Speed Bump

I knew I would eventually have that moment or reason that would bring me back here to share with anyone who might still be reading. I have wanted to get back here and finish the story, but I certainly was not ready to add to the story. Not that I don’t worry about it everyday. Everywhere I go I hear about someone having their cancer come back, someone passing away from cancer, or a new diagnosis. I hear about a woman who could easily be me with two girls the same age but when she was diagnosed she was already very ill and she isn’t doing well. I’m reminded to be grateful. I try to stay focused on the positive. Let’s be honest, why wouldn’t I wonder if mine will come back or how I got to be so lucky to be healthy here and now?

Then I found a bump. And I told no one. At. All.

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Another Reason to Celebrate

So I told you I’ve been feeling pretty awful the last few days. Well, if I weren’t, I would be doing a little celebrating!

Can you believe THIS original post was a year ago!

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I copied the original below to make it easier to read.

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Hip Hip Hooray

The past few months my running activity has come to a screeching halt really. I was not able to run in the race that I initially set as myself for a goal. I did walk with a great friend and then after I did not do a lot of walking the rest of the day. That Guy rubbed my foot and back. For these last few months, missing out on the activity I had come to rely on to get back in shape and relieve stress and get some alone time, almost meditative like to help relieve the stress and anxiety, was leaving a negative cloud and causing me to hobble around in it. Finally I realized I needed to see a doctor.

Say what you will about my decision to procrastinate. It went beyond just my mom telling me to make a phone call and see if I could have it checked. Friends and co-workers chimed in as well. I just have not had the time and, most of all, I was scared. What if it wasn’t a pulled muscle? What if it wasn’t the same old pain I have had for ages just progressing? Why was it starting on my hip and going throughout my leg in different areas and causing heel pain? Were they connected? Did I really want to open that can of worms?

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One Down

So this here is what a normal mammogram looks like in our house. Cheers to many more!

Do Your Job

As anyone who has dealt with their own or a loved ones medical emergency can attest to, sometimes you feel like your job is to make sure other people do their job. There were days I seriously just wanted to scream DO YOUR JOB so I didn’t have to. I have said that I was provided a nurse navigator through my health network system. There were times I could not imagine navigating this process without her. Once the process kept going, she was sort of a last resort to get done what I needed to when I was not able to get things moving. If you don’t have a navigator, as most people do not even though they are becoming more prominent in this sort of setting, it all falls on you and can be even more frustrating. This is where having a notebook, a planner, and a support system buddy at your appointments can really be helpful. You will need to be your own advocate and push people to get done what you need to in whatever time frame is necessary in your situation.

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One Week at a Time

After the first day of my second treatment regimen, I was kind of expecting a restful boring few weeks ahead. I was not able to be left alone, drive, or take care of my kids independently so it made sense to expect someone to be here and be able to take it easy. I was also kind of itching to do things and so it was a difficult balance. It was a quest to get back to normal and feel productive, but also take it very easy. No problem, right?

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So Many Questions

This middle part of the week, as I continued to deflate, there were still a lot of questions. I was still stuck in bed. I was dizzy on and off. The left side of my face felt weird, including my eye, which is nerve wracking of course. No one had come to a consensus of whether I should be moving my legs around while I was in bed to prevent clots or if that would dislodge the clots I had.

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Finally I’m That Girl

I’m going to tell you a bit about what is going on right now, in present time, before I continue to recap my story. Even with this news, I am going to continue to tell the story chronologically as it happened. I’m currently about four months behind. If you need a refresher on where we are, please reference the Starting Line page. I hope that in sharing my story in full it will help someone someday.

As you may have seen, I had surgery over the holidays. It took a little while, but just a little over a week later, I received a phone call from the surgeon with the pathology results. And nearly a week later, I had a follow up appointment with her to check my healing and go over the results in detail. I needed to hear it from her in person before I really shared it in this way, which sounds crazy I am sure.

Long story short, I am now considered “cancer free”!

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All Puffed Up

So here we are, day two in the hospital, after a sleepless night and quite a day that led us here. That Guy was with me, my dad still hadn’t seen me so he came up at some point that morning. The doctors came around doing rounds. When I awoke, my arms and hands were even puffier than before! It seemed like this day brought even more questions than answers, which was very frustrating.

I was still very out of it. Some might say I always am, so just imagine how I was even worse. I was not allowed to eat solid food we found out and was not allowed to eat anything until after my IR check that day. Someone had allowed me to have dinner the night before, whoops! And that kind of sums up how everything went that day.

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Error In My Favor

Once I was back in a little private triage room, which in reality was a hallway where there was a little staff room if I remember correctly, I remember feeling really puffy. I started taking off my rings. Then my necklace. Then my bracelet. And then my wig. The gentleman who had gotten me the wheelchair was seriously the most calm person ever considering the circumstances. He got my mom a little bag to put everything in for me (Catch up with my trip to the ER starting here).

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