I shouldn't say boob-off as she will still have it. I guess they take like a larger version of a classic ice cream scoop and just scoop out all the tissue. The expander will go in and she will have to go back every week or so and have it filled more until it's the size she wants (no not bigger unfortunately ;) ). She will be in the hospital 1-2 nights depending on how she feels. I told her take the extra day if she wants to but of course she's thinking about Xander and doesn't want to come home ON his birthday. Isn't she a peach? Much like her head I guess but the hair is a bit longer and darker now.
Radiation will take place probably the end of August or first week in September. After that, well, not too sure but what we do now know thanks to her wonderful plastic surgeon is that the actual reconstruction will be a year to a year and a half from now. This news SUCKED!! I felt so bad for her. All we knew before this was her oncologist saying she should be all done by thanksgiving. We assumed all done ment ALL DONE. Talk about a bummer. She'll get used to the idea in time, just like her head and the hair loss.
Now it's a sit and wait kinda thing. We are going to try and do some stuff the next couple weekends to make up for her losing the rest of the summer. Chicago this weekend and next weekend we're still deciding on. We are throwing Xander a card shower for his birthday since she won't be up to celebrate. 18 cards so far! We are excited to be doing this for him. He's been amazing throughout this whole year. If you haven't heard about this and would like to send him a birthday card the address is 1706 Birchwood st. #6 Delavan WI 53115.
Sorry for not getting a post in for awhile. I'm sure with all the new things happening with the surgery and her being home for a month I will have more material to work with. Thinking I might get her a bell to ring when she needs something. That experience could be a post on it's own! Be well and stay safe! Until next time America. (Points to whomever can name who coined that phrase)
Thursday, July 17, 2014
Wednesday, June 25, 2014
End of Chaper One
Thursday this week is the LAST chemo treatment!! This part of her journey is over and she has come through with flying colors. We met with her surgical oncologist yesterday and after the examination she said she couldn't feel anything. NOTHING! She's not even going to bother with any scans. I heard this and immediately I'm thinking um, yes scans, scan her now please. I know the doctor knows what she's doing but I want conformation.
Anyways on to the fun part. Proceed with operation Information Overload. Let's start with radiation. I should preface this with saying I am going to tell you all I remember and understand. There are aspects that I don't quite get but I'll do my best. Radiation is standard practice and we knew that going in. However we were told that it is a likelihood and there is a possibility that she would not have to have it. This I clung onto like a scared kid and his favorite stuffed animal. Now IF she has radiation depends on clinical trials that she is eligible for. Normally, because she had two lymph nodes test positive, the whole lymph node structure in her armpit would be removed. Now this has a 30% chance of leaving her with Lymphedema. That's like 1 in 3.
Now the clinical trials are trying to prove that you don't have to take the whole thing and can just take out those nodes that positive. If she chooses the trial she has a 75% chance of not...hold on. Still trying to figure this out. Here...this is what Becca says about it. "Now, with this clinical trial, I might not have to have that risk. See, they'd test the nodes during surgery and whether they turned out positive for cancer or not would throw me into a whole randomized flow chart of possible treatments, 75% of which do not include this part of the surgery. One of which doesn't even include radiation." FUN!
Oh I forgot to mention that because it's a clinical trial everything has to be done in controlled environment including all equipment. Which means it would have to be done at authorized facilities. All of which are at least 40 minutes away. Now for the best part. If radiation is necessary it would have to be done, as part of the trial, most likely at Froederdt, EVERY WEEKDAY FOR FIVE WEEKS. That's about 750.00 in gas and about 2500 miles put on the car. If she chooses not to be in the trial she still has to go to Froederdt however AND she's back to the 1 out of 3. We thought this part after chemo would be easy. HA!
We will be talking it over this week and let the oncologist know next week. Lots to process. With that being said Becca's hair is coming back fast! It's good to see. All the docs have been saying she is the poster child for cancer treatment. I'll add a photo if she'll let me. Thanks for reading and keeping up with our journey. All the thoughts and well wishes, all the words of encouragement and financial support has been fantastic. Remember to tell everyone you know about the fundraiser. We could not get through this without each and every one of you.
Thursday, June 12, 2014
I Married An Idiot pt.2
Yup it's worse. Chemo does some really weird things to the brain. She's so frustrated not being able to come up with words like she used to. Does make for some interesting conversations. Most of the time sit back and let her stumble around in her head thinking of the word she wants to say cause...funny. She used to be very intelligent and she still is deep down. Just being suppressed I imagine. She'll be back. Today she's getting her 10th treatment which means only 2 left after today. End is in sight! We have an appointment with the doc over at Froederdt on the 24th to go over where we go from here and whether or not radiation is needed.
Her hair is coming back as well as her eye lashes. It's a nice reminder that this part is almost over. Hot flashes are a pain and she's not sleeping as well as she should be because of them. Afraid it might be like that for the foreseeable future because of the early onset menopause that she's been sent into. Blood pressure is another issue. She's always run low with that but chemo sends it even lower. To combat that she's drinking a ton of water a day. When she doesn't get enough she acts like she's in slow motion or drugged. Now that with her mental faculties impaired is like trying to converse with a 5 year old who just woke up.
She's the one who has to go through all this. Xander and I have ring side seats. She's doing this to stay with us and wants us to do the same just in another way. How do you say no to that? Therefore we have begun eating better. No refined sugars. No white flour. Lots of fresh stuff. you know...no fun :) It hasn't been all bad. She's been finding some really good recipes. And we now have a couple planter boxes with 4 different herbs growing. Whatever we have to do to stay together I'm good with it. But whole wheat toast with my eggs?? Nope.
We now know how much we owe for the year and won't be charged anymore. The fundraiser has stalled and I'm not sure how to proceed. We want to pay the bills in full and the hospitals have been good for now excepting what we can give. All in all we are still about 12,000 short which causes me to stress at times. I just keep reminding myself that you do what we can and if they get pushy they won't get a dime. Been bankrupt before we can get though it again if we have to. I imagine what would have happened if we didn't have insurance. We had thought about taking a year off because the premiums were so high this time. Glad we didn't.
As always much love to you all. Share the fundraiser. Still looking for that one person out there that has the resources to put an end to it all. I can tell you this. If we are ever in a position to help someone else, believe me, we will be doing just that.
Her hair is coming back as well as her eye lashes. It's a nice reminder that this part is almost over. Hot flashes are a pain and she's not sleeping as well as she should be because of them. Afraid it might be like that for the foreseeable future because of the early onset menopause that she's been sent into. Blood pressure is another issue. She's always run low with that but chemo sends it even lower. To combat that she's drinking a ton of water a day. When she doesn't get enough she acts like she's in slow motion or drugged. Now that with her mental faculties impaired is like trying to converse with a 5 year old who just woke up.
She's the one who has to go through all this. Xander and I have ring side seats. She's doing this to stay with us and wants us to do the same just in another way. How do you say no to that? Therefore we have begun eating better. No refined sugars. No white flour. Lots of fresh stuff. you know...no fun :) It hasn't been all bad. She's been finding some really good recipes. And we now have a couple planter boxes with 4 different herbs growing. Whatever we have to do to stay together I'm good with it. But whole wheat toast with my eggs?? Nope.
We now know how much we owe for the year and won't be charged anymore. The fundraiser has stalled and I'm not sure how to proceed. We want to pay the bills in full and the hospitals have been good for now excepting what we can give. All in all we are still about 12,000 short which causes me to stress at times. I just keep reminding myself that you do what we can and if they get pushy they won't get a dime. Been bankrupt before we can get though it again if we have to. I imagine what would have happened if we didn't have insurance. We had thought about taking a year off because the premiums were so high this time. Glad we didn't.
As always much love to you all. Share the fundraiser. Still looking for that one person out there that has the resources to put an end to it all. I can tell you this. If we are ever in a position to help someone else, believe me, we will be doing just that.
Thursday, May 29, 2014
Super small post
So since February when she started chemo Becca has been the model patient. Excelling in all her numbers and counts. Little to no side effects although those have been on the rise as of late. But all in all she's been doing very well. And this week has been no exception except for two changes to report. She now has a full head of peach fuzz with some stubble in the back by her neck. Nursing staff today were happy about that. Her white cell count was low again. Not low enough to stop treatments....yet. Doc isn't too worried but will be keeping a close eye on those numbers. 4 more weeks to go! Like I said. Small post but will update if anything changes. Remember to keep posting the fundraiser link and hopefully we can annoy new people into donating :) Lots of love to all of you and have a GREAT weekend!
Tuesday, May 13, 2014
Little But Some News
Its's been awhile since my last post but to be honest nothing has really changed for Becca. The muscle pain is getting a little worse but aleve is taking care of that most of the time. She still has fatigue but no more than during the last round. Hot flashes abound which wakes her at times when she should be sleeping and her eye lashes are starting to go. Right now we are mainly concerned about her heart rate. Before chemo she was always low. Around 80 BPM resting. That's now around 100. Exercise is tricky which is pissing her off something fierce. We are 7 weeks away from the end of chemo which is now shorter in duration each time we go. about 2.5 hours rather than 4. We are loving that!
To continue with some good news some of you know my family runs a booth at the Walworth County Fair. The Brat Pit! We've had that spot and stand for as long as I can remember. This year and hopefully years to come it was decided that we will start a non-profit booth. Nothing changes except all profits, usually less than 3K, after expenses, will go...somewhere. I say this because we don't know exactly how we want to do. This year will be for Becca and the medical bills and I'm hopeful that with this in mind the total after expenses will be higher. It's quite possible subsequent years may go to other cancer victims and families. Nothing is decided after this year...yet.
With that said I will be looking for volunteers to man the booth. I'll be putting up a sign up post later this year but keep it in mind. All the people in the past have always been volunteers however we are hoping that with the money going to causes and individuals more people will want to get involved to help those who need it. As always thank you all for the support and words of encouragement. It means the world to us to know you are out there. And here's my love. Pass the word and share like crazy. I know you will because you are AWESOME!
To continue with some good news some of you know my family runs a booth at the Walworth County Fair. The Brat Pit! We've had that spot and stand for as long as I can remember. This year and hopefully years to come it was decided that we will start a non-profit booth. Nothing changes except all profits, usually less than 3K, after expenses, will go...somewhere. I say this because we don't know exactly how we want to do. This year will be for Becca and the medical bills and I'm hopeful that with this in mind the total after expenses will be higher. It's quite possible subsequent years may go to other cancer victims and families. Nothing is decided after this year...yet.
With that said I will be looking for volunteers to man the booth. I'll be putting up a sign up post later this year but keep it in mind. All the people in the past have always been volunteers however we are hoping that with the money going to causes and individuals more people will want to get involved to help those who need it. As always thank you all for the support and words of encouragement. It means the world to us to know you are out there. And here's my love. Pass the word and share like crazy. I know you will because you are AWESOME!
Sunday, April 27, 2014
Journey To The Land Of Food
We are back from our epic journey to the land of the north known to us wisconsinites simply as "The Dells". We try to go every year (for the last 13 years) around the time we get our tax returns but this year was different. We didn't know how becca was going to do with chemo. We postponed and waited and by the time it looked like she would be fine the money wasn't there anymore. We're halfway through chemo and just decided we need a breather so I got some extra shifts, a couple small gifts from friends and we were able to pull together a 2 night stay at the Wilderness Resort. This is our favorite resort and we are very loyal. So loyal in fact that we got a 20.00 discount on the Friday night and a free room upgrade from a standard to one with a separate master bedroom and full kitchen! I say this because I like to believe it wasn't because of the beautiful bald woman standing next to me.
We get to the room and the first thing we do is order in Sarento's pizza. SO GOOD! After we decide to skip any water based activities and head down to the mini golf. Becca won which is odd because I always do but I've been having back issues and my knee isn't 100% and yada yada yada...We played in the arcade for a time but by then it was about 9:30 so we decided to head to bed and get a jump on tomorrow.
Breakfast buffet first then off to one of the 3 indoor waterparks. Xander quickly noticed it's a lot like a kiddie park and aside from the slides and lazy river it wasn't to his liking. Off to the wave pool area with sun and lounge chairs. We normally get a cabana for a whole day staying in just this park so I looked into it remembering it's usually 75.00 off season. There was 1 left. SWEET! 175.00...NOT SO SWEET! So the cabana is out. Meanwhile Xander is hungry already so chicken fingers it is. After swimming in the wave pool he's tired (poor thing) so we all go down the raft slide. That was fun-ish. More for him. Then we went and got flushed on that raft ride that from the outside looks like a sideways toilet bowl. That was FUN! Xander went backwards (he hates me) and look on his face was priceless!
Becca and I got our traditional 2-4-1 margaritas and I scored a few lounge chairs and all was right with the world. This is about the time Xander wanted to complain as all teenage boys do. He ended up going back to the room for some time by himself which was fine. Problem being when we got back he still wanted to be alone so Becca and I showered and went back down to the arcade knowing full well we were spending money to make E-tickets for the loner to use to buy some crap. I swear that setup is the greatest con ever.
We return and then it's off to dinner at the Wisconsin Brew Pub. The burgers were great, fried pickles and potato wedges wrapped in bacon we awesome, and I had a twice baked bacon potato that I kid you not I could have as a meal. Damn was that tasty! After having our meal we headed back for some laser tag and again an early night in. Xander of course pulled the curtain separating the living room and immersed himself in youtube videos. meanwhile I'm thinking of breakfast at Paul Bunyans in the morning after we check out.
Family style breakfast and lots of it. Good and plentiful. After filling up we headed to downtown dells and caught Ripley's Believe it or Not because you have to at least once. Not worth the money in my opinion but the boy enjoyed it and Becca smiled a lot while taking a ton of pictures. That was pretty much it. We were all tired and just wanted to get home. Xander a bit more. So we waved good-bye till next year.
Where is all the cancer talk you ask? Where's the update? This is it. We didn't talk of chemo or treatments, bald heads or muscle aches, hot flashes or bills. We were just a family on vacation for a couple days and I tell you it was wonderful. Oh sure we'd get the looks sometimes and a not so subtle whispering. These were quickly ignored. Point is she is not her cancer and sometimes a break to remind yourselves of that is just what the doctor ordered.
We get to the room and the first thing we do is order in Sarento's pizza. SO GOOD! After we decide to skip any water based activities and head down to the mini golf. Becca won which is odd because I always do but I've been having back issues and my knee isn't 100% and yada yada yada...We played in the arcade for a time but by then it was about 9:30 so we decided to head to bed and get a jump on tomorrow.
Breakfast buffet first then off to one of the 3 indoor waterparks. Xander quickly noticed it's a lot like a kiddie park and aside from the slides and lazy river it wasn't to his liking. Off to the wave pool area with sun and lounge chairs. We normally get a cabana for a whole day staying in just this park so I looked into it remembering it's usually 75.00 off season. There was 1 left. SWEET! 175.00...NOT SO SWEET! So the cabana is out. Meanwhile Xander is hungry already so chicken fingers it is. After swimming in the wave pool he's tired (poor thing) so we all go down the raft slide. That was fun-ish. More for him. Then we went and got flushed on that raft ride that from the outside looks like a sideways toilet bowl. That was FUN! Xander went backwards (he hates me) and look on his face was priceless!
Becca and I got our traditional 2-4-1 margaritas and I scored a few lounge chairs and all was right with the world. This is about the time Xander wanted to complain as all teenage boys do. He ended up going back to the room for some time by himself which was fine. Problem being when we got back he still wanted to be alone so Becca and I showered and went back down to the arcade knowing full well we were spending money to make E-tickets for the loner to use to buy some crap. I swear that setup is the greatest con ever.
We return and then it's off to dinner at the Wisconsin Brew Pub. The burgers were great, fried pickles and potato wedges wrapped in bacon we awesome, and I had a twice baked bacon potato that I kid you not I could have as a meal. Damn was that tasty! After having our meal we headed back for some laser tag and again an early night in. Xander of course pulled the curtain separating the living room and immersed himself in youtube videos. meanwhile I'm thinking of breakfast at Paul Bunyans in the morning after we check out.
Family style breakfast and lots of it. Good and plentiful. After filling up we headed to downtown dells and caught Ripley's Believe it or Not because you have to at least once. Not worth the money in my opinion but the boy enjoyed it and Becca smiled a lot while taking a ton of pictures. That was pretty much it. We were all tired and just wanted to get home. Xander a bit more. So we waved good-bye till next year.
Where is all the cancer talk you ask? Where's the update? This is it. We didn't talk of chemo or treatments, bald heads or muscle aches, hot flashes or bills. We were just a family on vacation for a couple days and I tell you it was wonderful. Oh sure we'd get the looks sometimes and a not so subtle whispering. These were quickly ignored. Point is she is not her cancer and sometimes a break to remind yourselves of that is just what the doctor ordered.
Saturday, April 12, 2014
I married an idiot
Becca started her 2nd round of chemo on Thursday. Now it's every week for twelve weeks and this first one was no problem. She is having some twinges in large muscle groups but nothing serious and there has been no neuropathy in her extremities which is possible but usually not till around 6 weeks in. All in all chemo has been pretty easy on her aside from the hair loss. She misses her locks. She's hating the scarves at work and can't wear the wig comfortably. Most of the time she goes without when out in public now and always at home. It might be weird later on when she does have hair lol.
Now onto my dear wife being an idiot. She is at times scatter brained but those times are few and far between. This is not the case anymore. She has issues finding words which is fun because that's usually me and now the tables have been turned ha ha ha. To get a good understanding on what "Chemo Brain" is like I will use her own words.
From Becca:
Well, chemo brain has kicked in. It isn't constant, but at the end of the last 2 cycles, I've been hit with it for a couple of days. (Therefore, if my sentence structure doesn't always make sense here, please don't hold it against me.)
Let me give you a snapshot of how my brain is (not) functioning.
Get to work.
Turn on computer, music, digital photo frame
Open email
Stare blankly at email for 2 minutes
Realize I'm staring blankly at email and begin running Monday morning reports
Pause music to go to printer and get reports
Bring reports back to office
*
*
*
*
The internet is boring.
*
*
*
Ooh - I should read up on Captain America now that I've seen it.
Commence reading
*
*
Remember I'm at work, it's Monday, and I have reports to do.
Commence working on reports
Realize halfway through that I'm entering the wrong numbers
S@!t
*
*
*
*
Okay, what was I doing?
Redo reports using correct numbers, brain functioning at 100%, all is well.
Finish reports, double-checking information, speedy and efficient as always.
Compose email to boss:
The reports weekly are attached.
no...delete
The resports weekly are attached.
Crap! No! delete...
Your weekly reports...
*
*
*
s&*t!
...are attached.
Send email without attachment.
*
*
*
Remember I was listening to music before and start it up again.
Start doing other work. spot on, brain working at full capacity.
Receive email from boss looking for attachment.
Oh, for f@%k's sake!
Hit reply
*
*
*
Attach reports and send.
Now onto my dear wife being an idiot. She is at times scatter brained but those times are few and far between. This is not the case anymore. She has issues finding words which is fun because that's usually me and now the tables have been turned ha ha ha. To get a good understanding on what "Chemo Brain" is like I will use her own words.
From Becca:
Well, chemo brain has kicked in. It isn't constant, but at the end of the last 2 cycles, I've been hit with it for a couple of days. (Therefore, if my sentence structure doesn't always make sense here, please don't hold it against me.)
Let me give you a snapshot of how my brain is (not) functioning.
Get to work.
Turn on computer, music, digital photo frame
Open email
Stare blankly at email for 2 minutes
Realize I'm staring blankly at email and begin running Monday morning reports
Pause music to go to printer and get reports
Bring reports back to office
*
*
*
The internet is boring.
*
*
*
Ooh - I should read up on Captain America now that I've seen it.
Commence reading
*
*
Remember I'm at work, it's Monday, and I have reports to do.
Commence working on reports
Realize halfway through that I'm entering the wrong numbers
S@!t
*
*
*
*
Okay, what was I doing?
Redo reports using correct numbers, brain functioning at 100%, all is well.
Finish reports, double-checking information, speedy and efficient as always.
Compose email to boss:
The reports weekly are attached.
no...delete
The resports weekly are attached.
Crap! No! delete...
Your weekly reports...
*
*
*
s&*t!
...are attached.
Send email without attachment.
*
*
*
Remember I was listening to music before and start it up again.
Start doing other work. spot on, brain working at full capacity.
Receive email from boss looking for attachment.
Oh, for f@%k's sake!
Hit reply
*
*
*
Attach reports and send.
So that's what she has been dealing with and when I say that I mean me as well. I swear she's worse at home and there have been time when I've thought that she is now brain damaged. Thanks Cancer! You Rock!! This post is somewhat of a cop out because I'm lazy and decided to use hers. In my defense though it's better coming from her than me. In all honesty I was amazed she could type it out given her faculties the way they are So I'm actually showing her off lol. Have a great week everyone!!
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