In the Meantime...

Will you please keep my sister Christie in your prayers? She decided to go through with the elective double mastectomy on June 18th. She just got home yesterday and is still in quite a bit of pain. She seems to really appreciate my daily calls to check in on her. I just wish I was there in person, but I will be soon enough. I fly out there (by myself) on July 9th and will be there to help out for a few days. I am really excited to see Christie, Mike, Andrew, and Abby! It's times like these that I really hate living so far away from my family. Hopefully one day we will be closer :)

Back to Boring

Since things with me have basically gotten back to normal,

I don't have much updating to blog about.

No news is good news!!

I did get my stitches out last Monday.

Luke went with me and was a very good boy, as usual :)

Dr. Schuster said he'll just do a complete exam (including an ultrasound)

in December...on my 2 year mark since my diagnosis.

I will post updates as they come along,

but I don't expect it to be very often (at least I hope!).

It feels great to be able to focus on my kids and husband again,

and to not have all of these dr's appts take priority.

Hair Update

One year since I finished chemo...

and the hair continues to grow!

Me and my "baby"

Warning!!! (Post contains photos that may be considered gross to some)

It's a boy!!

(that's what Dr. Schuster said when he pulled out my port!)

The appt. with Dr. Schuster went really well yesterday.

I didn't bleed to death (obviously)...like I had worried about :)

He numbed me up good and then started digging around inside there for a good 15-20 minutes before the port was pulled out. He said my body had formed a good "capsule" around the port...just demonstrating that my immune system is working well. That's the body's way of trying to fight the foreign body that was put inside it.

All in all, it was actually an enjoyable visit. Curt and I both really like Dr. Schuster a lot, so it was fun chit-chatting with him again. He wants me to go back in to see him in a week to get the stitches removed. He also said something about wanting to have everything checked out now that I'm all done w/treatments. I'm not sure what that all entails, but it's comforting to know that he is on top of things.

I also saw my cardiologist, Dr. Hernandez, on Thursday the 4th. He said the echocardiogram was normal. The heart valves appear normal...the heart is pumping w/in normal limits...etc. He wants me to come back in 2 months just to re-check to make sure all is well, and then I won't need to see him again :)

Port Date

I'm scheduled to have my port taken out on June 5th!! I am going to Dr. Schuster's office to have it removed so I am a bit nervous. They knocked me out when they put it in!! Of course, he'll numb me....BUT STILL! I don't really want to be awake for that...

Can I Get a WOOT WOOT?!!

I am one HAPPY girl!

This week, I saw both my plastic surgeon and my oncologist. I am happy to report that the surgeon doesn't need to see me for 5 MONTHS (I am finally all healed!! No more open wounds!). My oncologist said things look good and to follow up with blood work and a check-up in 4 MONTHS! That will also be when I get my next breast MRI. I asked him if I could just skip that last dose of Herceptin and he said it most likely wouldn't make a difference....so I AM DONE! I got my port flushed and will now be able to get my port taken out. I just need to call my general surgeon and get that set up. It feels so good to know that I really am done! It has been 1 year, 5 months, and 11 days since my diagnosis. It was hard to see that light at the end of the tunnel when I was going through surgeries, chemo, radiation, etc....but I knew that I would eventually get there. This is a great place to be and I just hope and pray that I can stay healthy for years to come :)

Cardiologist

I just got back from seeing the cardiologist, Dr. Hernandez, at the AZ Heart Institute. He was very nice and thorough (although a bit hard to understand). He said he doesn't think there's anything major going on with my heart, but just to be sure, I am having an echo cardiogram done on Tuesday. After the echo, they will hook me up to a cardiac event monitor, that I will carry around with me for 30 days. It will record fluctuations of my heart rate and I will also be able to push an alert button when I start to feel the palpitations or shortness of breath.

I will update after Tuesday's appt...