Last Chemo Treatment

Sorry you haven't heard from me for a while. It's been a real struggle getting through the last few treatments. My arm swelled up because of the lymph node removal surgery. I had to go to the doctor for that. The only thing I can do is wrap and exercise it.

My hair is growing back in patches. Some areas are around a half inch and others are still bald. I wish it was all back now. I had an appointment with the surgeon at the Clinic. Surgery is scheduled for Wednesday, Feb 28th. Once I've healed for 4-5 weeks I'll start the radiation treatment. The rad treatments are Mon-Fri for 6 weeks. I'm not nervous yet but I know I will be when the date gets closer. After I complete the rad treatments, around May, I'll begin the road to recovery. The only thing left will be the 3 week Herceptin treatments until November.

The surgeon wants me to complete the cancer treatment before going forward with any cosmetic and preventative surgery. This means that part of the surgery will wait until sometime next year. I was hoping to get all of this behind me this year but I understand that the most important thing is to treat the cancer before worrying about anything else. Next year I'll hopefully be a lot healthier.

I know it's been less than 3 weeks since my last treatment but I am starting to feel better. I know it's going to take some time for my system to rebuild itself. So, I try to not be discouraged that I'm still not strong enough to do much.

I have to say that I am afraid that the cancer will not stop after all I've been through. I read so many stories where the cancer is back in a year or after 9. I keep telling myself not to worry about the future and continue to pray that they get all the cancer this year. Thank God I have a good husband through all of this. He's with me at every appointment, takes care of me when I'm sick, and always tells me I'm going to be okay. I'm very lucky to have found someone that loves me as much as he does.