It's a New Year!!

Happy New Year everybody! I hope you had a great Christmas. We did. We received at least eight inches of snow here. I had bought Rachel a new disc sled again from Martin Supply, so she came and spent the night (along with Tammy, and Cousin Tim, and Cousin Betty). We had a wonderful time and I got some beautiful pictures of the snow. Considering what my family and I have been thru this past year, we were much more appreciative of our time together, being warm, and having good food to eat. We were all glad that my treatments and surgeries were over, and were thankful that I was feeling better. There was peace in our home on Christmas, and I was so thankful not to be sick from chemo, or exhausted from radiation.

As you know, I was able to have my hysterectomy done before Christmas. It was done on December 6th. And let me tell you, it was the simplest, most painfree surgery I've ever had! I had no nausea afterwards and hardly any pain. I had planned on taking two weeks off from work, but I caught a cold from my mother. Because my body was tired and worn down from everything this past year, it hit me right much harder. The day I went back to my surgeon for my two week followup, I couldn't talk at all. She put me on an antibiotic and took me out of work for another week. Besides my cold, I was also having some extreme pain in my left hip; at times, I could hardly walk, and if I caught it just right, it made me holler out in pain. I went to the chiropractor a few times, and it just wasn't getting any better, so I asked him to xray it. According to him, my left hip joint had a lot of inflammation in it, so he recommended seeing an orthopedic.
I started taking an anti-inflammatory, and that made the pain a little more bearable. I went to see Dr. Perdue, an orthopedic, on Thursday. He also xrayed my hip. He didn't see anything wrong with my xray, and doesn't seem to think the pain is originating in my hip. He seems to think I might have a herniated disc in my lumbar (lower) spine. Of course, right now, all he has to go on is my symptoms, so he ordered an MRI for next Tuesday. Because I've had cancer before, he wants to take a close up look and make sure that there's no sign of the cancer returning in my spine. I am not worried about this; I'm convinced there will not be any cancer, and I'm not so sure I have a herniated disc either. The chiropractor xrayed my hip and lumbar spine and looked at each and every vertebrae with me. There was no sign then of any herniation. But anyway, the MRI is in a few days, and we'll just go from there.

So,........because of all that, I missed a month of work right at Christmas time with no pay. For the ones of you that blessed me financially, I appreciate you so very much. God always sees to it that the bills are paid, and I was still able to buy nice gifts for my family as well. Again, thank you for your generosity, and I pray that God will bless you for it. My first paycheck came yesterday, and I'm back in business.

Just in case you've forgotten, I pushed to have my hysterectomy done in order to get into the exercise program for cancer survivors. I probably should have taken a few months to recover, but I didn't want to get into shape, only to stop and have another surgery. My efforts paid off because I got into the program, and we started last week. We missed Monday night due to weather, but Wednesday night was the night to fill out paperwork and take measurements. They measured everything from my height and weight, vital signs, body fat, to grip strength, blood glucose and cholesterol. They are very supportive and encouraging, and that is so nice to have.
Thursday night, we did some flexibility tests and they timed me to see how long it took me to walk a mile. All of this data will be done again at the end of the program to see how much I improved. So, for the next three months on Monday, Wednesday and Thursday evenings from 5:30 to 6:30, I can be found at the ViQuest Center at PCMH.

I can't tell you how happy I am to be in that program. Months of sitting around sick and not feeling well have taken their toll on my body. I weigh more than I ever have, all of my clothes are too tight. My joints are stiff and sore, and I've lost not only a lot of my flexibility, but a lot of my strength as well. I am weak and pale. To me, I still look a lot like your typical chemo patient. My face is very round and without color. My eyebrows and eyelashes have only partially returned. My hair is coming back, but it's not brown and blonde like it used to be. It's more like salt and pepper. I've had the back of my neck shaved and "shaped up", and it needs it again; but I'm not to the point where I need an actual haircut yet. I have curls now........something I've never had. Not many......just a few behind my ears. I've gotten used to people running their fingers through them. I just wish my bangs would grow as fast as my curls!

Other than the exercise program, I will still continue to receive my Herceptin treatment every three weeks through my port. I have to receive that drug for a year, and I didn't start until the first of May last year. I have to have routine echocardiograms (every three months) while on Herceptin, and I just had my third one. I'm not sure how often I'll have to have them when I finish. Because of the pill I am taking, I will have to have routine bone density tests as well. I just recently had my first one, and I was within normal limits. My hope is, that by the first of May, I will be slimmer and healthier, plus finished with my Herceptin treatments.


Well, that's about it for now. Sorry it took me so long to write. I just haven't felt much like it. I'm thinking about continuing the blog though, even after my treatments are over. I'll probably change the name though. Anyway. Just thinking out loud. Thank you for tuning in. I hope you have a happy new year. Please know how much I appreciate your support, of all kinds, over the past year. It has helped so very much........

'Til next time,
Cindy