacksonville, it was almost like putting away thoughts of my cancer, too. I spoke of my treatments a bit, but I didn't really feel like a cancer patient during this trip. It was so nice to take a break from the medical things and just enjoy life. Florida is such a beautiful state. Even Becca, who usually doesn't enjoy being away from home, liked it. Walt's sister lives just 10 minutes from the beach. Our warmest days on the trip were when we were at Disney World so we didn't spend as much time in the Atlantic as we would have liked, but Becca and I found some fun treasures in the little beachfront shops. Jacksonville is one of the nicest cities I've been to. Walt got to golf a few days and I took lots of long walks.

When I went through security at the airport, the TSA agent asked me to remove my hat. I was slightly embarrassed as not many people have seen me without it (sort of like going out in public without any makeup). When I got to Disney World, though, some of the rides were pretty wild and I was afraid of losing my hat, so I often took it off. It felt wonderful on those warm sunny days to feel the wind blow through my hair. I had gotten so used to taking off my hat that I slipped it off without even being asked going through security on the way home. My hair feels thicker and I'm starting to get tiny bangs. I look forward to going to get it styled, but I have to wait a bit longer to make the appointment worth it.

I accomplished a lot today. I did a couple loads of laundry, paid bills, reorganized the office a little, encouraged Becca to work on her essay and other homework, tried to help Ben feel better (he's suffering from chest congestion), called and got a better rate on our cable bill, talked with my sister Patty to update her on the trip, called Evergreen billing department to inform them of a billing error, filed claims for reimbursement, took a walk, cooked dinner... and the list continues as my life quickly settles back into reality.  Vacations are nice, but the return to normal can be kind of brutal.

I will try to upload some pictures of our trip tomorrow. I'm too tired to do anything more than this brief update tonight.

Crazy Week

I started a post earlier today, but I haven't had time to finish it. Here is just a quick update on details of my life.

We leave for Florida on Friday. I met with my oncologist last Friday. With a long flight, she worries about the potential for lymphedema, a swelling from excess fluid buildup, developing in my left arm. When I had my surgery, the doctor removed four lymph nodes to biopsy. We rejoiced when they came back clear of cancer. This was a good thing. However, the lymph nodes are important to filter out fluids in our body. When they are removed, fluids could back up, causing swelling in the tissue. Even though I had only four lymph nodes removed and am not considered high risk for lymphedema, the added pressure in an airplane could affect my arm. My doctor is recommending I use a compression sleeve for the flight. This wasn't even on my radar, and I might not have time to get one. I called the medical place recommended by my doctor, and the receptionist thought there was a good chance they might have my size in stock. Nonetheless, if I don't get one for this trip, I'll have one for future trips. My good friend Diane, also a breast cancer survivor,  is letting me borrow one of hers in case my trip tomorrow isn't successful.

I went for a followup visit with  my naturopath today. We added more supplements to the mix to continue to build up my immunity and strengthen my heart. Because of everything that was thrown at me this year, we are working hard at fighting back with as many weapons as possible. On Thursday I have to go into the hospital for another Echo on my heart. Dr. Kohn wanted that done before my next Herceptin. The heart center called today and could fit me in on Thursday morning. It'll be nice to have one less thing to do when I get back, but it is making my current week jammed full of craziness. With my trip to Bellevue tomorrow for the compression fitting, I will have three medical appointments this week. I thought these appointments would slow down by now!

In between, we are trying to figure out what to pack, what to pack everything in and all the other details of our trip. Plus, the kids are working hard at finishing up school assignments. Every time I turn around, I have at least one kid wondering if I can help them with something. I know this trip is exactly what we all need, but it's super busy from this moment until we are sitting on that plane. Then I'll open up my book and relax. That's when the fun will begin. Until then, full steam ahead!