I AM DONE!

Well, I had my last Herceptin treatment December 20th and had my port taken out on the 30th. I am officially FINISHED with breast cancer. I don't go to the oncologist again until May. No more blood draws every 3 weeks, no more treatments, no more poking, prodding, or crazy side effects! I almost feel like something is missing I've gotten so used to all this stuff. Hopefully, in a couple of months, everything will be mostly back to normal. The side effects of chemotherapy can last up to 2 years after treatment is completed. My next treatment would have fallen next Monday if I had another one, so I am figuring to be pretty out of sorts most of next week. Your body actually goes through some type of withdrawal when you don't get your treatments, especially the hormone treatments I've been taking. Hopefully, we will all survive next week (say big prayers for Luke and Jeremy). I can get pretty moody and emotional when I'm having withdrawal symptoms. Anyway, I'm thrilled to be through and optimistic that I won't ever have to deal with anything like this again! I will never be able to thank everyone who has prayed for me, called, written, and encouraged me. Your love and support have amazed me.

Apparently I'm only pretty with lots of effort!

Well, men are as predictable as ever! (Sorry guys.) I went back into the Sherwin Williams store to pick up my paint after getting myself dressed and made up for the day. I had barely stepped in the door before the same guy that couldn't wait to brush me off earlier hollered from the back of the store, "Can I help you?" He obviously didn't recognize me because I told him who I was and why I was there, and he couldn't believe I was the same person. His eyes actually widened a little, and he made a face before he caught himself (one if those surprised, I can't believe it faces). Once again, I'm no beauty, but apparently make up makes an enormous difference!

Am I pretty?

Just FYI, this has absolutely nothing to do with cancer. It is an observation I made and thought was interesting, so I am sharing!

Last week, I went into Sherwin Williams to buy some paint to redo Luke's old playroom into my new office (YEAH!). Anyway, at the time I originally went into the store, I had just left the house and was as decked out as I get. Not that I'm a stunner or anything, but I was dressed nice, had on make-up, and my hair was as good as it currently gets. Anyway, the guy in the store was very friendly, attentive, and even gave me a contractor discount on my paint. He was not inappropriate in any way, but he did go above and beyond as far as I'm concerned. Fast forward to today. I went back to Sherwin Williams after dropping Luke off at school. This time, I was coming back home to work on the house so I was wearing old clothes, no make up, and a hat. I was the only person in the store. I needed them to darken up some paint I bought last week because it was too light. The guy took one look at me and told me they would work on it and give me a call later. I asked how long it would be (again, I'm the ONLY person in the store). He kind've sighed and said, "Well, if we stay slow like this, it probably won't be long. Just leave your number and we'll call you." They weren't rude per se, but come on, I'm the only one in the store. You can't just go ahead and get to work on it, and then if you get busy tell me to come back later. Seriously! So, now I'm curious. When I go back to Sherwin Williams later today to pick up my paint, you can bet I'm going to be looking a lot better than when I went in. Once again, I'm no beauty, but apparently a little make up makes a HUGE difference in how I look. I'm just going to conduct a little experiment and see if how I look makes a difference in how they treat me. Unfortunately, I'm willing to bet it does. I'll keep you posted on how it goes. Maybe I should become an investigative journalist...

Pink Ribbons

So, October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. This means there are pink ribbons EVERYWHERE! There are pink ribbons on the cereal, the toilet paper, tape dispensers, plastic bags. You name it, there are pink ribbons on it. As a survivor, sometimes I find this somewhat uncomfortable at times. When I go to the store to buy things for the house, I do not want to be reminded every 10 seconds about breast cancer. It's kind've like getting punched in the stomach repeatedly. Yet at other times, I almost find the ribbons comforting. What can I say, I'm a complicated person. For instance, I have a pink ribbon bracelet that I like to wear. It does not bother me at all...I wear it as kind've a badge of honor; however, when I buy toilet paper, it drives me crazy that it has pink ribbons on it. This probably is not making any sense. That's alright, I seldom really make any sense anyway. I'm glad there is a Breast Cancer Awareness Month and so many products help raise money for breast cancer research. I just wish I didn't have it shoved down my throat repeatedly for an entire month. The fact that I was diagnosed during October doesn't help things either. This month has been really hard on me so far. I'm so thankful to be alive and healthy today, but I can't help flashing back to everything I was feeling last year this time. I've posted it before, and I will probably post it again. Each time I get discouraged or feel anxious (which is a lot lately), I can find comfort in this..."Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out His love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom He has given us." Romans 5:3-5.

P.S. It has not escaped me that my background for my blog is covered in pink ribbons. Like I said, I'm a complicated person!

Kidney Stone

Yeah, seriously...I had a kidney stone last week. Apparently, chemotherapy can cause kidney stones. No one ever told me this. I was none to happy about it. In fact, I was downright ticked off! I did not have a pity party when I found out I had cancer, but the kidney stone almost through me over the edge. I definitely sank into one of those why me, it's not fair, what's next moments for a little while. I think I'm better now, but the whole thing still really ticks me off. Anyway, hopefully it was just the 1 stone. And, in case your curious, it is as painful as child labor. It was awful, I never want to do it again, and I'm glad they make really good pain drugs.

Hair!

As promised, here is a picture of my hair. It is somewhat darker than it was before, and is starting to get curly in the back. I have a terrible feeling it's going to be a nightmare to do anything with in another few months because I apparently have cowlicks everywhere. We'll see...

Feelin' good!

Sorry it's been so long since I've posted. I'm trying to resume normal life and have been really busy lately. I'm feeling great in general; I'm almost back to normal. Other than running out of steam a little faster than I would have a year ago, I can pretty much do whatever I want. I'm exercising and doing some light weight lifting and having no trouble with that at all. My body is still in limbo, but that is to be expected. It can take 2 full years to get completely back to normal. I'm still in full menopause, but something seems to be kicking back into gear as I gained about 6 pounds over 1 weekend and can't lose it no matter what I do. My only guess is that some long-dormant hormone has started back up. That is incredibly irritating, but I'll get it off eventually. My hair is growing back in for those of you who don't see me regularly. I need to get a picture posted. Luke will start Kindergarten on the 19th, so we are gearing up for school. I can't believe he is starting school. It's been a crazy year for us to say the least. Anyway, that's the update for now. I'll try to be better about posting, but this blog probably has limited time left. Here's a picture of Jeremy and I in Times Square from our New York trip. If you don't know, Jeremy took me to New York the middle of June as a treat for finishing up the worst of the chemo.