So Many Dates to Remember

September 13 – My last chemotherapy!! I can’t seem to find words that appropriately convey my joy in knowing I will be finished with chemo on September 13. It has been a long and sometimes difficult journey since I started on June 5. Overall, I have tolerated the drugs fairly well, but I have noticed that my body is starting to show signs from the harsh chemotherapy drugs. My eyes are a bit sunken and are surrounded by brown circles. I could write about the changes to my body for three or four paragraphs, but I won’t dwell on them because I want to focus on the positives. I am still an extremely healthy chemo patient and I want to stay that way.

September 13 is also an important date because in addition to the last chemo, I will also visit with my surgeon for the pre-op appointment. I met with Dr Connor when I was initially diagnosed and she was in agreement with Dr Sharma that I should wait until after chemo to have my surgery. Anyway, I will have more information about the surgery – I am anxious to learn details about the surgery.

September 23 – Goodbye Bad-Behaving Breasts Party. Mark your calendars now for Sunday, September 23, to celebrate the end of chemo and the transition to the next phase of this journey. It has been my goal to embrace life and not let cancer take the fun out of it. This party is to do just that – to tell cancer that you can not take the joy out of my life!! I also want to do something special for all of my friends and family who are also battling this disease. I am not sure what that will be, but I want to honor others – survivors, those enduring treatment now, and those who have lost their lives to cancer. So, please come with the idea of celebrating, not just to say goodbye to my ta ta’s, but also to celebrate the lives of our special family and friends. It just seems to me that too many people are battling cancer…..

October 2 – Surgery Day at KU Med. I don’t know too many details about the surgery at this time, but I do know that I will have the sentinel node biopsy to check the status of lymph nodes during the bilateral mastectomy. If all goes well, I won’t have too many nodes removed – or none at all – and I won’t have to have radiation after surgery. Of course, all of that will be dependent on what is found during surgery.

Love to all,
Mary Kay