Tag: exercise

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September & October Doctor’s Appointments

I have had several doctor’s appointments over the last two months, seeing my oncologist twice, my surgeon, and having my annual mammogram done.

On Monday, September 12th, I had my monthly oncologist appointment to chat with my doctor, check my blood, and get my Faslodex injections. As far as my bloodwork is concerned, it is a little better. My white blood cell count went up a little bit from last month, so my ANC went up as well, which is good. My PA explained that my white blood cell count, red blood cell count, and ANC levels would go up and down from month to month, but it is normal, and as long as I am not too far off from a normal range, there is no reason to worry.

Friday, September 16th: I had my annual mammogram appointment. This appointment is made along with my annual check-up with my surgeon, so he orders the mammogram and then follows up to do my annual exam and go over my results. My mammogram appointments are not routine, mainly because of the scar tissue I have from my surgeries. As usual, they had to do extra imaging, but at least this time, I didn’t have to go through an ultrasound as well as a mammogram. The hospital has a 3D mammogram machine now so that they can get amazingly clear images. The tech I had was the same one I saw back in 2019, and she was very open about showing me the side-by-side pictures from 2019 and now. It was both sad and a relief to see the comparison because my tumors were very easy to see in 2019, just as it is easy to see that there is nothing in my imaging now to be concerned about. My appointment took 3 hours; as I said, not routine, but when I leave, I had my results in my hand, which was a relief because I didn’t have to wait until the following week when I saw my surgeon. All of my imaging was clear, with no sign of cancer.

Wednesday, September 21st: I went to see my surgeon for my annual check-up and to discuss my mammogram results. As soon as he walked into the exam room, he asked me about having a biopsy done on one of the ribs on my back, so I explained the imaging I had that led up to my getting the biopsy. Once we discussed what I had been through since I last saw him in February, he went through my annual exam. He said that I might have some slight capsular contracture developing in both breasts. I was alarmed by this news, but at this time, I am not overly concerned as I am not in any pain, and I can’t physically feel anything myself. But my surgeon is the expert. So if he feels something, then I believe him; he certainly knows better than I do. He mentioned a few times that I don’t have to limit my visits to once a year, so I agreed and said I would feel better if he kept a closer eye on things, so we decided to do a checkup every six months. I love that my surgeon genuinely cares about his patients and that I can fully trust him.

My oncologist appointment on October 11th was pretty routine. My white blood cell count dropped by .1, but again, it will fluctuate a little from month to month, so there is no reason to be worried. This time my Faslodex injection on the right side hurt for days. I do have some discomfort, usually in the evening after I have had my injections, but this time the pain lasted for days. I can’t explain why it hurt so much this time, but I am sure the thickness of the medicine is part of it. Unfortunately, I now dread the injection part of my appointments, but I must have them because the treatment will help keep my cancer from spreading more than it already has.

I’m sorry for the late update. I have been struggling with several things but mainly with depression. I might write about it in the future, but for now, I need to keep the details to myself. All I can say is that having stage 4 cancer is hard, especially mentally and emotionally. People compliment me on how good I look, and I appreciate that because I try my best not to look as ill as I feel on any given day. On the bad days, I stay at home because I can’t face people, and on the good days, especially days when I have little to no fatigue, I get out of the house or do a workout; anything I can do to take advantage of feeling better on that particular day.

Take care and remember, tomorrow is never promised, so live your life as best as you can. Be kind to people, treat people the way you want to be treated, and don’t judge people; you have no idea what someone else is going through, so always be kind and keep hate out of your heart. 💕

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Oncologist Appointment on Monday, August 15th

So a few days ago, I had my monthly oncologist appointment to chat with my doctor, have my blood checked, and get my Faslodex injections. I know that my doctor worries when his patients lose weight, so I was quick to tell him that my hubby and I have been doing Keto for the last three weeks. He was both happy and relieved to hear the news because it explained my 7lb loss since my appointment a month ago. Overall I am feeling much better, and a lot of it is thanks to Keto. Eating fresh food 95% of the time has made a big difference in my well-being. It takes a lot of planning, and it has easily doubled our grocery bill, but we are not eating out, so the cost increase is really only due to the ridiculous price of food.

I have been posting pictures and recipes on our Facebook page, M&M Bistro Recipies, for a few years, and now I am adding some of the Keto recipes we have recently discovered as we change our lifestyle to a healthier way of eating.

As far as my bloodwork is concerned, it is a little worse. My white blood cell count dropped a little more from last month, so my ANC dropped as well to 1.3, and it should be at 1.5 or higher. There is no need for significant concern at this time, but if it continues to drop, I may have to change to the weaker dose of iBrance, which would be from 100mg to 75mg. There isn’t anything I can do to help my white blood cell count rise, so we will wait and see where it is in September and go from there. My red blood cell count is lower, but that only affects my energy level, which has not been the best but is improving thanks to eating healthier.

I have had quite a few people reach out to me recently to ask me questions about my experience over the last 3 1/2 years concerning going through breast cancer, being cancer-free, and then having cancer return. I am always open to helping others through such a difficult and confusing time as it can be with a breast cancer diagnosis. With that said, please do not hesitate to contact me, and as always, thank you for being here.

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Three Month Follow-up with My Oncologist

Today I had my three-month follow-up appointment with my oncologist. As usual, we spoke about how I am doing on Anastrozole. I am continuing to do well with no major side effects. I still have eight years and ten months to go, but all should continue to go well as time passes by.

He also wanted an update on how I am doing since my last surgery, which was a month ago today. I told him that I am very happy with my results and that I have healed well with very little pain. He said that he finds that surgeons often don’t prepare their patients concerning the pain they will experience after surgery and how long it can go on. I agreed that realistic expectations aren’t discussed, and for me, that was hard because in April 2019, when my cancer was removed was the first surgery I have ever had in my life. Yes, I knew there would be a pain, but I would have never guessed at just how long after surgery I would still have pain here and there.

My blood work was done today as well, and my red blood cell count is still a little low. We are thinking that moving forward; my count will be a little low; it’s where my system has settled after everything I have gone through, and I am OK with that as long as I continue to stay healthy.

I am just about to reach my second significant milestone with my oncologist. I will have one more follow-up appointment in three months, and then I am graduating to the six-month plan, which signifies my being two years out from when I started chemotherapy with no recurrence. Over the next three years, I will see him every six months until I get to the five-year goal of being cancer-free. He was happy to tell me that I am still cancer-free and doing well! I am beyond grateful and happy! 🙂 💕

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My 5th Surgery: Follow-up Appointment with My Surgeon **WARNING: GRAPHIC SURGERY PHOTOS**

Yesterday, I had my first follow-up appointment with my surgeon. Once the tech was done with my blood pressure check and updating my information, she removed my bandage. She apologized at one point because she was pulling on the bandage a little harder because the gauze was sticking to it. I assured her that she wasn’t hurting me because I was still numb under my arm from my first surgery almost two years ago. I asked her how the incision looked, and she said that everything looked good. She then told me that my surgeon would be in soon to see me and left the room.

A few minutes later, my surgeon walked in. I turned to look at him and noticed that he had a winter coat on. I had been sitting there with half of my paper top on burning up because the heat was on. I laughed and said, “You do know that it is 73 degrees outside, right?”; He smiled and said that for some reason, he is always cold when he is in the office.

I have a ton of steri-strips, about 30, and my incision is about 9 inches long. This is my most extended scar so far, but because of how my surgeon combines internal stitches with steri-strips for healing, my scar will be minimal, and it will become less noticeable with time. The scar on my chest’s right side from the first reconstruction surgery is barely noticeable 17 months later, so I am sure this scar will be the same.

I know it looks gnarly, but I am not in much pain at all.

Once we were done talking about this recent surgery, he said that this should be my last surgery. He is confident that I will be fine from here on out and that I will not require any further surgeries. The only way I would need surgery in the future would be if I develop Capsular Contracture. We are both aware from previous conversations that I could develop that particular complication because I went through many radiation treatments and I have implants. I will need to stay mindful of any changes that I am noticing and let him know. The only way to fix Capsular Contracture is to go back into surgery and have my breast implants replaced, so hopefully, I will never have to deal with that.

I asked him if I can start walking on my treadmill. I told him that I had finally fought off the fatigue plaguing me for over a year and that I was getting back to working out again before this last surgery. He said, “so you are itching to get back on,” to which I replied, “yes, I have been since the day of my surgery!” He said that I could walk on my treadmill, but I can’t swing my arms; I need to keep them at my sides, and I can’t do anything too strenuous. I need to keep resting and healing over the next two weeks, and then I should be released from any restrictions once the steri-strips are removed during my next appointment. I told him that my goal is to lose another 20 lbs or so, and he said that it would be ideal for me to do that as it is essential to keep my body mass low considering the type of cancer I had. Estrogen-fed breast cancer thrives when a patient’s BMI is too high, and mine is too high because I am about 20 lbs overweight. So the best thing I can do for myself to keep from having a recurrence of my cancer is to continue exercising, watch my portions, and what I am eating to get to an ideal weight and BMI.

To end my appointment, I thanked him for doing this last surgery. I let him know that I could feel the difference later on, on the day of my surgery, that the area was gone, my chest looks much better, and that I felt much better. I said, “First, you saved my life, and now you are helping me improve my life. I will never be able to thank you enough.” He looked down and away from me when I said that to him, with an almost bashful look. His reaction at first surprised me, but then it didn’t because his genuine reaction reminded me of why I am so grateful that he is my doctor and how lucky I am that he has been by my side from the beginning. He does not have a big ego like some surgeons; he is passionate about his work, humble and caring, and it shows.

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My 5th Surgery: Recovery **WARNING: GRAPHIC SURGERY PHOTOS**

When my husband arrived at the post-op area, I asked him to see if I had any drains coming from the surgery site. I was pretty sure that I didn’t have any, but I wanted to know for sure. I completely understand the need for them, but drains are the worst! I have had two surgeries where I had drains; both of the surgeries required two drains, and they make recovering from surgery that much more challenging. They have to be emptied twice a day, and it seems like they are always in the way of anything I might be trying to do. Plus, for me anyway, there is a constant feeling of the drains pulling on my skin; it is a weird, uncomfortable, and sometimes painful sensation.

Once I was dressed and ready to leave the surgery center, my husband and I stopped by the pharmacy to pick up my medication. This time around, my surgeon did not prescribe an antibiotic, only Oxycodone for pain and Promethazine for nausea. I called my Dad while hubby was in the pharmacy, and I don’t remember much of the conversation other than him telling me that I sounded out of it, and I was, but I didn’t think I was that bad, or I wouldn’t have called myself. When hubby got back to the car with my medication, I wasn’t sure if I wanted to eat yet, so we decided to go home and get something later once I was a little more coherent.

After we got home and I was feeling a little more awake, I went to the bathroom to look at my bandages. I was surprised to see one long bandage and nothing else. Wow!! Is my incision that long? I have a bruise peeking out from about the middle of the bottom of the bandage, but the pain is minimal, as I am still numb under my arm from my first surgery back in April 2019.

My recovery has been up and down over the last few days, which I know is normal after any surgery. The first two days after surgery are usually the hardest, and then it usually gets more manageable. I slept a lot the first few days, a real sign that my body is working hard to heal from the recent trauma of surgery. I had a ton of muscle spasms in my back during the first few days after surgery, and I am still having them now, but they have eased off quite a bit. I am assuming that they are because my incision is not isolated to my chest this time. I have also had a lot of nausea almost every evening after dinner. My husband says that I have had nausea after every surgery, but I don’t remember having it after more than a few days. I have an excellent nausea med to take that works pretty fast, but still, I would like it to go away sooner rather than later. Yesterday I felt good, and I was hoping it would carry into today, but it didn’t. Today I have been feeling tired and just off; I really don’t have a good way to describe it.

I am starting to itch under my bandage, which I know is a good sign that I am healing, but I am also starting to have pain in a few spots. The pain is not so bad that I have to take anything more than Extra Strength Tylenol, which is good because I stopped taking the Oxycodone every six hours, a few days after surgery. I try to stop taking Oxycodone as soon as possible because it scares me. I am only taking it once a day now, usually before bed, and I hope to stop taking it very soon.

I also have the bottom part of my bandage lifting away from my skin, so I know my surgeon will remove it tomorrow during my follow-up appointment, and hopefully, he will not replace it. My husband took a peek under my bandage before he pushed it back down onto my skin, and he said that I have a lot of steri-strips and some stitches along my incision. If the bandage isn’t replaced, I will finally be able to take a shower, and that will definitely help me feel better. The last shower I took was last Thursday morning, right before I went to the surgery center. I can’t get my bandage wet, but I can use a washcloth and soap, so I have been doing that, but it isn’t the same as taking a nice hot shower. Today I couldn’t stand my dirty hair any longer, so my husband washed my hair in the kitchen sink. He has never washed my hair before, not once in the almost 21 years we have been together, but, at least during my breast cancer journey, this is the first time I have had enough hair to get dirty every few days since I started having surgeries in April 2019.

I will update again soon with pictures once my bandage is off and with the details of my follow-up appointment with my surgeon.

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Getting Back To Me

Cancer takes so much away from both patients and caregivers. A little over a month after my diagnosis, I had the first major surgery I have ever had in my life, and during that surgery, cancer took a portion of my left breast away from me. Once I started chemotherapy, little by little, the drugs and cancer began to take even more from me. Cancer took all of my hair, some of my toenails, it dried out my skin, it aged my face and body, it took my confidence, energy, health, and my overall well-being both mentally and physically.

When I heard from other cancer patients that it could take a year to two years to recover from fighting cancer, I didn’t believe them. Before cancer, I always thought that I was strong and doing reasonably well health-wise, other than having type two diabetes. I lost over 100 pounds a few years ago, and I had even discovered in October of 2018 that I was starting to enjoy running.

I am often asked if I had any signs that I had cancer before I found the first tumor during a self-exam in February 2019. Looking back, I did have symptoms, but I didn’t know it at the time. About one week before Christmas in 2018, I started a run, and five minutes in, I was out of breath and extremely fatigued. I was bothered that I couldn’t continue, but I just assumed that I was coming down with a bug or something, so I wrote it off and promised myself that I would get back to running as soon as I felt the energy to do so. When my husband and I went home to see my Dad for Christmas, I noticed that I felt even more exhausted than I had a few weeks earlier. It seemed like no matter how much sleep I got, it wasn’t enough, and the simplest task wore me out. Then a few weeks into January 2019, I woke up one day with my left shoulder blade, my shoulder, and the left side of my neck hurting. I thought that I had slept funny on that side and that it would work itself out in a few days; it didn’t stop hurting until I had my first surgery when all of the tumors were removed.

As I sit here two years after my breast cancer diagnosis, I am beyond thankful for so many things. Recently, I am most thankful for the fatigue I have been suffering from for so long, finally subsiding and helping me get back to me. I never really knew what real fatigue felt like until I had aggressive cancer and had to go through a rigorous schedule of scans, blood draws, surgeries, chemotherapy, and radiation treatments to save my life. But now, I am getting back to a regular schedule when it comes to working out, and with each workout, I feel better and better. Last night I ran 1.50 miles in 20 minutes, not bad for someone who has been through so much and hasn’t gone on a run in over 25 months! I am proud of myself and I am really enjoying working out again.

I am getting back to me, day by day…. 😁

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