Guess I’ll be rocking lots of beanies soon…. I will start chemo in a few weeks.
The oncologist is ordering another test on my tumor that was removed, Oncotype
DX test. Here is a link if you want to know more about this
test. http://www.breastcancer.org/symptoms/testing/types/oncotype_dx
Basically if the tumor is positive for
Oncotype DX then I have a greater chance of cancer coming back and we would
need to do a more intensive and longer chemotherapy … if it’s negative then
less treatments. 6 months / 8 treatments compared to 3 months / 4 treatments.
So please pray that I am negative for this so I can be done with chemo sooner.
I met with an oncologist in Ocala prior to deciding to have my treatment at
Moffit and the Ocala oncologist recommended the exact same thing as my Moffit
oncologist which is reassuring that the right path is being taken. My
oncologist has recommended that I get a port for the chemotherapy… which will require an outpatient surgery to
install. I plan to get the port done in Ocala (it’s a 2 week wait to have it
done at Moffit) and I will also get my chemo treatments in Ocala.
Either way I will lose my hair…. this will not be
fun for me and I am not looking forward to being bald and looking sick. I’ve
read that it’s easier to transition now to shorter hair so it’s less dramatic
when it falls out. I’ll get my bob haircut this Thursday (already made my
appointment) and I’ll get a pixie cut right before my first chemo treatment.
Never ever would have cut my hair to pixie length if it wasn’t for chemo but I
am hoping it will be less traumatic to me and to the kids when I finally go
bald. I’m really nervous for chemotherapy the thought of pumping toxic stuff
into my veins really freaks me out, who knows how my body will handle it. Ughh
makes me want to vomit just thinking of it. But this is what I need to do to
give myself the best possible outcome of cancer never returning.
In other news I also had my first “fill” this
morning with my plastic surgeon. I was totally freaked out prior but it was soo
easy and so wonderful to literally watch my foobs expand… I have cleavage
people!!! It was like I went through puberty in a matter of a few minutes lol
(is that too much info?). Here is a picture of the filling solution that was pumped
into my expanders to start the stretching process. I’m a little sore but not
too bad. I go back in 2 weeks for my next fill. I can continue to get fills
during my chemo but I will not be able to have my next surgery until a month
after I finish chemotherapy treatment, which will be next year sometime.
 |
| my "fill" for today - 100cc's in each side added to the 100 I already had from initial surgery |
Overall I’m feeling really good. The pain in my
right arm is gone and a lot of the feeling is back in that arm/pit which is
wonderful. I started back to work last
week and started driving again also. I hit my 3 week goal of being back to work
and Mommy duty. Still sore and bit uncomfortable in my chest but not in any
pain. Today I received the all clear to start working out again!!! So excited
to slowly get back into the gym. I can’t lift heavy and have to be careful with
my upper body of course.
I should have my Oncotype DX test results in 2
weeks and I will probably have a port installed in the next couple weeks as
well. I’ll update the blog when I get my test results back. Please pray for
negative Oncotype DX results.
XOXO, Lynn
