My Last MUGA Heart Exam

Today I had my last of several MUGA heart tests.  YEAH!!!  I am so excited that I don’t have to have test, after test, after test for awhile.  The MUGA is necessary since I had to take Herceptin for a year and it can, and did effect my heart function.  I had to take a break from it for awhile in the middle of treatment since  it had made my heart function go down 10% at one point.  I started at a 60.  I got down to a 48 at one point, which is out of the range that they consider good heart function.  Good is 50-70.  When I started I was a 60, so my heart function was pretty healthy.

I am hoping I can bring it back up to 60 at least with exercise.  Everything is a trade off in treatment.  You have to kill the cancer with out causing yourself other serious health problems.  It is a fine line to walk and an exhausting process.

I am so excited not to have to be poked and prodded on a regular basis any more.  My arm is finally starting to heel from all the pokes, sticks, IV’s, shots, and other tests and treatments.  I have some permanent scaring in my veins from the chemo.  My are is also discolored in spots from the tape they use when they attach an IV.  As time went on, I became allergic to it and it would make my skin red and it would peel.

Please pray that I have a nice, peaceful year.  I could use it.

Add comment July 30th, 2009 Julie

Beach Trip

We just got home from our summer trip to the beach.  We had a great time staying in a house that was right on the ocean in Oregon.  The view from the house was incredible.  We spent our mornings beach combing for treasures like shells and sand dollars.  In the afternoons the kids dug holes and built sand castles.

We enjoyed listening to the ocean waves every night as we slept.  So relaxing. The bed left a lot to be desired.  It needed to be replaced.  It was one of those beads that sags in the middle and you both find yourself falling into the crack. ha

Walking on the beach was great exercise.  Walking in sand is a challenge.  We definatly got our exercise between the walks on the beach and the stairs in the house we stayed.  I had to come home to recover from the “vacation”.  There is no such thing as vacation for a mom.  You do all the work to take care of the kids and make their trip enjoyable, and there is no rest for mom.

I do so love the ocean.  It is the most incredible wonder.  Miles and miles of water.  Just awesome.

Add comment July 24th, 2009 Julie

CANCER FREE!

I received the results of my CAT scan today and I am happy to announce that I am CANCER FREE!!  I have been scanned and grammed to death in the last month and all test show that there is no cancer anywhere in my body at this time.

I finished breast cancer treatment on Monday this week with my last Herceptin infusion.  I am so excited to be done with treatment and declared cancer free.

Thank you all that prayed for me in the last year and a half.  I couldn’t have done it without you.

I can now take on the official title of   SURVIVOR!

Add comment July 8th, 2009 Julie

I passes the Finish Line!

I am happy to announce that I am officially done with breast cancer treatment.  It has been 1 year, 6 months, and 1 week since I was diagnosed with stage IIIa breast cancer.  I have had a mastectomy including lymph nodes removed, chemo therapy, 100’s of blood tests, several shots in my stomach, test after test (MRI, MUGA’s, etc.) radiation, 100’s of infusions, and bottles and bottles of medicine, 100’s of doctors appointments and many other things that go along with having cancer.  When it all started, it was so overwhelming I wondered if I would ever make it to the end.  Now, here it is, the end of treatment and the time went faster than I ever expected it to.  It wasn’t easy.  I am proud to be a survivor and am stronger than I ever imagined I could be.  I did my best to handle the situation with grace and dignity.  It was important to show my kids that you put up a fight when you need to and do your best to be positive while you do so.

I have found that the mundane, every day things that people take for granted like health are a true gift and not to be taken for granted.  If you have you health, you are blessed.  Slap a smile on your face and enjoy it because it can all change over night and you too could find yourself living at the doctors office.

I had a CAT scan Sunday.  I am hoping to get the results tomorrow.  I expect them to be clean, but you never know, so it’s a little stressful to wait to hear.  Cat scans are not fun.  You have to drink 45 ounces of barium before you can be scanned and they also hook you up to an IV of something that they release into your veins while you are under the machine that feels warm going in.  So warm that it even makes you feel like you might have peed your pants.  Always an interesting feeling when you are over 5 years old.  ha

I have also recently found out that I have a thyroid issue.  I was diagnosed with Hypothyroid problems and now I have to take something to balance that back out as well.  I was feeling so tired and listless for quite awhile now and finally they found a reason.

Gee whiz.  I was hoping I wouldn’t have to see another doctor for 4 months.  I am already scheduled to go back to my primary care to monitor my thyroid in a couple of weeks.  Oh well, things can always be worse.

Thank you all for your prayers, notes, gifts and good thoughts.  Each one meant a lot to me.  I pray that you are all well too.

Add comment July 7th, 2009 Julie

The challanges of being young with breast cancer

The average age of a woman with breast cancer is 64 years old.  The youngest is 13.  I was diagnosed at 40.  A full 24 years before the average patient.   Only 5 percent of breast cancer cases occur in women that are 40 and younger.  Lucky me.

Being young with breast cancer has it’s own set of problems.  Most of us have small children to raise.    Raising kids takes a lot of energy.  Energy that a cancer patient in the middle of chemo or radiation doesn’t have.

The fact that we have young children to raise and many of us jobs to work.  This fact is somehow over looked by the medical community.  I have found it to be a huge aggravation to get the “nurses” in oncology to schedule my MANY, MANY treatments and appointment with the consideration that I have an hour drive home and 3 kids to get off the bus.  They are used to dealing with retired women that have all day to kill.  I would have appreciate some understanding in this area.  I finally had to get down right nasty in order to get scheduled in a time that I could live with.

It is also a challenge dealing with peers who can’t  begin to understand how difficult it is to be ill at 40.  Most cancer patients in their 60’s among their peers are all in the same boat.  They all have some kind of medical issues.  My peers are healthy, happy and enjoying the life I was cheated out of by cancer.  When my daughter started soccer for the first time last Fall I wondered why the other mom’s on the team were less than friendly, and I finally figured out that they were uncomfortable by my cancer.  I was just starting to grow hair back at the time so I was still wearing turbans which made it obvious I was a cancer patient.  I am hoping to be more accepted this year since my hair is all grown back and I will no longer be in treatment.

The thing that scared me most when I found out that I had cancer was the fact that I might leave my young children without a mother.  I can’t imagine how hard that would be for them.  Who is going to talk to my daughter about the things that only a mother and  daughter should share?

I pray every day that I will live long enough to meet my grandchildren.  I so want to be there for my kids and family.   I have a CAT scan coming up in a week.  Please pray that they don’t find any cancer anywhere.

I was sorry to hear of the death of Farrah Fawcett from cancer last week.  It just goes to show that no matter who you are, no matter how much money you have, if cancer is going to kill you, it’s going to kill you.  You cannot buy your way out of it.

Add comment June 28th, 2009 Julie

One more infusion down and ONE MORE TO GO!!

I had my second to last infusion of Herceptin today.  It went quickly for a change.  I did however have to argue with the  nurse about putting the IV in.  I swear,  people in the medical profession (doctors, nurses, physicians assistants, etc.) should have to take a class in how to listen to a patient.  They just don’t get it.

Just two weeks until my final infusion in breast cancer treatment.  I can’t believe it.  The time went faster than I expected it to.

I have to go for another heart function test (MUGA) when I finish the Herceptin to see where my heart ended up after all of the abuse.  I am also going to a CAT scan soon of my soft tissues in my mid section, including my stomach, liver, kidneys, etc.  My primary care doctor wanted to be extra careful because of the blood test I had that was off.  He sent a note to my oncologist and told her his thoughts, and a day later they called me and got me set up for a CAT scan.  I have the best primary care doctor.  He saved me at least twice already.  He made me go for a mamogram just in time.  He also figured out my chronic pain issues and got me on a treatment program that has been a lifesaver.  He takes my health personally.  ha

It will be nice to have the confirmation from the CAT scan that I am cancer free.  I had a bone scan a few weeks ago that was clear.  A mammogram a couple of weeks before that that was clear.  With this CAT scan done, I will be pretty much checked over from head to toe.

Please pray for good news, which is what I am expecting.  I would really appreciate a break from any and all medical problems for awhile now.   I deserve it.  ha

Add comment June 22nd, 2009 Julie

Casting for Recovery Trip

I just got home yesterday from my Casting for Recovery trip.  I went fly fishing on a ranch in Oregon with several other women who are survivors of breast cancer.  Fly fishing was a blast.  I had a great time.

We all arrived at the Big K Ranch in Oregon on Friday afternoon.  It was a LONG drive for me.  About 4 hours.  Ugh!  The Ranch was huge and beautiful.  2,500 acres in southern Oregon.  There was a huge river and also a pond near the lodge.

We all stayed in small cabins with one other roommate.  The cabins were simple, but clean.  Nothing luxurious, that’s for sure.  No TV or any other distractions in the room.  There was a phone.  ha  Happily, my cell phone worked well out there.

We ate our meals in the lodge.  The Ranch is quite a ways away from the nearest town, so they provide  all of your meals for you on the ranch.  The food was okay.  Not great, but not bad either.

We had some interesting discussion groups about cancer and it’s effect on you physically and emotionally.  All of the “staff” was volunteer.  Incredibly nice ladies.   My fly fishing instructor was GREAT!  She was basically a professional fly fisher.  She works in a fly fishing shop and really knows her stuff.  She was a lot of fun and a good instructor.  I caught 5 or 6 trout, one right after another.  I waded all the way up to my hips in the river to fish.  What a blast!  ha  It made me feel like myself again.  Adventurous and strong.

It was interesting to listen to the other campers stories.  I couldn’t believe the people that were floored by stage I cancer and a minor lump-ectomy.  (no chemo and no radiation)   I wish that was the only problem I have had in the last 5 years.  I guess it’s all in your perspective.  My journey has been much more difficult and very long.  5 years of serious medical issues.   However, I know many people who have had a much more difficult time then me with cancer and other medical problems.  There is always someone who has had it better or worse than you.  We all have our crosses to bear.

I missed my family while I was gone.  My baby (my youngest and only daughter) told her Daddy while I was gone, “Mom shouldn’t go on trips.”  ha  That’s my girl.  She loves her Mommy.

Add comment June 8th, 2009 Julie

Tips for choosing an Oncologist

Once you are diagnoised with cancer, you will be sent to an Oncologist.  That is a doctor that specializes in the treatment of cancer.  This person will be one of the most important people in your life for the rest of your life.  You will see him/her several times in the first year or two of treatment, and then often in the years to follow as well.  They are in charge of your treatment for cancer, all test for diagnosis and follow up, keeping you up to date on the most current treatment options available to you for your kind of cancer.

Tips for choosing a good doctor.

1.  Find a doctor that you are comfortable with.  It is important that you feel like you can talk to your doctor about anything.

2.  Experience.  Now is not the time to have the new kid on staff.  You want someone who has been around the block a few times, but is also up on the most current treatment options as well.

3.  Good communication.  My doctor can be reached by e-mail in hours.  I LOVE that!  It is so nice to be able to pop off a quick note about a question or two and receive an answer.

4.  Compassionate.  My doctor has a really gentle way about her.  She talks softly and clearly and has true compasion in her voice.   She seems to understand the fear and agony that many cancer patients feel.

Choosing a good doctor can been a process.  The first one you meat isn’t necessarily the best.  As for recomendations from friends.

Add comment June 3rd, 2009 Julie

And then there were two!

I had my third to last infusion this week of Herceptin.  Just two more infusions to go and I am done with breast cancer treatment.  I should add up all the hours I have spent at the hospital, doctors office, lab and treatment rooms in the last year and a half.  On second thought, I don’t want to know.  I feel like I live there.  I have to say that I am VERY tired of being stuck at appointment after appointment.  Oncology is always slow.  A few weeks ago I spent 5 hours getting a 30 minute infusion.  I waited in the waiting room for an hour and a half before I finally went into the infusion room to ask if they ever planned on doing my infusion that day.  What an incredible waste of time.  So frustrating.

I do have to have another MUGA after I finish treatment to see where my heart ended up after all of the Herceptin infusions.  There was a period of time in the middle of treatment that I had to take a break from the Herceptin because it was bothering my heart.  My heart function started at 60, which is really good.  It went down as low as 48 at one point, out of the good range (good being 40 to 70).  My last MUGA I was back up to a 52.  I am hoping my heart will return to a 60 or better after the Herceptin is over.

Cancer treatment is a true challenge and there are all kinds of things to think about and a finess to treatment.   Thank God, I have a great oncologist that I really like and I am very comfortable with her.  I wouldn’t hesitate to change to a different doctor in a second if I didn’t feel like she was the best doctor for me.

Add comment June 3rd, 2009 Julie

Bloom Of Hope, A (Breast Cancer Tribute)

A friend and pattern designer has created a pattern as a tribute to family, and friends with breast cancer.

Bloom Of Hope

by Glendon Place

A tribute to breast cancer survivors and others affected by this life-threatening disease. A percentage of the proceeds from the sale of each chart will be donated to the National Breast Cancer Foundation. More than 80% of all donations to NBCF go to programs that benefit women through free mammograms for the needy, breast cancer awareness campaigns, and breast cancer research projects. By supporting the cause, you give every woman hope. And with hope, anything is possible. Stitched on 28ct Water Lily Jobelan. Requires 6 colors of Anchor/DMC floss and 3 colors of Caron Waterlilies (12-strand silk). Stitch Count: 68w X 176h.

Add comment May 29th, 2009 Julie