I'M DONE!!

January 31, 2012

I took down my white flag and finished radiation!  My radiation oncologist let me take a week off, thank GOD.  It was amazing that after the week off, my skin had healed a great deal and the final four treatments didn't make my skin any worse.  I am beyond thrilled that both chemo and radiation are behind me.

I still have the miracle drug (Herceptin) infusions every three weeks until July.  One caveat, though:  Herceptin is hard on the heart so my doctor does a heart ultrasound every three months.  I've had two echoes that were normal, but the last echo showed my numbers had dropped.  If they get any lower, I'll have to stop Herceptin.  Of course, this concerns me a great deal, but I'm just going to believe that my next echo will be fine.  The doctor is ordering another echo in two months, rather than in three.  That makes me feel so much better!

Here are some new pictures of my guy, Charlie.  He's five months old now and is the sweetest little guy in the world.

And here is a picture of how much my hair has grown.  It's grown even more since I took this picture!  It's so fun to watch it come in because it's coming back really FAST!!  Just a few months ago I was almost completely bald. There's never a dull moment and as they say ... cancer is the gift that keeps on giving!

ouch, Ouch, OUCH!

January 15
OK ... I'm waving my white flag.  Enough.  Radiation is brutal and although I've had 20 treatments and 1 boost, I think I'm refusing the final 4 boosts.  I have open sores now.  Yuck.  They hurt and the thought of adding more pain on top of this pain is just too overwhelming.  There's something to be said about quality of life and right now, the quality of my life isn't that great.  I'm just not going to take it anymore!!!

I had a great Christmas and I hope all of you did as well.  The radiation drags you down, so I didn't have as much energy as I usually do and that part was a bummer, but still, I enjoyed most of it.  Here are some pictures from December:

My granddaughters, Sophia and Charlotte, on Christmas Eve.  I can't believe how tall Sophia is and she's only two years older than Charlotte!  She looks almost like a pre-teen!  Love these precious girls.

Walt had been crying because he couldn't have a candy cane.  Now he has his candy cane!

My guy, Charlie, is dreaming about asking a question.  Haha!

Clark went in the bathroom and came back with the toilet paper roll shaped like a heart.  It was his way of telling me that he loves me!  We laughed and laughed and laughed.  He's so creative!

All the stockings were hung by the chimney with care ... (and yes, I needlepointed all but three of them.  My mother needlepointed Jason's, Ryan's, and Emily's.)