March, April and May

I’ve attempted to update everyone a few times and not succeeded so this post was started a few weeks ago but is pretty current.

The fundraiser we had on March 28th sponsored by the United Firefighters Association was a blast. I thank the UFFA and everyone who attended or contributed in any way for everything you did. And to show my appreciation I volunteered at the UFFA beer booth at Jazz Fest on opening day. Ok, honestly I’ve always wanted to work a beer booth and it worked out to do it with the UFFA. That was a blast too!

In case you haven’t heard, or possibly forgot or maybe were confused… The surgery on Feb 5^thwas successful. The tumor was removed and I can officially say I HAD breast cancer. My lymph nodes were negative. A biopsy of the tumor showed it was Estrogen Positive, we originally thought the tumor was triple negative. Basically what you need to know about this is because I’m estrogen positive there is further treatment to help prevent the recurrence of this cancer so I’m on a drug called Tamoxifen for the next 5 years. It’s just a daily pill with some possible side effects I talked about in a previous post (uterine cancer is one of them) but the risk is small and I’ll be having regular checkups with multiple doctors so we’ve accepted this risk.

Now that I mention drugs, I take A LOT of pills these days! Tamoxifen, Lexapro , Biotin (to help my hair grow faster), an anti infamatory for my wrists and an antibiotic. Right now I take 6 pills a day, eventually I will hopefully only take Tamoxifen and Lexapro and maybe not need one of those plastic things that has compartments for each days pills.

And since I mentioned my wrists, I have carpal tunnel syndrome. I was diagnosed yesterday and will find out the course of treatment on May 20^th. When I went in for my first appointment for this I also had my pinky toe x-rayed because it hurt pretty bad after accidentally kicking something. The x-ray showed that my toe was broken. Seriously? After a breast cancer diagnosis, chemo, surgeries and a punctured lung these little things like a broken toe and carpal tunnel are a walk in the park. I put tennis shoes on the day after the x-ray and went for a walk. I’m not letting a broken pinky toe stop me! (5/20 update - I got steroid shots in both my wrists today.  The Dr said the one sure way to fix the problem is surgery but it's possible the shots will help.)

I had my port removed on Monday 4/22 which means NO MORE CHEMO! What an exciting surgery to have. Everything went well, I was the first surgery of the day at 7:30 and home by noon. Bobby and Micah took good care of me and I was off pain pills by the next day.

May 10th I had my final surgery related to breast cancer.  Everything was successful, the doctor is  pleased with his work and I am too!  I'm still sore, have to wear this almost-full body girdle 24x7 for another week, am bruised and occasionally take pain pills but actually feel pretty good.

We took a trip to Gulf Shores between my pre-op and surgery date on May 10th.  What a wonderful escape!  Thanks to our friends who made this possible.  And as most of you know, Bobby and I met on my first trip to New Orleans for the Jazz Fest (this is my 8^th year!) and we enjoy spending time together at this festival.  It might seem like a bit much for me during my recovery but more than anything, it feels so good to be able to do things I did before cancer came around.

And the most exciting news of all (well, not really) is that my hair is growing back!!! It’s dark brown, which some of you have never seen but is actually my natural color. I can’t really tell yet if it’s the same texture since it’s so short. Some days I put it in a Mohawk, some days I let it be. There are some grays which I cover with mascara (it works perfectly!) or pluck out :) My hair is about an inch long right now. I even trimmed it around my ears the other day.

This was the first day I discovered I could do a Mohawk (3/27)

Check out the hair one month later (Cate and me taking a break at jazz fest.)

Sunday at Jazz Fest – messy!!!

No White Flags - this is me and Steve Gleason, the former Saints player who had a big play the first game back in the Superdome after Katrina. Gleason has ALS and seems positive in all his endeavors. Obviously I don't know him personally and am sure he has tons of challenges but I thought it'd be cool to get my picture with him. I asked if I could and he said yes. Now I only wish I would've chatted with him for a bit. Next time!

This is me being silly with the camera (and Bobby).  I have never worn a scarf or jacket or gloves at jazz fest but I did this year!

 

 

And the sun finally came back to Jazz Fest



Micah at the beach - the first day he wouldn't take his pj top off and got mad at the water for not staying away when he told it to. Second day he didn't go near the water. And this is the third day - the shirt is a swim shirt (the pj thing was actually a good idea) and notice his shoes. Those would not come off at the beach no matter how much sand he got in them. Bobby and I finally got him to sit in the surf with us letting the waves splash on us (Micah's shoes still on).