November 9, 2012 - what's new in November

November 9th - an update on the radiation burns - other than a little bit of pealing skin remaining, the burns are healing quite well. My checkup with my oncologist and plastic surgeon are on Thursday this coming week. Other than tiredness, I've had some low back and leg pain which I feel is a different pain than my normal back pain. It could be due to me trying to get back to DAHLC (Mayo's fitness center) to get back into shape or the meds I'm on for hot flashes. This will certainly be a topic of conversation at my appointment. Also Dr. Moynihan has given me the ok to come off the Lovenox (blood thinner) by the end of 2012!!!! It is good news!!!! Giving yourself shots in your belly twice per day is not a fun thing. I have a greater respect for diabetic people that have to do that daily. Update on Ben, he will be getting the IVIG treatments this next week. They will be staying with us for four days as he will be getting the treatments on an outpatient basis at St Mary's. The treatments take about four hours to complete so they will be at the hospital most of the mornings. Good luck to you my sweet grandson! Prayers are coming your way for this treatment to aid in your recovery for your little leg. God be with you! Today I'm heading into the DAHLC for a Reiki treatment. Reiki is a Japanese technique for stress reduction and relaxation that also promotes healing. It is administered by "laying on hands" and is based on the idea that an unseen "life force energy" flows through us and is what causes us to be alive. If one's "life force energy" is low, then we are more likely to get sick or feel stress, and if it is high, we are more capable of being happy and healthy. So I'll see how I feel after this...can't wait! Have a great weekend with your families!

October 27, 2012 - Ben update

October 27th - I realized that I haven't given a Benjamin update for quite some time. Ben has regained some movement in his right hip, toes and ankle but has a ways to go to gain full strength and movement in the right leg. Despite this Ben is a happy - go lucky 7 month old. He is sitting up by himself and rolling from back to tummy and tummy to back so his set back hasn't stopped him from moving around. He is receiving physical therapy and will be getting a second series of IVIG treatments here shortly. The 1st doses where given when he was in the hospital back in August. Lets hope and pray that this series of IVIG will help stimulate somemore of the nerves in the little right leg.

Ben 7 months

Ben and Daddy in their Vikings gear!

Ben out for a stroller ride. Ben has brought great happiness to our family! We facetime with him and his family quite often as we need our Ben fix. We love him with all of our heart and will do anything we can for our grandchild. Dear God, keep Ben in your loving care and bring him strength and complete healing in that little right leg...Amen!

October 23, 2012 - dealing with radiation burns

October 23rd - I'm still dealing with the radiation burns. Putting on Aquaphor and Xeroform gauze strips to get the burns to heal. It's a slow process but seeing some slight progress. The radiation nurse and nurse practitioner didn't feel the burns would be better by next week so they have delayed my return to work from 11/1 to 11/19/2012. I see Dr. Tim (oncologist) along with Dr Jacobson (plastic surgeon) on 11/15/2012 for a check up so hopefully that goes well. They have adjusted my medication for hot flashes as they were causing some weird sides effects such a dizziness, headaches, weight gain and the list goes on and on. I need to talk to Dr. Tim more about that when I see him on the 15th to see if this is all really necessary. I assume at that appointment he will be talking about placing me on a hormone therapy. Not sure which one that will be or what the side effects will be. Here are a couple of pictures that show the radiation burns...and YES they do hurt!! Along with these two there was one on my right back shoulder blade area and a smaller patch on the front upper right closer to my neck. Those two areas have healed up nicely and just look like a light brown tan. This would not be my recommendation on how to get a tan:) They said I would have to wear 30 spf on my skin in those areas along with a 15-20 spf on the rest of my exposed areas.

Arm pit radiation burn

Chest radiation burn

October 10, 2012 - Last day of treatment!

October 10th - well today at 11:00am is my LAST radiation treatment!!!
It's a very exciting and emotional day for me as this has been a long and trying journey.
I couldn't have done it without the support of my husband, Don, my kids and their families,
my family, Don's family, our many supportive friends and the belief and faith in The Lord.

Once the last radiation treatment is done, Desk R has a bell that patients ring three times to let all know that their treatments are complete...I get to ring that bell today!!  I can't wait!!

I'll write more later today once the treatment is done.

More to come!

Radiation scanner - Desk R

Radiation Techs - Dave and Tracy on last day of treatments

Ringing the bell.

On my last day of treatment I had a wonderful surprise waiting for me after treatment. Don, Bill and family, Marie, Don's parents, my brother Dave, along with several friends were there to see me ring the bell! Thanks to all of you that were there to share this day with me. It was an emotional experience for me...an end to cancer treatments and a new beginning to life without cancer! What a great feeling!!

October 3, 2012 - update on radiation treatments

October 3rd - just an update on the radiation treatments.  I've completed 20 of 25 treatments.  I have two treatments left this week and three next week.  Wednesday, October 10th will be my LAST radiation treatment!!!!!  Having said that I've developed a pretty good sunburn on my front chest and on my back right clavicle area.  Its pretty painful, itchy and red.   They say that the effects from radiation will last 2-3 weeks after radiation is done so I may see blistering yet.   I've been somewhat tired but not as tired as when I was going through chemo, thank goodness!!

I can hardly believe that my 9 1/2 month cancer journey is coming to an end.  You know someone told me early on, the day I became a cancer patient, I also became a survivor!  I didn't feel so much of a survivor at that time but now that I'm nearing my last radiation treatment I'm getting that feeling of a survivor!!!!  And it feels mighty good!!

Prayers go out to those that are newly diagnosed with cancer and those who are in the midst of it!
May God be with you and give you strengh!

September 25, 2012 - checkup & radiation treatments

September 25 -  I had a check up with my oncologist on Monday along with completing my 13th radiation treatment.

My checkup with Dr. Tim went well.  We discussed several aspects of my continued care such as hormone therapy and future checkups. I had noticed a small bump/nodule in the armpit of the right arm where they took 23 lymph nodes.  He thinks this is due to scar tissue associated with my operation.  He thought an ultrasound should be done to rule out anything else so that was done on Monday also.  Dr. Tim called me later in the day and indicated it was a small fluid filled cyst which sometimes happens after surgery.  At this point there is no worry for recurrent cancer.  He indicated to just watch it and if it got bigger they sometimes have to remove or drain the fluid.  I'm still dealing with hot flashes and neuropathy in my left foot and we are trying to decide if another medication my help both of these along with helping me sleep.  (gabapentin)

On Monday I completed my 13th radiation treatment of 25, so I'm about half way through these!  I've developed a light to moderate "sunburn" on my chest, which is very itchy!!  They say this will get worse as the treatments continue...awesome:(

I'm trying to do my exercises every day to stretch my back and to work my arms so that I do not get lymph edema.  I have to remember to not work my right arm so much or lift heavy objects as this can increase the chances of developing lymph edema.  So far that is helping.  I don't have a lot of energy but trying to stay as active as possible.  Fall is in the air so would be a great time to get outdoors for little walks.  Enjoy!!!

September 14, 2012 - Update on radiation treatments

September 14 - well, I have 7 radiation txs under my belt thus far.  I've had some mild side effects such as increased hot flashes and waking up again in the middle of the night and not being able to get back to sleep.  This is a bummer because I sure do like my sleep!
When I met with the nurse at Desk R she suggested several lotions and creams to start using in the radiated area of my body.  Radiation thins the skin and she indicated by the 15 or so tx my skin would start turning red as if I had a light sunburn.  By the 25th tx, sometimes peoples skin will be red as if they"ve gotten a real bad sunburn and will sometime cause blistering of the skin.  During the last 10 txs I will be meeting with the nurse on a daily basis following my tx to access my skin issues, if there are any.  As of right now there aren't any...but keep your fingers crossed that it stays that way!!

You know, since I've been diagnosed with cancer I have heard of so many others that have been newly diagnosed with various forms of cancer.  I'm not sure why or how cancer ever came about but we need to find a way to stop it.!  So if I could put a plea out there...please show your support to elimate this awful disease in whatever way you can!  Participate in a walk/run to support your cause of choice, donate to the Eagles cancer telethon, along with various other ways.  All of our involvement will make a difference!  As I've said before...cancer truly sucks!

September 5, 2012 - 50th birthday & 1st radiation treatment

September 5th - if you don't already know I CELEBRATED my 50th birthday on 9/5.  My sneaky little family decided to plan a little secret get-together instead of taking me to Outback for a delicious steak.  The plan that I knew was that we were going to Glynners for a drink and to say " hi" to Missy (one of the waitresses there), then on to Outback by 6:30 pm to get my birthday steak, then back to our house for DQ cake.  Now doesn't that sound like a nice low key 50th?!?!?  

Well, it didn't actually work out that way. We did make it to Glynners but to my surprise there were several of my family and Don's family members there and many co-workers, friends and old friends that I haven't seen in a while.  Wow, was I surprised!!  It was so good to see everyone! And it surely was a great 50th birthday...thank you all for taking the time to spend it with me!!!  A special thanks to all the sneaky people (you know who you are and payback is HE-double toothpicks!!!!) for making my day great!  Thanks to Bill for bringing Ben over to see me earlier that day.   Wished you could have stayed to see everyone!!  As I said last night 50 is great!!!!!

Today, 9/6, was my first radiation treatment. I went to Desk R in the Charlton building of Mayo Clinic with a little apprehension.  I was not sure if radiation was going to noticabley cause immediate hurt or pain to me or what since it was my first treatment.  The two techs were very nice and explained everything they were doing.  They took a couple of X-rays and radiated me a few times and I was there maybe only 20 minutes or so.  So far it was painless but I did go home and take a few hour nap...I'm not sure if it was the treatment or from all the excitement from last night.  They did say tiredness is one of the symptoms of radiation txs (treatments).  This was the first of 25 txs so here we go!  I'm on the downhill path of my cancer treatments/surgery journey and I'm looking forward to feeling a whole lot better in about a month or so when txs are completed.   I really do not want anymore surprises in regards to my health!  So here's to my health!!!!

August 29, 2012 - A week busy with Ben

August 29th - Our little grandson, Ben has been in the hospital since last Wednesday.  So that is part of the reason I've been MIA for awhile.  He was finally discharged this morning.  He has weakness in his right leg and he is unable to move it.  After an MRI, lumbar puncture, multiple blood work, ultrasound, X-rays, EMG, transfusions, nose and throat swabs and being inspected by multiple doctors (as he was classified as an "unusual" case), they are still unable to determine a cause for his partial paralysis.   The theory is an entervirus similar to polio.  It attacked his anterior horn cells of his spinal cord which affected his leg movement.  He has regained some sensation in his foot and his hip and has a good physical therapy plan.  The pediatric neurologist is optimistic that Ben will regain most or all of his movement in his leg.  Please send your prayers!  Thank you for all the family and friends support and visits during Ben's hospital stay.

As far as me, I continue to feel better each day after my surgery.  Through several visits to physical therapy I am able to get my arms above my heads for the radiation treatments. I had the radiation simulation today which placed marks on my chest and they created a mold of my right breast for the treatments.  My first radiation treatment is September 6th, the day after my 50th birthday!  What a birthday present:(.  I guess I'm still alive so I better quit complaining!!  50 is awesome!!

August 19, 2012 - Update and time with hubby

August 19th - First off I'd like to wish my little brother Dave, Happy 44th Birthday!

Update on the drain removal - I was able to get two of the drains out on Monday (8/13) and the remaining one out on Friday (8/17).  What a relief that is, for me and for Don (no more cleaning the drains!).  I continue to work on my exercises to be able to get my arms up over my head.  It's slow going but I'm making some progress.  I have a couple appointments at Mayo on Wednesday this coming week.  A post-op visit with the plastic surgeon and an appointment in the Lymphedema Clinic.  Hopefully all goes well.  I'm feeling a bit better each day!

Today Don and I decided on taking a road trip to get out of the house for awhile - we drove to Winona and up the Wisconsin side to Stillwater.  After some walking around, we then enjoyed some bar-b-que at a place called Smalley's...yum, yum!  Thanks Bill for recommending this place.  Stillwater was busy with people and alot of boats on the St. Croix river.  It was a beautiful, relaxing day and we enjoyed the sights along with spending some quality time with my hubby which is always a great thing.  I love him so much!

August 13, 2012 - Healing Process

August 13th - I'm not sure if I mentioned before but the results of the surgery were amazing.  They removed 23 lymph nodes from under my right arm and all were free of cancer!  The final pathology of the right breast showed a single microscopic focus of residual invasive ductal carcinoma measuring 0.08cm.  The tumor itself had completely resolved so there was no tumor to send out to the I-SPY study that I was participating in.  The left breast was free of any cancer.  The surgeons and my oncologist were very thrilled with the results, as was I!! 

As I mentioned before, now I am into the "healing" process and I have to say the first week was challenging.  Quite a bit of pain, taking care of the five drains, fatigue, etc.  On August 8th, they took out 2 of the 5 drains and hopefully tomorrow they will be able to remove the last three.  The output has to be below 30cc's for two consecutive days before they will consider removing them.  Other than that the surgeons say that the surgical areas are healing well.  Now they want me to heal as much as possible and to be able to get my right arm up over my head so that radiation can be done.  So I have to work on my exercises to strengthen my arms again.

My first appointment for radiation therapy is Monday, August 27.  This will be a one hour appointment for them to place their markings and such.  Then I will have 25 radiation treatments – Monday through Friday excluding weekends.  My treatment journey is nearing an end which I’m very excited for.  It has definitely been a long, tiring, trying, roller coaster of a journey for the past seven months.

Sorry that I missed the ESC picnic.  I was not up to getting out with the drains still in place and not really feeling up to getting out it at that point.  I’m sure you all had a great time. 

August 5, 2012 - 4 days post-operation

August 5th - first off I'd like to thank my husband for keeping the blog up-to-date during surgery and days following.  I'm still pretty sore with quite a bit of pain, to say the least.  Trying to keep the pain management under control right now.  Trying to get up and walk as much as possible so as not to get any clots.   Don is doing a wonderful job keeping my drain tubes, etc clean and drained. Love you so much and appreciate all your patience with me!  Other than the pain and being tired I'm doing ok.  Now onto the healing process!  Then radiation treatments.


Talk to you soon.  Kathy

Home at last

Went home from the hospital yesterday at around 3:30pm.

Got settled in at home and slept very well last night.

They setup several appointments for next week, so we" ll see how that goes.

They did give us some great news before we left, they found only a very small amount of disease (less then 1mm) in the samples they tested.

Dr. Tim was very happy with those results.

Thur. August 2, 9:45am

Not much sleep last night with people stopping in every 10 minutes or so.

Otherwise, feeling much better and looking real good.

Most likely be going home today, but we'll see what they say later today.

Thanks for all the thoughts and prayers through all of this.

Wed. August 1, 3:20pm

They said that Dr. Jacobson is finishing up(about 30 minutes to go), then about 2 hours in recovery before Kathy is brought up to her room.

Wed. August 1, 1:15pm

Dr. Boughie (sp) is done they are waiting on biopsy results, then Dr. Jacobson will start, about another 2 hours.

Wed. August 1, 11:30am

Surgery is roughly halfway through, going slower than expected at this point.

Wed. August 1, 9:15am

Surgery started at 9:15am.

Wed. August 1, 7:00am

They just took Kathy down to surgery.

About 1 1/2 hours of prep before the actual surgery starts.

Then about 5 hours of actual surgery.

Wed. August 1, 6:00am

All checked in at Charlton, waiting for the surgery to begin.