uphill

It’s time to lose the 25+ lbs that packed on during radiation. Hence the weight loss ticker on the right. First step: accurate scale (done). Second step: athletic shoes.

recovery time

They say that the time that it takes to recover from chemo and rads is equal to the time that you were in treatment.  So, I was in treatment for May, June, July, Aug; recovering in September; and in treatment for October and November, so that’s 7 months.  So that would put me back at bouncy and recovered in June of 08.

So even though my “chemo ticker” says I’m 5 months post chemo, I’m almost 2 months post rads (nov 19 – dec 19, dec 19 – jan 19), so when I’m 10 months post chemo is when I’m expected to be fully recovered.  So that makes me feel a little better, because frankly, I’m still in PJs by 8 pm ea. night. (Exciting life right?  Except that, tooth travails aside, I’m feeling pretty good, and just relishing in the fact that I’m not being poisoned!)

nablopomo #28

Feeling much better today.  Almost made it through a whole work day before I hit that pain wall.  It was so nice to have a near-normal day.  And there are rumors of snow!

Mack truck, revisited

On these dark days, when I wake up all ready to start my day, laying there in bed coming up with the list of things I’d love to do, I get excited and happy and then, well, then I make the mistake of trying to move. As in, roll over so that I can get out of bed. At which point I begin cursing, vehemently: “Holy f&*# that hurts, what happened?” And yes, it all comes flooding back: I had cancer, I don’t have a boob, and on top of that I had radiation treatments and my skin is burned to shit. And why is my head so damn cold? Because it’s winter, and that’s right, I lost most of my hair and it’s back but only an inch long. So it’s cold. Well, it’s that kind of day. And on that kind of day, what cheers me up? This. Laughed ’til I cried. Warnings for those who don’t appreciate the obscenities that come with dark humor.

radiation burns

….hurt like all get out. Drinking tons of water, eating protein, and sleeping. And taking painkillers. The photo on the left is of my clavicle, at the base of my neck. The photo below (click on the “keep reading” button, this one is not for the squeamish) is of my axilla, which is a fancy name for armpit.

rads grad

Officially all done! What a long haul its been. March 13 – Nov 19. Three surgeries, 8 rounds of chemo, 28 rounds of rads. And so much support from family, friends, colleagues and of course, all the medical staff support. I feel blessed.

Today I am specifically so grateful for this amazing product called second skin – it soothed that burnt, blistered raw skin in seconds.

Stomp stomp

One more rads to go!  The skin under my arm has officially blistered.  Ow.  And it’s dark here.  Every lamp in the house on, all day long.  Enough to make one really grumpy.  Woke up this morning thinking about Santa Fe, and Hawaii.  Wonder if there are any cancer retreats there?  Hmmm…..

So glad that H. & T. are coming over for dinner!  We have yummy treats planned.  So I only have another hour or so to stomp around to banish the bad mood.  I can only stomp so long before I just start laughing at myself, which lifts the mood, which is the whole point of stomping.

nablopomo #16

Sorry folks, posting for the sake of posting. Spent the week writing for work – got it all in by the skin of my teeth. Wondering who planned real world deadlines in the last week of rads BTW?! What’s up with that? Was that me?

two more radiation treatments to go!

26 down, friday and monday to go.  So far, just a sunburned neck and underarm.  Never had burned the latter before.  Of course, it’s not just superficial, right?  Not like sunscreen will help it, or lidocaine spray – it’s not just a surface sort of burn.  It goes a little deeper.  Yep, ouch.

Plus fatigue, in a way that is a so-tired-I-can’t-track-a-television-show-between-commercials sort of tired.

But at this point?  I don’t care, because I’m almost DONE.  This thing that “too will pass” is passing.  I more than likely won’t remember much of this time at all in the scale of things, except for the good things I hope!  Selective memory here I come…

How much does radiation (for breast cancer) cost?

My radiation oncology bills are starting to pour in, so it’s time for another personal finance post. To date, I’ve received bills for 11 out of 28 treatments. Here are the #s:

• $26,903 – the grand total my rads. onc. office billed