I’m done!!!!

I’m so excited I could scream.  I’m finally done with chemo!!! I finished on December 17, 2014. I don’t think I could have handled any more, that junk is seriously rough, at least it was for me.  A friend of mine who went through chemo a while ago said, she wouldn’t wish chemo on her worst enemy.  I totally agree.  It sucks, but it’s necessary and I’m thankful for it.  I pray that I never have to have chemo or hear the words “you have cancer” again.  This final treatment was about the same as the rest.  Pain, exhaustion and horrible feeling for several days.  On top of that, two sick and miserable kids made the experience extra rough.  Thankfully everyone is well again or on the mend.

 
 

I'm done!

So up next for me are several follow up appointments in January with my surgical oncologist and plastic surgeon at Moffit, in addition to the Ocala oncologist.  If all goes well at those three appointments, I get the all clear to have exchange surgery in mid-February. I’m super excited to get this surgery done and can’t wait to get a surgery date.

 

 

In other news, I GOT MY DREAM PUPPY! I’m sure most of you have already seen the video of this amazing surprise and my crying non-stop but if you haven’t or you want to see my cry face again here is the link

 

click here to see Lynn's surprise puppy video

THANK YOU Julia! You are the bestest and I just love you so much!

           I can’t thank my amazing Sister-in-law, Julia enough for making this happen. She really went crazy out of her way to pull this off, including driving to the Atlanta airport to meet Cory from Carolina Cotons, to pick up my surprise. This is my dream dog breed. I have been “slightly” obsessing about wanting to get a dog for Christmas and I really wanted a Coton de Tulear, but I knew that we wouldn’t be able to make that happen.  I have allergies so I need a hypoallergenic breed. After a couple of weeks of looking Jon told me he wasn’t feeling a dog anymore and thought we should wait another year or two before we get another dog.  I was not happy with that and continued to secretly look for a puppy, lol.  That hunt obviously didn’t work out.  On Saturday, December 13^th, I was given my dream dog!  Her name is Zoey and she is the sweetest puppy.  So far she’s great with the kids, so very cute and we love her to pieces.  I have sooo many people to thank for her.  This truly is a Christmas miracle and we are blessed to have such kind-hearted, loving people in our lives.  I know everyone pitched in to make this little miracle happen for me, which makes it that much more special to me.  Some people I don’t even know helped so let me just say, THANK YOU from the bottom of my heart!
 

 

 

my two baby girls

 

 

We had a super wonderful Christmas!



Christmas Eve at Uncle Chris's house in Orlando (Jon was still sick and couldn't come)



Kids opening their first present Christmas morning



Christmas Day at my parents with lots of family



At home Christmas Night



Celebrating after Christmas at Aunt Maria & Uncle Jeff's house



 

We are really looking forward to a HEALTHY and happy New Year.

XOXO, Lynn

 





Happy New Year ~ Love the Sardinas family

 

3 down and 1 to go!

            Hello everyone. I wanted to do a quick update on my 3^rd chemo treatment. It was on Tuesday November 25^th, 2 days before Thanksgiving. Treatment went well, Mom took me and Dallas and Julia came to hang out with us for the last half of the treatment and then we went out to lunch to Celebrate Dallas and Julia’s 9 year Anniversary.

3rd treatment



Happy 9 year Anniversary Julia & Dallas <3

Me and Mom

            I was able to go to my parents’ house for Thanksgiving. I wasn’t feeling great, but I sucked it up and took a pain pill. I was so glad I was able to go and hang out with some family even though I couldn’t eat.



Thanksgiving Day 2014

Happy Thanksgiving 2014

            Friday after Thanksgiving was rough, I spent the entire day in bed sleeping and taking meds to get me through the pain. Saturday felt well again just tired and then on Sunday we went back to Mom’s for a do-over Thanksgiving for me, at my request  Mom made my favorite ham and mashed potatoes. I had two helpings at lunch and the leftovers for dinner. It was perfect (Thank you Mommy).  On Sunday Jon and I both were hit hard with a very nasty cold/cough/sore throat. It’s been a week now and we are both still very sick. This has to be the worst cold Jon and I have ever had. Praying the kids don’t catch it and that I am completely rid of it before my next (and final) treatment.

            I wanted to ask for prayers for my dear family members who have just recently been diagnosed with cancer.

            My Granddad Jimmy Gantt was recently diagnosed with an extremely rare Appendix cancer, he is in his 80’s and he is still deciding on a course of treatment, more surgery (he had his appendix removed recently which was how he found out he had the cancer) and/ or chemo etc.



Me and Granddad Jimmy on Thanksgiving Day 2014

             My Aunt Jane Lee, who was just diagnosed with cancer a few weeks ago, she had brain surgery last night to remove one of the three tumors from her brain, to diagnose the type and stage of cancer and to figure out a treatment plan. They were able to remove one of the tumors successfully and she is currently in ICU, yesterday was also her Birthday.

I don't have any recent pics of me and Aunt Jane but I found her wedding reception picture

          And, continued prayers to my Uncle Jimmy Lee with his ongoing brain cancer treatments.

Uncle Jimmy & Aunt Joan

          My next and FINAL chemo treatment is in 10 days (December 17th) and I can’t wait be done!

XOXO, Lynn

Half way!

Half Way! 11/4/2014

Hi everyone. I have been meaning to update the blog for the past week but somehow it never happened. My 2^nd chemo treatment was November 4^th and I have to say it was just as scary to me as the first. Even though I knew what would happen I was just as freaked out and nervous. Jon took me to this treatment and Mom and Gina G both stopped by to keep me company. My doctor was kind enough to give me some happy juice to take the edge off my nerves for this treatment (wish I had it the first time) and man did it help, between the happy juice, Gina and Jon I was laughing the entire time. On Wednesday I got the dreaded shot, my dosage was reduced in an attempt to lessen the pain this time. Thursday and Friday were my bad days. I did not have the pain like the first time (thank goodness) so the lower dosage shot did help but I was more aware of the other symptoms. Horrible migraine for that 3^rd and 4^th day, freezing chills then crazy hot flashes, body aches, ear aches and unable to eat and barely drink. Pretty much the worst flu symptoms ever with the exception of no nausea, I have the BEST nausea meds! I just tried to sleep both of those days away. And then the 5^th day (Saturday) I woke up feeling fine, just weak and tired from lack of eating. It’s so strange to feel so incredibly horrible for 2 days straight and then wake up the next day and feel fine. So I have figured out that my treatment day 1 I’m just freaked out at the whole process of getting these toxic chemicals pumped into my body, Day 2 is the dreaded bone marrow shot but I’m feeling fine just tired that day, Day 3 and day 4 are the horrible days and then day 5 and day 6 I’m just tired and weak. After that pretty much completely back to feeling good and normal. If it wasn’t for my lack of hair I would feel completely normal, unfortunately every time I look in the mirror I’m reminded that that I am a cancer patient and I do not like to be reminded of this constantly throughout the day.

Me and & Ayleen ~ 3rd Fill 11/11/2014

The Tuesday following my treatment Nov 11^th I went back to Moffit to see my plastic surgeon and get another fill.  Always a fun appointment and this time my girlfriend Ayleen met Mom and I there so that was nice to see her and get my fun fill. I think my next fill in December will be my last one. And then I can look forward to my (hopefully) final surgery in January.

            Unfortunately due to my cancer being estrogen positive, I was told by my oncologist that I cannot get pregnant again. I can’t risk having the surge of hormones that pregnancy would cause, so today we officially closed down the baby making business in the Sardinas household. Jon got his vasectomy this morning. We don’t want to risk me accidently getting pregnant, so this was the surest way of doing that. Jon and I are so very thankful that God blessed us with two healthy beautiful children. We love them both so much and thank our lucky stars everyday for our wonderful family. 

Happy 2nd Birthday Ava!

            In other news my baby turned TWO on Friday Nov 14^th…. how is Ava two years old already? Seems just like yesterday she was born. We celebrated Ava’s 2^nd birthday and Tyson’s belated 6^th Birthday at Magic Kingdom on Saturday. The park was crazy packed but it was a beautiful cool day and the kids had a blast. My parents and Jon’s mom were able to join us which was so much fun.



Magic Kingdom 11/15/2014

Jon, Grandma, Grandpa & Mimi

end of our fun day - had to get a picture with my Minnie ears on

 

             My next treatment is next Tuesday November 25^th, which means my two yuck days will fall on Thanksgiving Day and Black Friday… so that sucks for me. My Mom has assured me that she will cook me a ham and mashed potatoes on Sunday so I can enjoy a belated Thanksgiving.

            Hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving. Thanks again for all of the prayers, love, cards, emails and texts. I truly appreciate them all.

            XOXO, Lynn

Bye hair… see you in 2015

Dear hair… please grow back quickly, with no grey, preferably straight and thick, Thank you.

November 1, 2014



 

So this happened last night after we put Ava to bed. I probably should have shaved it a couple days ago but I wanted to hold onto it as long as possible. When I woke up Saturday morning I knew it was time. My pillow and sheets were covered and I mean covered in hair, wish I would have taken a picture of it. It’s been shedding a lot all week and on Thursday which was 14 days post treatment it started coming out in huge chunks when I ran my hands thru my hair. I couldn’t brush or wash it anymore bc I was trying to keep it longer. Jon did the honors, I’ve shaved his head numerous times over the past 15 years, and I never thought he would ever shave mine lol. Tyson had a cute reaction to my new look, Jon took a video of it.

           I showed Ava this morning, I had her pull my beanie off and she had no reaction at all, it’s like she didn’t even notice. Tyson did ask me if I was going to wear a hat to his school and I said yes, I would wear a hat whenever I was outside, and said “ok good”.

            Other than this bald head nothing new to report since my last post. I’m feeling really really good. No pain and not tired. I feel normal again, I went to the gym twice this week with Julia, legs was easy, chest was very difficult, I was using the lowest weight possible and it still hurt and was very hard to do… I’ve got a long way to go to get back to where I was post-surgery. My arm and chest isn’t uncomfortable at all anymore, feels normal to me now (the new normal). But I’ve lost a massive amount of upper body strength. My expanders are under my chest muscle so it’s very strange to engage my chest muscles. It will get better, I’ll get my strength back after I get my exchange surgery next year.

            My next treatment is Tuesday November 4^th… hoping I don’t have the pain like I did last treatment.

            XOXO, Lynn

Dear Chemo, you suck.

I definitely jumped the gun on posting my chemo blog. It was Saturday morning when I posted it, 2 days post chemo and I was feeling ok. Just tired and achy nothing major… I was thinking I got this, no biggie. HA! Saturday evening rolled around and about 6pm it hit me hard… Pain Pain Pain everything hurt. Thankfully I had some pain pills from my port surgery that I didn’t use so I was able to get a bit of relief… it got worse all night and peaked around 7am on Sunday October 19^th. I can’t even explain the pain, it was from head to toe, everything hurt, my entire body was in excruciating pain, I have never felt pain like this before, 2 births, gallbladder attacks and double mastectomy combined doesn’t come close to this pain.  I do remember asking Jon if I could get an epidural Sunday morning. I was not a happy camper Sunday, pretty miserable all day. I’m feeling better today, still exhausted but just achy again now not in pain thank god. I’m going to see the doctor tomorrow for follow-up and I will request some pain meds for the next chemo to get prepared for this pain again. I’m not looking forward to the next treatment.

I chopped my hair off today. I’ve already started shedding…

short

 

We celebrated Tyson’s 6^th Birthday yesterday afternoon. We were going to do it at grandma’s house but I couldn’t handle the drive so the family came over to our house. We had pizza and cake and Tyson opened some presents. He was happy.

Tyson's 6th BD Party

Jaxson & Tyson

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

XOXO, Lynn

P.S. Chemo really, really sucks

One down three to go

 
 
            I had my first chemotherapy treatment on Thursday October 16, 2014. I have to admit I was VERY nervous to get the treatment but it ended up not being bad. I was almost shaking right before I got my port accessed. Everyone there was extremely nice and my nurse was wonderful. The worst part was probably the waiting to start treatment.. my appointment was for 8 am and my mom and I got there at 7:45 am we had to wait for insurance to approve my treatment (apparently the insurance companies computers were down or something and they were having to hand write the approvals) I’m told it doesn’t usually take long to get approvals but you know with my luck I couldn’t start till 10:30am waiting that 2 hours and 45 mins was not fun.






Port accessed

Julia snapped this pic of me waiting to use the potty lol

Here is my timeline 10:35 am port accessed flushed and I was hooked up to my IV pole then I was able to go pick a seat which is nice to have a choice on where you want to sit. I was started on anti-nausea meds first then I had to wait for 30 mins after they were in to start the drugs so at 11:30am I got the Taxotere which took an hour then at 12:30 started the Cytoxan. I was done and out of there at 1:15pm just in enough time for mom and I to grab lunch and go sit in car line to pick up Tyson. Mom was with me the whole time and Julia’s work is right next door to Ocala Oncology so she walked over and hung out with us for an hour on her lunch break. After we picked up Tyson and Ava we went home I hugged on my babies for a bit then I went to bed and slept for a while. I’m happy to say I haven’t had any nausea at all (so far) and no problems eating (although I'm not super hungry). My coffee tastes bitter but other than that food tastes fine. I’m very tired and have had a headache on and off, dry mouth and a red flushed face (which I’m told is from the steroids and will go away in a couple days). On Friday October 17^th I went back to get my Pegfilgrastim shot… which I will get the day after each chemo treatment. It’s to help my body make more white blood cells. This shot has its own list of side effects to worry about like bone pain.



Julia, Me and Mom 10/16/2014



10/16/2014 hugging on my babies after 1st chemo

All and all so far I’m doing fine, I feel like I'm getting over the flu, achy and some body pain .. and I hope the next 3 treatments are as easy as the first. I’m told I will probably lose my hair by the 2^nd treatment… this side effect I’m really dreading, I’m going to cut it to pixie length on Monday so that should be interesting.

I wanted to share my article in our local Healthy Living magazine. I was interviewed the week prior to my mastectomy in August. I did the photo shoot 11 days after my double mastectomy, my right arm was still really bothering me at that time but the shoot was really quick. Here is a link the magazine article and below are some pictures from the shoot.

XOXO, Lynn

http://issuu.com/ocalastyle/docs/healthylivingmagazinesoct14/35?e=2431327/9531143

http://issuu.com/ocalastyle/docs/healthylivingmagazinesoct14/35?e=2431327/9531143

 



Julia took these for me

I flexed as a joke and of course its the picture they chose for the article

 

September 2014

 

Chemo starts tomorrow

Hello everyone

Rachel Absher Photography <3

       I wanted to start by giving a super special “THANK YOU” to the incredibly sweet Rachel Absher. When Rachel first heard of my cancer diagnosis she messaged me and offered me a photo session.. I of course was very excited (as I normally am) to have family pictures made but I didn’t take her up on her generous offer until I found out that I needed to have chemotherapy. After that oncologist appointment I immediately messaged her and happily accepted. I wanted to have family pictures made before I started the treatments, before I started looking and feeling sick and of course before I lost my hair. Normally I have to talk Jon into having pictures made, it’s not something he particularly enjoys but this time he made no fuss and just said when and where and he even wore a sweater when I asked him to! I really enjoyed the session, Rachel has such a cheerful, calm, sweet presence and it was really fun. The kids had a blast and Tyson is still talking about Ms. Rachel. We met Rachel exactly five years ago, October 2009 when she took Tyson’s one year pictures, those pictures she took five years ago continue to be my favorites and I still have them hanging on our walls. Thank you again Rachel for capturing our family so beautifully, these pictures are truly cherished and bring the biggest smile to my face.  Here is a link to our photos on her blog http://www.rachelabsher.com/blog/?p=3770

October 10, 2014




                On to my yucky cancer update.. On Tuesday October 14^th I had my 2^nd fill. Fills are actually a fun appointment, I will probably only get 2 more fills so I will be done with that process before the end of the year.

2nd Fill! 10/14/2014

                I met with my Ocala Oncologist this morning and I start chemotherapy tomorrow Thursday October 16, 2014.  I am extremely nervous to start treatments; I would rather be going in to have another surgery than do this. I am hoping and praying that I do not have all of these horrible side effects that I’ve read about and been told about. I’m praying for very boring easy treatment(s) and a very easy boring few days after treatment(s). I am thankful I only need 4 treatments, since I’m starting this week and as long as nothing messes up the every 3 week treatment schedule I will be completed with chemotherapy the week prior to Christmas.

                All for now. XOXO, Lynn

Tyson kissing my Port Boo Boo <3