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.

July 30, 2012 - I hope you believe in Miracles!

July 30th - Last Monday I had another MRI of the breast and was waiting for the results of this test most of the week.  So on Friday, I emailed Dr. Moynihan for the results.  I received his out of office that he was in Ecuador and would respond to emails upon his return, which I was ok with...I would just wait until Monday for the results. Suddenly out of nowhere he responded and he was going to see if he could somehow get the MRI results.  To his (and my) success he was able to send me the results from the radiologist.
This is what he sent me:

"Complete resolution of suspicious enhancement in the right breast in the region of the known right breast malignancy." 

He commented that the results sounded really good and he would look at the scans upon his return on Monday.  Well, I don't know about you but when I read this I was in shock.  If I was reading this correctly this was indeed a Miracle!  So I emailed him back and asked if this changes anything with the surgery and that I wanted to confirm what I thought the radiologist was saying.  Was the tumor in the right breast gone? 

Dr. Tim indicated that because the chemo had did its thing by taking care of the tumor - it was indeed gone! This however does not change anything in regards to the surgery - that is still scheduled for this Wednesday and that everything in the right breast looks good - I did read it correctly!  He did get a chance to review the scan today and he said the scan looks great!  I indicated that I could still feel something there and he said that often times scarring or some fibrosis occurs at the turmor site and that it can still be felt.  The only way to know is to look at things under the microscope, which is what they will do during the operation.  That will give us more definitive answers.

All I can say is - Praise the Lord!  If you didn't believe in Miracles before you really should now!!
The power of prayer and the great belief in the Lord is amazing!

P.S. Sorry it took me until today to post my blog entry but I wanted to make complete sure with Dr. Tim of what I was reading before I posted anything!

July 27, 212 - relief for the back

July 27 - Friday I went in for a cortisone injection in my L5-S1 joint area as I was having extreme pain in my lower back and down my left leg to my foot due to a disk protusion I was in such pain that I wasn't sure if I was going to make it to Friday even on all the pain meds they had given me. A thought passed through my head that the pain was enough to pull my hair out but that wouldn't work since I had none to pull out! You know though, since my last chemo tx was June 25, I dare to say that some of the hair is starting to come back in, slowly but surely! It will be Interesting to see what it comes back in as. The injection has given me some relief but still dealing with some numbness and pain down my left leg. They said it could take anywhere from 3-7 days before the medicine totally starts working....so I guess I have to be more patient. But let me tell you this is so much better then what I've been dealing with over the past several weeks and mostly this past week. Thank heaven for the relief!

July 20, 2012 - who likes roller coasters?!??!

July 20 - When I was younger I used to LOVE roller coasters. In fact, when the kids were younger we purposely went to amusement parks that had the most and fastest roller coasters around. It was always a thrill and I couldn't get enough! The "roller coaster" that I'm on now in my life's journey isn't what I remember it to be like. This roller coaster has taken me places that I would never thought I would be traveling. This roller coaster is actually scary, not thrilling. Yesterday I was scheduled for a lung biopsy in the morning because a CT last week showed multiple small nodules in my lungs (scary stuff). Before surgery they did another CT to confirm the location for the radioactive dye.  The dye would help the surgeons find the area to biopsy. The CT showed that all the nodules were gone!!!!!!!!!!!  The surgery was cancelled and the doctors are thinking that the nodules must of formed in relation to an immune response to the chemo or an infection that cleared up in a weeks time. Needless to say, I don't think they will ever know. I also received a call from Dr. Tim this morning and he said at this point I'm done with chemo treatments!!! He wants me to recover the best I can prior to my surgery on August 1st. I have several appointments scattered throughout next week so that will keep me busy. I want to thank you all for all your thoughts and prayers! The power of prayer is amazing!! Love you all!!!

July 17, 2012 - update

July 17 - we finally got all the test/labs back and they were negative for a fungal infection.  Having said that they are going to proceed with the lung biopsy on thursday so they can get a definitive answer to what they are seeing in the CT scan. Keep me in your thoughts and prayers.

July 12, 2012 - update on some tests

July 12 - the results of the back MRI is that I have a protruding disc. Dr. Tim is going to have me seen in the spine center with the hope of an injection for the pain that I am having. Hopefully that will be sooner than later as I'm having quite a bit of pain. The transesophogeal echocardiogram showed that my heart was perfect! Who would have thought anything differently:). The results of the CT abdomen/chest weren't so good. It showed multiple pulmonary nodules on both lungs. Dr. Tim and Dr. Karen Swanson (pulmanologist) think that the nodules may be a fungal infection, thus the fever, cough, etc. Thursday morning I am scheduled for a bronchoscopy to check these nodules on my lungs. Scary huh?!?!? Plus I had to do another type of blood test that checks for this. If these test come back normal (where it's not a fungal infection) I will be seeing a thoracic surgeon on Monday. At that point they will have to do a lung biopsy to figure out what these nodules are. Let's pray that it doesn't come for me to see the surgeon. If its the fungal infection, that, to my understanding can be treated by antibodics. Wow...things happen fast!! Psalms 23:4 Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.