Life is Good!

We went to the Moffit Cancer Center on Wednesday for the second opinion of the course of my treatment. Needless to say, the few days leading up to that were not very good sleep wise for either myself or Robert. We finally got there and had to wait almost 3 hours before we saw anyone (very tough on the nerves!) and then we saw first a resident as well as fellowship person who asked alot of questions and then went over what they thought. We then waited another 1/2 hour before the big guns guy, Dr. Solimam came in to talk with us. The gist of it is he concurs with my oncologist that for my treatment, radiation is the best course of action and that chemotherapy would not be warranted. The areas that were not "margin clean" were small enough that radiation would get those suckers and they thought chemo would be an overkill (glad I didn't postpone my annual mammogram or else there would have been a different diagnosis ... hint hint for all of you woman out there who postpone yours!). Thankfully my cancer was caught early! He did suggest for an overall point of view that I research clinical trials for Herceptin (the drug that treats the Her2Neu aspect of my breast cancer ... great moving about the development of this drug... Harry Connick Jr plays the dr. who developed it ... "Living Proof" ... great movie and a definite tear jerker! But without his persistence, there wouldn't be any drug out there to treat this type of agressive cancer! So I will research it and look at the criteria out there for it and see if it is something I want to pursue or qualify for.

Other than that, have my 10th radiation treatment today ... only 26 more to go! The fatigue is definitely setting in .. I am wiped by early afternoon. But luckly so far no radiation burns (have a salve that I put on 3 times per day) but the skin is getting tighter which I have to try and reduce so that the reconstruction goes easier (sometime in January/February). I also developed an infection in one of the drain sites (the scar from the mastectomy drains. Have been using an antibiotic ointment on it but the dr. will determine today if I need to go on oral antibiotic to treat it.

My mom has been here since Monday and is a great help. She is like the energizer bunny. Nothing stops that woman. She is determined to rid every weed out of my garden before she leaves! And the kids (and Robert) have seconds/thirds when she cooks so they aren't too keen to see her go either (I NEVER get them to have seconds when I cook .. lucky if I can get them to finish their plates!)

Today I need to tackle all of the medical bills. I put them in an excel spreadsheet based on the information from the insurance forms and actuals bills last week ... that's when I found out that if I spend any more than 1 hour on the computer my right arm is not happy. Anyway, I want to review each one to ensure no double billing, etc. and then start that lovely part of paying them. Boy am I glad I have insurance ... THANKS PWC FOR HAVING SUCH GREAT COVERAGE!)

I forgot to mention the amazing medical knowledge of both Robert and Jason. Last night over dinner they wondered why I am not covered in some protective covering while being zapped by radiation (especially since the technicians are behind a 1 foot deep wall. So in order to protect me, they made a tin foil helmet for me to use to protect my brain. They are still revising it to figure the best way (and most stylish) to protect my female polish brain (for some reason they think I need all the protection I can get :( Stay tuned for pictures ... yes beer and wine was consumed during this endeavor!

Have a great weekend all! Miss you!

So that is the exciting news in my world.