Time is flying and we continue to put one foot in front of the other through this treatment process. There's no way out but through.
Today I have a short appointment at Lawrence Memorial Hospital (LMH) for chemo education, during which I will learn more about the specific drugs, Taxol & Herceptin, that I'll take and what to expect during and after treatment. My oncology team so far has been entirely centered in the St. Luke's hospital system, which is in Kansas City and about an hour away from our home. We are trying to coordinate my weekly chemo infusions to be closer to home at LMH for simplicity and convenience.
Tomorrow we meet again with my plastic surgeon to check on the reconstruction progress. Last week's reconstruction appointment threw me for a loop with regard to pain and discomfort and almost a week later I am still not comfortable (to put it mildly). The impact of this process on the skin and muscles of a woman's chest (and what feels like sides and back and everywhere!) is enormous. I am simultaneously amazed and thankful at what modern medicine can do and pained greatly to watch it play out in my own body. We might choose to put this process on hold for now to avoid sitting at maximum discomfort levels through all 12 weeks of chemo, plus 4 recovery weeks after chemo ends, before final reconstruction surgery is possible anyway.
Thursday morning we will have another chemo education appointment, this time at St. Luke's. Immediately following that, I will have a port placed by the same surgeon that performed my double mastectomy. This is done under general anesthesia, which is my favorite, and should take about an hour and require about an hour in recovery after the quick surgery is complete. I will have this port in for a year because of the Herceptin treatments that have to continue after I'm finished with chemo so I'm crossing my fingers it is comfortable on some level at or near tolerable.
That brings you up to speed with me but I want to end by sharing the delightfully precious news that my 3rd niece, Catherine Everly, came into the world last night and stole our hearts. Everly is pictured below. The lows in life can be pretty painful but oh my goodness, the highs are really something. Hang onto them with all you have!
Thank you, thank you for your support and well wishes. The cards, emails, thoughts, prayers and good vibes- we love them all.
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