It's been a little while since my last post and I feel like so much has happened! In the time since my last surgery we have celebrated Halloween, said good bye to a loved friend (a year old filly named Seattle Scoot, granddaughter of Seattle Slew, which belonged to close friends who are more like family), and elected a new President as well as traversed the ups and downs of this second recovery for me. While I have had much on my mind and heart this last week+, I opted not to get on my soapbox...at least not now. :-)
Yesterday I had my follow up visit with the surgeon. It went well and I am healing fine. The additional tissue that was taken was completely free of cancer. I will now move on to the next phase of treatment, which I expect to be radiation therapy. My surgeon has been very careful not to say chemotherapy is off the table, mainly I think because that is not for him to decide. However, I am hanging on to what my radiation oncologist told me which was that she would be very surprised if chemotherapy was found to be necessary. I will meet with a medical oncologist on Friday of this week and look forward (if that's quite possible or accurate to say) to hearing what she has to say about my treatment and prognosis. I chose, at least initially, to see the same medical oncologist as my mother. I am hoping that there may be some benefit to her seeing both my mom and I. We are considering doing some genetic testing at some point.
On Tuesday, November 18th, I will go to the radiation oncologist and have the preliminary work done that is necessary to begin radiation therapy. I am guessing at this point, but I think I will begin radiation therapy the week of Thanksgiving and should finish the six and a half week daily treatments just after the first of the year.
The first few days after surgery were a little rough with nausea, weakness and discomfort and then I came down with a cold too. After a couple of days I felt better for the most part, but by midday would be just exhausted and unable to tackle much. It was during this time that I made the decision to take a leave of absence from my part time job. While I'm only scheduled four hours per week, I realized in those moments of fatigue that having one more thing to worry about "handling" just isn't worth it. It has been interesting on this journey to come to those realizations of what I truely value in my life and what is an extra. We are funny creatures really. It has taken looking squarely at my own mortality to have a better understanding of what is important in my life. Unfortunately, I don't think my experience is uncommon. I highly recommend the movie The Bucket List if you haven't seen it. You will laugh and you will cry (if you are like me). While I'm not planning to skydive or go on any exotic trips and I'm not terminally ill like the characters in the movie, it did give me pause to think about some things.
Yesterday was also the first day that I felt like myself again, at least mostly. My energy level was good. I accomplished several things. I'm sure my husband was especially glad. He really is a marvelous man, husband, father and friend. His job currently involves construction and at times, some pretty labor intensive work. He comes home some evenings exhausted, but never complains if supper isn't much to write home about or even if he has to handle making supper or caring for kids or whatever. I would also be remiss if I didn't say that we have been well cared for by many friends and family with meals and outings for the kids. This has also helped tremendously. More than anything though, I am gratefully aware that my husband will be there with me every step of this journey. I know times like this can be stressful on some marriages, but it has made ours stronger. I am very blessed.
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