I got my first mammogram last week--post-surgery, post-chemo and post-radiation, and it was good! I don't know what I would have done if it hadn't been good, but it was good nonetheless. I feel very healthy right now, and my hair has grown back enough that I've actually had two haircuts! The hair right around my face is grayer than it was before, and I don't know if it will remain that way or if it will eventually darken a bit. Even it stays gray, I like to consider it as if those are my new highlights. My profile picture was taken about four weeks ago just after my second haircut.
I had a visit with my surgeon yesterday for him to look at the mammogram and examine me almost a year to the date from when my biopsy came back as breast cancer. Dr. Whitt said everything looked good, and that's the kind of report you want to hear from the doctor. I asked him if I could resume what I consider normal activities with my right arm, and he said I could lift things that were 15-20 pounds with no problem. I told him I had been doing that for nearly a year now, but that I would try not to lift any sofas or pianos. He says I'm okay to do yard work and just about anything I need to do in the house. Woo hoo! He even said I could go back to an underwire bra when the tenderness is gone, and although the surgery site is no longer tender, there is a bit of lingering tenderness from where I had radiation. Still, it's all good news.
I remember this time last year when I learned of my breast cancer, it seemed so surreal that life could just go on for everyone else when I was suffering from an indescribable pain. Although none of us know what the future holds, having cancer gives a definite reality check with so much unknown of how the body will respond to chemo or radiation or if the cancer will be eradicated. I tried not to compare my breast cancer to that of other people, but it was hard. Someone would have a better prognosis and others would have worse. I learned it was best just to think about my own situation and continue to pray for everyone else who had cancer since no two people are alike. Life does go on in spite of cancer.
I sit here today, thankful that my treatment is over and thankful that I'm not faced with months of not feeling well. It sounds crazy, but I can hear about a friend going through chemo and experiencing difficulty, and I get queasy. Seriously. I wonder if it will always be that way? Even though I know chemo can kill cancer cells, I feel in my heart that someday there will be a better way. People shouldn't have to get so sick in a fight to get well.
As to my immediate future, I see my oncologists every three months to check tumor markers, etc., get a mammogram (right side) every six months, and then a full mammogram once a year. All of this goes on for two years, then the time between doctor visits gets longer. I am taking Tamoxifen twice a day to keep estrogen levels down since my breast cancer was estrogen positive, and the main side effect I am having from the drug is hot flashes. Lucky me.
I am just happy to be here, and I hope to be around for a long time to come.
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