Thank You Party

It's hard to believe that 10 months have passed since I was diagnosed with Breast Cancer.

I remember the doctor saying that the next year of my life was going to be taken up with all of the treatments....and here we are almost a year later.

Sean, Sydney and I would like to invite all of you to our Thank Your Party (I feel that Pink Party has somehow been Trademarked by Kim).

We would like to take the opportunity to thank everyone for their support. We couldn't have done it without you!

Since I was diagnosed on April 28th, we figured this would be the ideal date to have a party to celebrate! A special thanks to my sister-in-law, Stephanie, for allowing us to intrude on her birthday (she'll be 29 and holding)!

Please join us for an Open House on Saturday, April 28th (54 Sarah Crescent), starting at 3:00 p.m. Friends, family, children all welcome. But please leave your pets at home. Nicky, our cat, might have something to say about it!

You can arrive whenever it is convenient and stay as long as you like!

Please R.S.V.P. to us by e-mail (sandcjoselyn54@sympatico.ca) so we have an idea on numbers. If you're reading this, consider yourself invited!

On Saturday, April 28th I will become a 1 year cancer survivor. You all had a part in me reaching this goal....so please celebrate with us!

Love CJ

Done, Done & Done!

April 28th - diagnosed with Breast Cancer - bring on the treatments

June 1st - surgery - check

July 7th - December 18th - chemo - check

January 9th - February 20th - radiation - check

October 13th - October 5th - Herceptin infusions - ongoing

Tamoxifen for the next 5 years - ongoing

Done, done & done!

.....and I'm spent.

Love CJ

1 More to Go

Tuesday is my last power sunbathing appointment. I can't believe that 6 weeks has gone by so quickly.

The boosts have been going well. Pretty much the same as the other treatments, except the radiation is focused on the surgery site from 3 different angles.

I met with Dr. Perera on Friday so he could take a look at my skin. There are some areas that are starting to get mighty tender and downright painful. He gave me some antibiotic cream and some hydrocortisone cream to keep the itching at bay. Blistering may not be far off. Ouch!

As I expected, the skin will likely get worse before it gets better since the radiation will continue to work on the skin even after the treatments are over. The skin should calm down in about 3 weeks.

I have never been topless sunbathing, but I can tell you I have no future plans to after this experience!

Love CJ

Happy Valentine's Day!

Yesteday I finally made it back to yoga. Between appointments, sickness, etc. I haven't been able to make it in the last few weeks. I really missed it.

I was curious to find out how our classmate, Nancy was doing. Catherine, our yoga instructor, said that she passed away in mid-January.

Again, I didn't really know Nancy, but somehow at Wellspring you all become connected as cancer survivors. Nancy wasn't so lucky. I was disturbed to find out that Nancy originally had breast cancer and had been cancer free for years. In December she just thought she had pneumonia and the test results came back as terminal lung cancer. It was very sudden.

Even though I know that this cancer thing is serious, when I hear stories like this it really makes me think how lucky I am.

Now that the major treatments are coming to an end, it's time to do some life evaluation. Since my prognosis has always been good and everything has gone fairly smoothly, it's easy to put the seriousness of cancer out of my mind. But yesterday I realized that I'm going to have to deal with it some time.

On the bright side, today is Valentine's Day, I am happy and healthy, so let's make it a good day!

Enjoy everyone!

Love CJ

5 More to Go!

Today marked #25 of 30 power sunbathing treatments.

The last 5 are "boosts", which means that the radiation will only focus on the surgery site. This provides some additional "zapping" where the tumour used to be.

My skin is quite tender, so I will be happy when this is all over. However, the radiation will continue to do it's work even after the treatments have stopped. I am not sure how long after the radiation that I need to continue all of the special "rules" for taking care of my skin, but I will ask the doctor on Friday. Overall, things have gone quite smoothly.

Next are some weeks of rest to allow my body to recover from everything that it's been through. Right now I do tire very easily. I am hoping that the fatigue wears off over time. It is a bit frustrating, but I am trying to listen to my body when it tells me to slow down. Easier said than done though!

My next appointment with my oncologist is on March 30th. At that point we will discuss my plan to go back to work.

It's hard to believe that life will soon go back to some sense of normalcy.

Love CJ

What a Week!

Last week was a whirlwind and we are just getting back on our feet.

Sydney didn't go back to daycare until Friday. Her impetigo was pretty bad but she is doing well now. Thanks to Marilyn and Roland and Sean for taking care of Sydney on Wednesday & Thursday.

Mom moved on Wednesday & Thursday, which was exhausting. But her new apartment is shaping up nicely. Although I think I spent most of my energy on the phone with Bell Canada. Mom's phone didn't get hooked up as it should have on Thursday. Long story short she didn't have a phone until Monday at 11 am. Very frustrating!

I finally crashed on Sunday and had to spend the majority of the day in bed.

I have had 20 of 30 of my power sunbathing treatments. Only 10 more to go!

I also started on my Tamoxifen yesterday. So far, I haven't had too many side effects, although I think I am having more frequent hot flashes.

I was excited this morning when I woke up with bed head! I finally have enough hair for it to be messy in the morning. Although, all I had to do to straighten it was wet my hands and put it back into place. But it's a start.

I'm off to yoga now.

Love CJ