Delayed Update

I have been trying to log onto this blogspot server for a WEEK to give updates, but the stupid google server was down. This is the first time my ever trusty Google let me down.

I finished Chemo on May 16. My last Taxol was very taxing. I never felt any nausea from the weekly Taxol until the 12th infusion. I ended up going home early from work on Tuesday and crashed in bed for 3 hours. I didn't even have energy to go running last week & I barely do most days this week. Good things are that Chemo did its job & I will never have to feel this fatigued again unless I get the flu.

Good News: I am growing hair. I am like a chia pet, but so far its all party in the back & business up front. Yes, I am growing a mullet. No, I will not post a picture of it on the internet. Its ugly, but I gave up my scarves in my house & I have been walking around with my Chia-Pet Mullet rocking out to some white-trash 80s rock.

Bad News: I have lost a total of 7 toenails. They have all grown back, but I can't wear flip flops until at least the two purple/brown toes grow out. I know gross. I could always just paint those two & start a new trend. That's something to think about. I also have had my thumbnails lift off the beds & according to TRUSTY Google & Wiki its a fungus. EW, I know gross. I have been soaking my thumbs in Hydrogen Peroxide. I apparently have to do this for 5days & then apply Tea Tree Oil. Isn't Chemo wonderful? Its truly a gift that keeps on Giving. In the meantime, I am paining my crusty fingernails & keeping them clean.

I saw my oncology-surgeon for my 6month follow-up this past Tuesday. All looks good & I will see her in a year. For breast cancer patients whom have had a mastectomy they do not do regular scans. They do signs of symptoms and then scans. They try not to do scans, because the radiation is more harmful & the scans won't detect small signs of cancer only signs where symptoms would be present. I will get MRIs every 3years, but nothing like a PET/CT scan unless I feel like I have any symptoms. My oncologist plans on doing blood work for tumor markers, but for breast cancer the tumor markers are very vague and not accurate. I really just have to stay aware of my body for symptoms & take very good care of myself to prevent Mets.

Today is my last day of work for a month. I have my exchange surgery next week. I have been walking around with rock-hard tissue expanders long enough & I am sick of my clothes not fitting right. I cannot wait for FOOBs. This is a good surgery. Tomorrow, I go to NYC to get my pre-surgical blood drawn to get my counts tested. I can finally see the light at the end of the tunnel.

I start Tamoxifen on June 7th. Tamoxifen is the Selective Estrogen Reuptake Modulator that will "scoop" up any extra estrogen in my body. Tamoxifen and Surgery are the MOST effective treatments for my type of breast cancer for premenopausal women. My cancer was hormone receptive positive (95% estrogen & 10% progesterone). I will be on Tamoxifen for 5 years. I am actually looking forward to starting that, because then all I have left is to do radiation, which is supposedly easy & is just an "extra" insurance policy. I do not know much about radiation at this point, but I will on June 10th when I have my planning session with my radiation oncologist.

I have been feeling pretty down on myself, because I am finally fatigued and have had energy to either lift weights or sit on my butt. I haven't had much energy to run, but I am hoping that since I gave my legs some rest, I will be out running this weekend just in time to get myself pumped for surgery. Also, although I have been tired and lazy due to last-chemo fatigued. I do have to say that I am pretty impressed with myself. I started chemo on January 3, 2011 and ended on May 16, 2011. In that time, I exercised 97 times. In those 97 times, 49 of them included running 20min-70min. (BTW before anyone thinks I am crazy, I record my workouts to note progress & to plan my gym/workout time) I know, amazing.