I am happy to say that there isn’t a lot that is physically changing right now. Taxol treatment #4 is done and I am 1/3 of the way there. In the last week I was able to meet the breast surgeon and my oncologist and both are still happy with my progress.
Breast Surgeon Meeting– I love that all of my doctors are excited about my progress. She was super excited to see that the lump was pretty much gone. This means that I may be able to get a nipple sparing mastectomy. Things I never thought about before breast cancer….losing my nipple. Thanks to chemo, I might be able to keep them.
I have decided to do a double mastectomy. I thought hard about it, but I just want to ensure I don’t have to deal with this process again. It just seems like the easier and smarter way for me. Some people are very attached to their boobs, thankfully I am not one of those people. I want to rid my body of cancer and the chance that it could come back in either breast. I will do reconstructive surgery.
The plan is to have an MRI the last day of chemo (April 13). We will be able to confirm a few items before surgery. Surgery is best when it occurs 4-6 weeks after chemo. This allows my body to flush all of the chemo but fast enough that no cancer can start to grow back. She is looking at the week of May 18. I am hoping to convince her to move it up a week so I have a chance of making my friend’s wedding in DC at the end of May. We shall see. Either way, she was very excited about the progress.
Oncologist Meeting: This was a very fast appointment this morning. I meet with the oncologist or physician’s assistant every other week right now. She is happy with everything so far and thrilled I don’t have a lot of side effects. Even better, I was able to talk to her about her upcoming Iceland vacation. She is so excited and was asking for tips since I have been there. I love being able to provide tips and suggestions on travel.
Enjoying Normal Life
I am not quite back to my normal crazy social life, but I am working back towards it. I keep busy with friends, running (still training for a half marathon in April), Disney work, and just added a basement bathroom project. Here are a few fun shots of us taking out the wall to make it a 3/4 bath instead of a 1/2 bath. This just means I have more room for visitors. It is also a lot of fun to have enough energy to help with this. Big thanks to Em and CT for all of the help.
I am hoping and praying that my body continues to do well against Taxol. It is night and day between that and my AC treatments. The doctors think I will keep doing well until probably around week 8 of my Taxol treatments. Around week 8, the combination of the treatments may start to pile up and my body will finally just be sick of chemo. This was only week 4 so I have 4 more weeks to hopefully enjoy limited side effects.
As always, thanks for everyone’s support. I can always feel the love from everyone. Thank you!