A week in Review...

I took some time to grab some photos off my camera from the past week and thought I'd share some highlights with you...it's been a good week!!

Dec 21st - 5:30 am So...here I am waving goodbye to the boob! We're just about to leave for St Mary's Hospital to get the cancer out! What a great Christmas present for me!! About eight hours after we left home, we were back and I was set up for recovery! Today I feel pretty good. Roberta (the nurse) comes today to check me out. I was hoping she might remove the drains today, but I'm pretty sure that's not going to happen...still too much fluid. Oh well...they'll come out when they're ready!

Dec 23rd - Evening
The best hockey tournament of the year happens over Christmas - the World Juniors!! On the 23rd (which also happened to be Matt's birthday), Team Canada played a pre-tournament game against Finland at the Aud here in Kitchener. Team Canada won (5-2), and it was great that Matt, Alex and Brock (sporting my Team Canada Jersey!!) got to go to the game. Thanks so much for coming and hanging out with me Kelly so the boys could go cheer on Team Canada! Happy Birthday, Matt!!

Dec 24th - Christmas Eve
When your sister is an art major at University, sometimes by virtue of sibling law you have to be the "subject" for her masterpieces. So, with profound patience and compliance, Alex sat for over an hour on Christmas Eve while Lauren created a mask of his face. Thank goodness she remembered to create breathing holes for his nose!! The mold turned out great and now Lauren just has to figure out what she is going to do with it....

Dec 25 - Christmas morning
We had a wonderful, slow, easy Christmas morning. I was the first one up...and then waited almost two hours before everyone else was awake!! We opened our stockings and than our presents and it was wonderful taking our time and watching each other unwrap the mysteries in the paper!! We had our traditional Christmas breakfast (crepes a la Matt) and played a game of Funglish (new game for Christmas) before heading to New Hamburg. It was the BEST!! I was spoiled rotten by this beauty family that embraces me so tightly!!

Dec 25th - Christmas Dinner
I was happy I felt pretty good on Christmas Day and could join Matt, Alex and Lauren at the Austin family Christmas dinner in New Hamburg. Hosted by Granny and Grandpa (aka Beth & Bill), we were joined by Matt's brother and family (Peter, Leslie, Kathryn and Joel) and good family friend, Jeannie. Beth had dinner ready early and I stayed for a couple of hours and then Matt brought me home. Matt, Lauren and Alex stayed for dessert and a little more fun (so good to live so close!!). Thanks Tammy for coming over and hanging out with me for a couple of hours after I got home so Matt and the kids could hang out longer! As an aside, I want to tell you about the beautiful gift I got from Kathryn & Joel. They made each of us very cool bookmarks and chose the beads very carefully for each person. I got very emotional when I read what Kathryn wrote on my package (so she had to read it out for me). It said "I chose these beads for you because you are a brave cancer survivor. Good Job!" Kathryn is nine. And she touched my heart.

It has been an eventful week...and I am feeling good and maybe a little anxious to get going with the rest of the treatment plan. I know, I have to finish healing from surgery (first step...get these darn drains out)...and of course, I'm a little anxious to find out what the pathology report shows from my surgery. Besides those small details, I truly feel the world is a bright beautiful place...the sun is shining and my Mom is arriving for a visit today!! Life is good!

xoxoxoxoxoxo

PS - One more piece of good news...the creepy mustache (or in his words - cowboy mustache) that Matt has been sporting for the past three weeks is now gone! See...life is REALLY good!!

Merry Christmas!

Well...here I sit on Christmas Eve thinking I'd like to update all of you on how I've been doing the last few days. The nurse has come twice (on Wednesday and again today). So far I'm doing pretty good. I'm tender and a little sore and tired (same old!!!). Today was a rough day, I suffered a lot of nausea earlier today and slept a ton...but by mid-afternoon I was starting to feel better and now I feel pretty good.

I have exercises I do a few times a day, to make sure I'm using my left arm and to stretch out the muscles. The back of my left arm is pretty numb...I'm curious to ask the surgeon when I see him next what he was doing to make my arm numb...maybe digging around in there??

The drains are still in...too much fluid to take them out yet. Maybe Monday when the nurse comes back...

I've gone for a short walk every day since surgery. The fresh air feels awesome! I'm taking Extra Strength Tylenol for the pain...and I don't seem to need much. Before I go to bed, and again mid-day seems to be enough. I do have a prescription for Percocet, but I'm not interested in the side effects that come with it (i.e. constipation) so I've decided Tylenol will do just fine!!

I have somehow managed to catch a cold - I think it happened while I was at the hospital for surgery - figures that I'd catch a cold when I went to the hospital. It's been a pain in the butt the last couple of days, and so frustrating when I worked so hard to stay healthy.

I have been overwhelmed with the deliveries that have found their way to me over the last few days. Flowers, treats, gifts, fruit...it's truly overwhelming! Thank you!!

To all of you who continue to give me so much love and support, I wish you a wonderful Christmas! It is a great time for me to reflect on how blessed I am...and I wish you all the same.

With love always!

xoxoxoxoxo

Feeling ok...

Just a quick update to let you know I'm feeling ok. I've had a bath and had a bit to eat and I feel pretty good. I have a little bit of pain, but it's really not too bad (so far anyway). I even hope to go for a short wee walk this afternoon after a nap!

I thought Matt did an AWESOME job with my blog update yesterday and know that many of you agree with me! Besides telling him what his post title had to be (Thanks for the Mammories...) he did the rest himself!

I wanted that as the title because my original plan had been to write that on my left boob before surgery...but than I wasn't sure the ink would be a good thing...so I saved it for the blog instead! I also thought about writing "Not this One" on my right boob...but as it turned out, didn't need to!

I thank all of you for all the prayers, love and positive vibes you have been sending my way. I am so blessed!

Love to all of you...and I'll check back in soon!

xoxoxoxoxoxoo

Thanks for the Mammories!

Hi, this is Matt the scribe/nurse/personal chef/cabana boy. I know many of you have been following Sue's journey and how much it has meant to her. So I/we wanted to be sure to catch you up as soon as we could today after her successful surgery. Sue's doing well! ... so here we go!!

Sue, Sandra and I had an early morning. We were off to St. Mary's hospital at 5:30 am to be there for 6 am. We arrived on the second floor at 5:50 and had no wait, registered immediately and were whisked right into the day surgery unit. The clerk, Nancy, escorted us to the bed that Sue would leave from to go to surgery and recover in after surgery ... bed 26. Nancy was also the fashion consultant who left the "beautiful" backless gown along with a "lovely" housecoat.

Our first visitor in the day surgery unit was Michele the RN who hooked up the IV. After being asked by many people what her name and birth date was and what procedure she was having done, we knew they had it right ... it is actually comforting to know that they confirm, re-confirm, re-re-confirm everything. They go so far as spelling her last name each time as they read it from her wrist band. The OR nurse Monica and the OR attendant Lisa were next to join us and reassured us that they would take good care of Sue. Sue was wheeled through the operating suite doors at 7:40 am and Sandra and I bid her adieu for a couple hours. Sue had a determined look of someone who was "in the zone" on her face. It was hard to watch her wheel away but I was confident because of all the appointments we had gone through in preparation for this day. Sandra and I retired to the comfort (and it is a beautiful facility after the renovations) of the waiting room where we were told Dr Judges would find us if he wanted to report after the surgery. Afterwards we learned that Sue's surgery started at 8:10 and completed at 9:53. At 8:15, Sandra and I visited Tim Horton's for some nourishment (chocolate dip donut and some bagels).

In the OR Sue met 2 other nurses, the anesthesiologist, and Dr Judges. After walking to the OR table, she let the anesthesiologist know she was "easily nauseated" and he said he would do his best to help her with that. Dr Judges also said, "Are you ready for this?" to which Sue replied, "Yep, let's go!". She was out within minutes of getting settled in the OR under many warm blankets provided by the lovely nurses.

At 10:40 the pager went off and I thought I was going in to talk with Dr Judges, but they told me Sue was out of recovery. So I walked to bed 26 and there she was, bright-eyed and welcoming. I said, "You did it babe!" and she said ,"Yep, I did. Can I have some water." I got to look at her dressing and the 2 drains and all looked good. We found out that Sue had a tube down her throat to help with breathing during the surgery which caused a bit of a sore throat.

The CCAC representative visited and described the service (likely 4 visits at home starting tomorrow) from the Comcare nurse.

Then the post-op nurse came by to describe Dr. Judges orders, the shoulder exercises, pain medication, and taught us how to empty and measure the drains.

Over the course of the next 2 1/2 hours Sue had more water and 1/4 of a digestive cookie. She caught a little sleep.

We left the hospital at 1:30ish and arrived home and she has been in and out of sleep and eating and drinking a little.

I feel inadequate as a fill-in blogger because Sue is such a good, eloquent and humorous writer. Have no fear, Sue will return to her regular column in a couple days.

Thanks from me for all of the love and support you have shown. It has been very meaningful.

Sue says, "Hey!"

Matt

Ready...Set...

It's almost time to Go!

This time tomorrow I'll be at St Mary's Hospital, just waiting for my turn for surgery. I'm a little nervous for sure - mostly because I've never had surgery before! Another new experience for me!! My surgery is at 8:00 am and is scheduled for two hours. All happy thoughts welcome!!

I have a good day ahead...fitness, a visit from my Dad and a little TT/Reiki. Only positive energy allowed today as we gear up for tomorrow!! My sister is also coming tonight to be with us tomorrow...and so far it looks like the weather is going to cooperate!!

The plan is for Matt to update the blog tomorrow when we get home...so feel free to check the blog tomorrow night and see how we made out.

Thank you for the continued love, prayers and well wishes...it fills me up!!

xoxoxoxoxoxo

The Tree is Trimmed...

I am very excited to have our tree trimmed! Lauren came home from York University for a few days on Monday (she has one more exam to write on Friday) and so I took the opportunity when we were all home on Monday after dinner to decorate the tree. Doesn't it look fabulous! I will admit that Lauren did most of the work - she had a specific plan in mind, although I'm pretty sure we didn't do a very good job of following her lead...

I hope to finish my Christmas shopping today. I have just a little bit left to do, and than a bit of wrapping to do and I'm done!

I have been participating in a study with the University of Waterloo in the last week or so. I had an interview that took about an hour and a half one day last week. They just asked me questions about my chemo treatments and how I reacted and how it affected my eating habits. They are trying to get a feel for the similarities between all cancer patients (because every person's experience is truly different). From Sunday to Tuesday, I had to track everything I ate throughout the day, and provide measurements for everything. It was kind of like being on Weight Watchers again!! Today they picked up my food journal and gave me a thank you gift (a nice bracelet and a little bit of cash - hello Starbucks!!). They are going to assess my journal and than provide me with information on what nutrients I may be short on...I'm very interested to get this report back. They are also going to provide me with a copy of the whole study when it's done. I'm very curious to see where I fit with the other cancer patients!

I seem to be a little tired this week...so trying to get loads of rest and relax as much as possible!!! Six days and counting to surgery...

xoxoxoxoxoxo

Play Date!!

On Friday, I had a play date! It was such a great time. I borrowed my friend Tammy's dog, Cocoa, for the day. It was so much fun!

We went for a walk and got the mail, we had tons of snuggles on the couch and she even hung out on a chair and watched me package up cookies for a cookie exchange I went to on Friday night. What great company!

See how cute she is??!!

I tried to fix the red-eye...and I made her eyes look wonky. I'm new to photo editing!

She is such a snuggler and was quite content to hang out with me all day. Of course, she's also a little nosey too and had to check out the house and what the heck Matt was doing upstairs in his office! She only barked once the whole day, and it was this soft meager bark when she saw herself in the mirror in the hallway. So funny! Big thanks to Tammy, Gary & Zach for letting Cocoa hang out with me for the day!

I had a rough day on Saturday. Not sure if it was a touch of the flu, side effects from a pounding headache, or the fact that I just did too much last week. All I know is that my good friend Gracie came to visit me on Saturday and I was a lump on the couch...a sick lump at that. Thanks for hanging with me anyway, Grace!! Next time I'll feel better, I promise!!

I am very close to being ready for Christmas, which makes me VERY happy since surgery is a week tomorrow!! My master plan to be all ready before surgery is lining up nicely!!

And not only that, it looks like we'll have a white Christmas too!

xoxoxoxoxoxxo

EKG Anyone??

With my surgery less than two weeks away, I had a requisition from my surgeon that had to be filled...off to Life Labs I went today! I had it in my head that I wouldn't go first thing...didn't want to get stuck in a line up with all those folks who had been fasting prior to having their blood drawn. So, I got there about 9:20...and it was standing room only. Crap...called that one wrong. Turns out the Life Lab I went to only opens at 9:00 am. I really should have done my research better. The good news is, they know what they're doing there and I was in and out by 10:00. Pretty good considering I was #27!

First I had to have some blood drawn. This has really become old hat for me. I don't even feel the little prick of the needle going in anymore...who would have thought I'd become such a toughie??? I actually find myself quite fascinated by how fast the little tube fills up with my blood!

Than it was time for an EKG. Or ECG (same thing). What I was finding amazing today as I was sitting in the lab, patiently waiting for them to call my number, is that I've never had an EKG before. I have had so many tests in the past five and a half months that surely somewhere in there I would have had an EKG...but no. In fact, today was my first one. And what a curious experience it was for me.

I had a male nurse today...he was great at the blood thing and I was wondering if he was also going to do the EKG. Yep. He did ask me if I was comfortable with him, or if I would prefer one of the other nurses. I told him it was fine (the reality is, any modesty or embarrassment I may have had about my breasts went the way of the Dodo bird back in July...). Besides, I got a bit of a kick out of it when I realized he'd be one of the last to see my left boob...

Anyway...back to the EKG...they tell you to undress from the waist up and roll up your pants to your knees. Then, lie down on the bed and cover yourself with the sheet. I actually took exception to the "sheet". How about we just call it what it was...a big folded piece of paper. Do these people know it's winter outside??? He attaches a bunch of little receptacles - one on the inside of each leg (close to the knee), one on each arm (close to the shoulder), and the rest were around my chest and upper stomach. He attached wires to each receptacle and then it took about fifteen seconds for him to get the reading. He gave the wires a little tug and they all came off at once. Then he said I could peel off the receptacles (which are on with some two sided type of goo), get dressed and I was free to go. I was VERY VERY happy I got to peel off these little receptacles. A nurse in a bad mood could do some serious damage...

So, now my pre-op stuff is done. And the countdown is on...

xoxoxoxxoxo

Oh Christmas Tree...

I know...it's been a whole week with no updates! I have no excuses...just taking a short break from blogging I guess!!

My exciting news of the week is that we went hunting for a Christmas tree on Sunday and found a really good one!! I thought I'd share some pics from our adventure.

This is the hunting part...got to find the best one out there!! Eagle Eyes Alex is looking and looking and looking...

Got one! Quick change of coats between Dad & Alex so Alex can get down on the ground and start sawing...

TIMBER!!!

The sweet smile of success!! We got one!!

Coats changed back to the rightful owners and we're off to put it in the truck...have you noticed who's doing all the work here! Good thing we have Alex!!

We have set up the tree in the living room and it is awesome! A nice big even tree (for the most part). No decorations on it yet...we're waiting for the help to return and join us in the decorating of the tree!! I have managed to get some Christmas decorations out this week. Not too many...but a few to add some holiday cheer for sure!!

A couple of big thank yous to send out today...

To my glass girls for the beautiful bracelet they gave me. It's from a company called 'You've Got Balls'. I'm thinking that it's probably self explanatory...and if you click on the link you can see what the bracelet looks like! It's to give me some added courage while I work through the rest of my treatment and than I can pass it along when someone else is going through something and needs some "balls"...very funny and I love it!! Not sure I want to share it though...

Thanks to Michelle (and Patti too!!) for giving me some time on Saturday and helping me out with some Christmas stuff. I can't tell you girls how much help that was to me!!! Thank you!!

Yesterday my friend Kelly came with me to the Nu Me Boutique. It's a shop that specializes in mastectomy related products and came recommended to me by my surgeon. It's a great little shop and the lady there was so very helpful. I also met a lovely girl (I can say girl because she's my age...) who has recently been diagnosed and decided to stop in at the same time that we were there. Elena, it was great to meet you and to learn about special bras and prosthetics with you! I wish you all the best on your journey ahead. You can do it!!

Thanks Kelly for coming with me!! I did get a post-surgery bra/camisole that will help me keep things in place without being too restrictive (and it's very very soft). It even has little pouches for my drainage tubes...cool (if something like that can be cool!!). It comes with a little soft falsie to insert where my missing boob used to be (it's not missing yet but will be gone in two weeks). It's a nice soft pillowy type thing...much lighter than the future prosthetic I'll be looking into. While we did get to check out a couple of different prosthetics yesterday (did you know there are different ones for regular day use, swimming and working out??), I won't be purchasing one until after surgery is done. They are quite life like, kind of freaky in a way. Don't worry, I'll keep you posted on when I get one and what I decide I need!!

I've had two fun social nights in a row - a little gathering at Amber's and a little 'Festive Special' with Kim last night!! See...I really do have a bit more energy!! So nice to get out and feel like part of the world again, if only for a couple of hours!! I missed my work Christmas party this past weekend, as well as a Christmas party for Matt's work...yes, that would be the stinky part about trying to stay healthy...still trying to keep my crowd exposure to a minimum!!!

I actually have a "busy" week (for me that is) ahead. A little Christmas shopping...some baking for a cookie exchange...dinner with the "non" bookclub girls...fitness...reflexology...maybe a few naps here and there!! It's all good!!

xoxoxxoxoxo

Some REALLY Good News!!!

Ok...I haven't had much to say for the past two weeks...but today I have lots to say so you'll want to make sure you have a couple of minutes to give to me and my blog before you start reading!! Don't worry...it's REALLY GOOD NEWS!!!

Two weeks ago when I was at the Oncologist (just before my last chemo treatment), she told me my blood tests from earlier that day showed that my calcium levels were higher than normal. She quizzed me on my milk/cheese/yogurt intake and if I was taking any supplements or daily vitamins. I was a big NO on the supplements and vitamins and don't consume much in the way of milk, cheese or yogurt so we were a little baffled. Dr. Caliaretti was mildly concerned because a spike in calcium levels can be an indication that the cancer had moved to my bones. She asked me if I had any aches or pains, and I said I did, but had related it to the darn Taxol (chemo drug I was on at that time that is known to cause the muscle aches and pains). So, she decided to send me for a few tests just to make sure. Last week I went for a bone scan and CT Scan (like I had before chemo started) and I also had more blood work done yesterday before my appointment with the doctor.

At my appointment with Dr. Califaretti, she gave me the all clear!! There is no indication of cancer in the bones and my blood work showed my calcium levels were back to normal! YAHOO!!! The nodes also showed that they were NOT enlarged (more good news!!) We have been trying to figure out what might have caused the increase in calcium, and wonder if it might have something to do with the Vitamin water I had been drinking. It was often hard to get plain old water down, but I love Vitamin water, so I had been drinking at least a bottle a day. We checked the label and it has calcium in it, so maybe that's why my test results showed an increase...not really sure and strange that it hadn't affected previous blood tests. In any event, I've had a BIG HUGE grin on my face since my doctor's appointment yesterday!!

I also got the results from the MRI I had a few weeks ago. There is no indication of anything evil in the right boob (insert another yahoo here!!) and the tumour is showing to be about 2.5 cms in the left boob! It's amazing how much smaller it is now. In fact, they can't really tell from the MRI if the 2.5 cm is cancer, or dead cells (they'll find that out when they take the breast and do the pathology on it!!). Wouldn't it be amazing if that report showed no signs of cancer?? Because the chemo drugs can cause scar tissue as it kills the cells, they can't tell exactly what the "tumor" is from the MRI. The MRI did show some tentacles that come off the tumour and they're as long as 5.5 cms. Sure makes me feel good about the decision to do the full mastectomy!! No way are we leaving any of that behind!

I had to ask Dr. Califaretti if my last chemo treatment was a little heavier than the previous treatments since I've had a harder time getting over this last one. She said "No...they're all the same. However, your body is tired. It has been through a lot with eight treatments, only two weeks apart and with the accumulative effect, it takes a little longer each time to recover. Your body needs a rest!" (Sheesh...it feels like all I've been doing is resting!!). Anyway, this makes sense to me, and along with the little bit of stress I was carrying while I did the bone/ct scan and awaited the results, I guess I shouldn't be too hard on myself that it's taking a little bit longer to recover!! To that end, I have been feeling a lot better the last couple of days...still on the tired side and my appetite is still not what it was...but I have great faith I'm heading down the right path!!

Yesterday was such a great day! I was so estactic to get such good news! I think it might have been the best day I have had since this stinking journey began!

So, in case you were wondering if your prayers, positive thoughts and good wishes are working...here's the proof!! I thank all of you from the bottom of my heart for continuing to send me your healing thoughts and prayers. I continue to be so truly blessed!

xoxoxoxoxoxo