http://main.acsevents.org/site/TR/MakingStridesAgainstBreastCancer/MSABCFY12EastCentral?px=22776632&pg=personal&fr_id=35969
Jenny
Tuesday, August 30, 2011
ACS's Making Strides Against Breast Cancer
Hello again all! On October 8th, the American Cancer Society is hosting it's annual Making Strides Against Breast Cancer event in Cincinnati, OH. It's taking place at Yeatman's Cove, and having volunteered at the event several years running, it really is a great event. In light of this year's setbacks and successes, my mom has put together a team to start to raise money for the event. Her goal is $1000, and is already on her way there. If you are able to help in anyway, or would just like to come on down to the event for a nice morning stroll to celebrate everything that we have accomplished this year! A link my mom's team is listed below.
Friday, August 26, 2011
New Hairdo
Thursday, August 25, 2011
No News Is Good News
Hello everyone! It's been awhile since we've made a post, but I'm happily reporting that is because there hasn't been much to report. Dad has been doing well with his workouts to keep his heart nice and strong for future hormone treatments. He has a PSA test tomorrow, so please keep him in your thoughts and prayers for the next week so that we get good results for low numbers! Mom is mostly done with recovery and very happily growing her hair back (much curlier than before she lost it!). Still waiting for things to fully heal before the decision of reconstruction is made, so for now, she is doing well and back into the swing of things! Other than that, the family is back and at 'em, so we are very happy to have both Mom and Dad available to drive since soccer and basketball season are in full effect!
Thank you again for all your support,
Jenny
Thursday, July 7, 2011
Complete Radiation - Check! Now what?
As Julie wrote, I finished radiation in early June - yeah!!! What I wasn't as ready for was how bad the burn got AFTER I finished treatment. It was really bad a couple weeks after my last session, and I actually took more pain medicine than I had after the surgery. I had to watch what I wore to work, and pretty quickly revert to just a plain droopy Tshirt once I got out of work. I have to say, though, that once it stopped getting worse, it really healed very quickly, so that at my 3 week checkup, everything was pretty much healed. I could go back to wearing normal clothes, and just before we left for the beach on vacation, I finally got my long term prosthesis, which matches pretty darn well, and is so comfortable I go all day without remembering that its even there. That means I'm as back to normal as I'm going to be for quite a while, and it's a pretty good normal.
So what's next?
1) Drugs. I keep taking the hormone treatment at the chemo suite every 3 weeks until October. Besides knocking out one more of the reproductive possibilities for this cancer, it gives me a chance to say hi to the same chemo staff, and they tell me I look great, and that makes me feel good. I like to think maybe someone who has gotten through chemo and is recovering provides some hope to those in the middle of their treatments, since I know it helped me when I saw healthy looking people come in. I also started the "5 year drug" that shuts down some of the estrogen that feeds the cancer, another of the possible reproductive possibilities, and though one of the possible side effects is extreme achiness, it hasn't been too bad so far.
2) Consultations about what to do in the future - I'm working on two different consultations about where I go from here - do I have reconstruction done again, or does that help mask any future reoccurrence? if reconstruction is OK, how long do I wait? or do I go the other direction and have the remaining breast removed, just to be sure? As Julie said, I'm going to the James Center at OSU later this month, and P&G also provides a "Best Doctors" service that I'm using to ask the same questions.
3) Get back to normal - We're on vacation at the beach this week, which is really nice to have all the kids together having fun. When I get back to work next week, I'm going back with a short haircut and no wig. And now that my energy is returning, I need to keep loosing weight, since excess weight also causes extra estrogen to form, not good for the breast cancer situation, and not good for the family history of heart and diabetes problems either!
One thing struck me recently about getting back to normal - its a normal that no longer includes my mom. We might have "fixed" everything else, but that loss doesn't go away. I just have to think she's up there helping me through the rest of this crap though!
Love,
Teri
So what's next?
1) Drugs. I keep taking the hormone treatment at the chemo suite every 3 weeks until October. Besides knocking out one more of the reproductive possibilities for this cancer, it gives me a chance to say hi to the same chemo staff, and they tell me I look great, and that makes me feel good. I like to think maybe someone who has gotten through chemo and is recovering provides some hope to those in the middle of their treatments, since I know it helped me when I saw healthy looking people come in. I also started the "5 year drug" that shuts down some of the estrogen that feeds the cancer, another of the possible reproductive possibilities, and though one of the possible side effects is extreme achiness, it hasn't been too bad so far.
2) Consultations about what to do in the future - I'm working on two different consultations about where I go from here - do I have reconstruction done again, or does that help mask any future reoccurrence? if reconstruction is OK, how long do I wait? or do I go the other direction and have the remaining breast removed, just to be sure? As Julie said, I'm going to the James Center at OSU later this month, and P&G also provides a "Best Doctors" service that I'm using to ask the same questions.
3) Get back to normal - We're on vacation at the beach this week, which is really nice to have all the kids together having fun. When I get back to work next week, I'm going back with a short haircut and no wig. And now that my energy is returning, I need to keep loosing weight, since excess weight also causes extra estrogen to form, not good for the breast cancer situation, and not good for the family history of heart and diabetes problems either!
One thing struck me recently about getting back to normal - its a normal that no longer includes my mom. We might have "fixed" everything else, but that loss doesn't go away. I just have to think she's up there helping me through the rest of this crap though!
Love,
Teri
Saturday, June 11, 2011
Another checkpoint!
Mom finished radiation therapy this week! Her arm and chest are pretty fried from the treatments and she has a bit of pain using that arm, but its over at last!
She will have to update you on the next stage of treatment and why they're doing it- because I frankly don't understand... and I'm studying this stuff- haha.
She'll also be making a trip to the brand new Comprehensive Breast Care Center at The James Cancer hospital at Ohio State in a few months just to catch up on the latest, developing treatments, etc. And to humor me.
Thanks again for all prayers and support! And ran into several of you (and probably will continue to on the graduation party circuit) who said you read- we appreciate that you're "keeping tuned"!
She will have to update you on the next stage of treatment and why they're doing it- because I frankly don't understand... and I'm studying this stuff- haha.
She'll also be making a trip to the brand new Comprehensive Breast Care Center at The James Cancer hospital at Ohio State in a few months just to catch up on the latest, developing treatments, etc. And to humor me.
Thanks again for all prayers and support! And ran into several of you (and probably will continue to on the graduation party circuit) who said you read- we appreciate that you're "keeping tuned"!
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
Finished with part of radiation therapy
Today I finished session 28 of the general radiation sessions they had planned. Tomorrow starts 8-10 sessions targeted at some problem areas, including the scar area from surgery. I'm glad they are done with the general sessions because I've got a pretty good burn area on my shoulder, believe it or not, right where a bra strap goes and right where your collar rubs your neck. That's from radiating the lymph nodes up above your chest (didn't even know you HAD lymph nodes there), just to be on the safe side, they haven't found anything in lymph nodes yet, and because you don't have much tissue behind that part of your chest it burns fast. It's pretty sore, though I've got several different types of medicine to slather on it, and its getting more difficult to find clothes to wear that don't rub at all the wrong places, but at least they are done radiating that part now, so it will only get better.
Also have almost two weeks back at work under my belt. Can't complain, since I leave at 2:00 every day to get to radiation. I also celebrated 30 years with P&G on May 16, the day I returned to work - seemed fitting to go back that day.
Next big milestone I'm looking forward to is when I have enough hair back to go wigless to work - been running around outside of work that way, but just not quite comfortable going to work that way yet. But I'm noticing the wig is a lot hotter on these warm days we've been having sometimes, so it's only a matter of when I give it up and go real short instead!
Love and continued thanks for all the support,
Teri
Also have almost two weeks back at work under my belt. Can't complain, since I leave at 2:00 every day to get to radiation. I also celebrated 30 years with P&G on May 16, the day I returned to work - seemed fitting to go back that day.
Next big milestone I'm looking forward to is when I have enough hair back to go wigless to work - been running around outside of work that way, but just not quite comfortable going to work that way yet. But I'm noticing the wig is a lot hotter on these warm days we've been having sometimes, so it's only a matter of when I give it up and go real short instead!
Love and continued thanks for all the support,
Teri
Sunday, May 8, 2011
Half Way Through
Finished up my third week of radiation this past week - starting to get a nice "sunburn" to show for it. :) Radiation is pretty easy compared to chemo - other than the fact that my burn is starting to itch, it's not uncomfortable, just a daily trip to Jewish Hospital for about 30 minutes. They get me in and out right away. Two weeks ago I found myself getting pretty fatigued at night, though last week didn't seem quite as bad. I have one more week off before I go back to work, and we're busy getting ready for Stephen's high school graduation, so it will be nice to have the flexibility to take a little rest if I need it. I've also been lucky to be able to catch up with friends at lunch a couple times, and do a little shopping to make some "wardrobe adjustments". Best news of all - Jim starts a new job as a project manager in a week!! He has been working as sort of a project clerk since last July, but this is a real project manager job, he'll be doing the kind of work (and making the kind of salary :) that he used to before the bottom fell out of things in early 2009. Thanks so much to King and his electrical services company for all the support they have given him the last 7 months, keeping him busy and employed until he could land a "real" job - we are blessed by everything King and Lou have done for us the last year! Things are looking better and better every day, praise God!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)