Welcome to my world

I am a wife, a mom, a daughter, a sister and a friend.
I've learned that who you have in your life matters more than what you have.
Thank you for stepping in to my world!

Monday, May 30, 2016

Kicking cancer's ass - day 1005

Happy 10th Birthday to my beautiful daughter.

Our family has been so incredibly blessed with a decade of having this girl around to brighten each and every day.

She is a free spirit who is full of life and laughter, silliness and creativity.  She is sensitive and caring and extremely compassionate.  She loves to read, swim, ride horses, play softball and anything minecraft.  She is the best friend anyone could ask for, and she has her daddy wrapped around her little finger.




















I can't wait to see what the next ten years have in store for her, and I'm so very grateful that I'm around to watch her blossom into such a beautiful young lady.

Happy Birthday Kels - keep shining bright like a diamond!

Wednesday, May 25, 2016

Kicking cancer's ass - day 1000!


I haven't posted on my blog since the first of the month, but boy did I pick a BIG day to log back in and write something.

Today is day 1,000!

DAY 1,000!!!!!

That is one thousand days of kicking cancer's ass, in case you haven't been paying attention.
Hoo-rah!

This morning I had a checkup with Dr H (my oncologist).  Other than being fat, I'm doing well.  (Seriously, the one thing he commented on is my weight..... ha ha)   My labs were good, tumor marker was 8 which is the lowest it's been ever and my white & red blood cell counts were normal.  Yay!  Basically a "Good job, see you in 6 months."  

I like those kinds of appointments.

The one thing that has changed for me is going back to Tamoxifen has made a world of difference in how I'm feeling.  I tried two of the aromatase inhibitors that are supposedly better for post-menopausal women.  But after five months of insomnia, debilitating joint pain and fatigue and even hair loss, I said enough is enough.  Dr H approved me going back to Tamoxifen, the devil I know, and things are so much better.  I can't say I feel normal, but feeling bad with Tamoxifen is nothing like feeling bad with Arimidex.  Everyone is different though, because some ladies I know say the opposite!

Since my genetic testing was positive for BRCA2, I will have to be on some kind of hormone therapy for 10 years, which is most often Tamoxifen.  So I just switched back a few years earlier than scheduled, that's all.

Celebrate life, people.  
One thousand days ago I began the fight for my life, and despite a few (ha ha) extra pounds, some missing body parts and lots of scars, almost three years later I am happy and healthy and trying to live life to the fullest every single day.

Sunday, May 1, 2016

Kicking cancer's ass - day 976



Instead of the 2-3 business day wait I was told to expect, it was two weeks before I received the results of my abdominal ultrasound.  The wait was more than worth it - NO ABNORMALITIES!

I don't get regular scans by any of my doctors.  They only check things out when there might be a problem.  So far, any "problems" that I've had have turned out to be easily explained as NOT CANCER.  Good enough for me.  

Also, as of last week I'm back on the dreaded Tamoxifen.  I couldn't handle the Arimidex family of medicines any longer.  The extreme fatigue, the insomnia, the pain and the hair loss..... there's no way I could live like that for years and years.  

In some cases the devil you know is a better option than the devil you don't.