Rosie's Cancer Journey

Just another adventure…

recent posts

  • Another milestone completed

    I want to begin my post by acknowledging my mom’s passing. She passed away a day after my last post. I’m not feeling up to writing about that here today.

    But I do have good news to share. Since May 5th, I have been driving from Monroe to Capitol Hill every weekday afternoon for radiation treatment. I had sixteen sessions and today was my last one. I graduated!

    I change into a gown. Then they put me in a room and I lay down on my back on a table. Two large ceiling above my head have a photo of cherry blossoms and clouds, like this:

    My brain turns one image of a cloud in the tile into a picture of my mom, which is strange. I almost wanted to take a photo of it to see if anyone else saw it.

    The tech announces through a speaker, ” Take a breath…. Hold…” And 20 seconds later, “You can breathe.” This happens about six times as the machine moves around me. And then the machine goes back into place, the table moves back into place, and I’m done.

    My experience with radiation has been fine. There have been a couple of days where I took long naps or felt more tired, but nothing compared to what chemo did to me. My skin is pink on my left side but no peeling or pain. My radiation oncologist told me today that the worst might hit in two weeks – peeling skin and fatigue – but then should improve. All in all, I was able to tolerate this treatment well.

    I still have infusions every three weeks until November. I meet with my oncologist before every other infusion appointment. I don’t have any side effects from these infusions, so the worst is behind me.

  • Next up – Radiation

    I start radiation next Tuesday. I had a planning session a couple of weeks ago where they gave me three tiny tattoos to mark where the radiation will be targeted. The first appointment is expected to take a bit longer but after that, each appointment will be short – 15 minutes – unless I’m meeting with my radiation oncologist. I will drive to Seattle daily and work in the mornings. I will go for 16 sessions – a little over 3 weeks. The expected side effects are lethargy and sunburn, but everyone is different.

    My hair is growing back. I’m very excited about it and I don’t care if it is white! I’m wearing less hats now and it is just what it is – super short! Here is a selfie that I didn’t delete from last Saturday on Whidbey Island.

    This last year sure has been full of lemons. 🍋 I’m currently with my mom, Sara. She has been really sick with emphysema for a while and, this is hard to say, but she is expected to only have a few days left. Yet, she is smiling her way through it. If you want to say a prayer or send good energy her way, please do.

    Love,

    Rose

  • Pathology Report

    More good news! My pathology report from my surgery came back and they found no signs of cancer. This is great news! It means the chemo worked. I was hoping this would mean I could skip radiation, but it doesn’t sound like that’s the case. I meet with my oncologist next week and will learn more at that time about when radiation might start.

    Happy Spring!

  • Surgery Update

    I had my lumpectomy and sentinel lymph node removal and biopsy yesterday, and all is well!

    Before I started treatment last fall, they placed a clip marker inside my left breast and lymph nodes in my arm pit area on my left side so they could locate the cancerous treatment after chemo.

    Yesterday morning, the radiologist did an ultrasound and mammogram and injected me with blue dye so they could see the lymph nodes coming from the tumor in my breast. About 5 hours later, I was moved into surgery. They gave me general anesthesia – my first experience with that. I didn’t feel scared until the last minute. I started crying as I went under. All of the emotions decided to come out and the last thing I remember were the surgical team reassuring me and me trying to redirect my focus on Jeff and my kids.

    They had a hard time finding the clip in my lymph node before surgery but the blue dye helped locate it in surgery. They removed two lymph nodes with dye, and in the notes it said it was possible she removed more surrounding those two. Then the surgeon removed the area where the cancer was in my breast. And they didn’t see any other cancer while they were in there!!!

    I came out of surgery to recovery where Jeff met me there and we called the kids. Soon after, we were on our way home.

    I still have my breast and will not get reconstructive surgery. I took pain medicine last night but I’m going to see how I do without the strong stuff today. I have exercises to do daily, no lifting over 20 lbs. The blue dye they injected me with has turned my urine blue! I’m off work at least until my post-op appointment happening one week from this Tuesday, when I could get cleared to come back to work early. The last week of March, I have a follow up with my oncologist and that’s when we discuss starting radiation. The first week of April, I continue my immunotherapy infusions.

    Snowing on the way to the hospital

    Waiting for surgery

  • The Chemo Worked!

    I had an ultrasound and mammogram today before my surgery to see how I reacted to chemo treatments and the results are favorable. No evidence of a tumor in my breast or lymph nodes. Hallelujah, it worked!

    The plan is the same as before…

    • Recovering from the last chemo treatment
    • Infusion Therapy continues
    • Surgery on March 13
    • Radiation after that

    ❤️

  • Chemo round 6 – Last one!!!

    I’m so excited that today was my 6th and last round of chemo. I never thought I’d get here! I am feeling super fatigued. I expect to be okay today, tomorrow, and make it until Thursday afternoon. Then I will probably be down for about a week.

    On March 2, I have a mammogram and ultrasound to see how the chemo worked. I can tell that the mass in my breast has gone down. I could never feel the mass in my lymph nodes but the chemo is treating my whole body.

    On March 9, I continue my immunotherapy infusions for every 3 weeks until November – one year from when I started my treatment. The side affects should be minimal compared to what I have been dealing with.

    And I also have my surgery scheduled for March 13. I am having a lumpectomy and a sentinel lymph node biopsy. There is a two week recovery. This means I should be great to go to Opening Day! (My first opening day. Go Mariners!) And it also means I can make plans for spring break. I desperately need to get away. There is a risk that if things don’t go as planned and the biopsy shows something we don’t want, I will have to get another surgery to remove all of my lymph nodes under my arm on the left side which means an additional 6-8 week recovery time. And obviously, we are hoping for a positive outcome so I’m making some plans! I feel like life has been on hold and now I can move forward a little. I’m also looking forward to growing my hair back. I’m not sure how long I have to wait for that to happen.

    My radiation starts 4 weeks after surgery. I’m not at the point where this can be scheduled yet. I’m anxious to plan. Radiation is 5 weeks Monday through Friday daily. I am hoping to be able to work half days during radiation and I think I can drive myself. Or if this plan puts me into June, I want to see about starting after school is out. I’m not sure if they will let me wait.

    Celebrating all of the things I can. Thanks for following along on this journey with me!

    Here is my biggest supporter, and here I am ringing the bell to mark the last chemo treatment. ❤️

  • Chemo Round 5 done… one more!

    I had my 5th chemo treatment 2 weeks ago. Now I just have one more chemo treatment to go!

    I haven’t updated in a while because I have had so much going on. Funny, life just keeps happening even when you are sick. God doesn’t give you more than you can handle? Ha! I won’t go into it, but it’s been rough. I am staying positive. “This too shall pass” and “One day at a time” are sayings that I often repeat.

    However, I don’t want to dwell on all that. Looking ahead, I meet with my surgeon on Wednesday to talk about what that will look like. I will continue to get infusions every three weeks, and per the current plan, will have 5 weeks of radiation after the surgery.

    I think the chemo recovery is probably the worst part of all of this, and that’s almost behind me.

  • Chemo Round 4

    Our youngest is home from college and came with us to my treatment today. I made it past the halfway point and I started round 4 today. Two more to go!

    After chemo comes surgery. It’s looking like this will happen in March because they aim to do it a month after my last chemo. And then, possibly more infusion therapy every three weeks, possibly radiation. We need to see what my next mammogram shows after chemo is completed and we get the pathology from the surgery.

    I was more fatigued with Round 3, and my stomach was upset daily. Palliative Care has been a big help working with my oncologist to make things easier whenever possible.

    The truth is that I know I’m going to feel sick again soon like I have the flu. I really miss my hair but I don’t like wigs on me. I’m not a fan of picking out a hat daily to go with my outfit and I don’t want to spend more money on hats. I think being bald makes some people uncomfortable. I’m in menopause all of a sudden and the hot flashes are real. I hate all of the meds I have to take. It’s a lot of pills. I am missing a lot of work and I don’t like it. I get fatigued so easily. I have to rest a lot and put projects on hold that I don’t want to put on hold. I have to cram a lot into the week I feel good, which can also be exhausting. These are some of my complaints if I’m being real.

    And also, I just have to get through it! At least I have good days. I’m learning that I’m pretty tough and I don’t care about needles and blood draws. I try to rock the bald look. My friend, Tina, had breast cancer and was beautiful bald! She inspires me. I’m actually glad to move into menopause at age 50, because let’s just get that over with because I have to go through it eventually. I agreed to use a pill organizer even though it makes me feel like just I aged 30 years, but I see this as a good thing because I’m willing to try it. I also have the desire to stay as active as possible. Even completing small projects make me feel good. And I have my husband and a couple of great friends that have helped me be able to do that when it gets hard. Thank you, support system!

    So while this is getting more difficult and I anticipate the next couple of months being rough, I will just keep going and get this over with because I have to. I plan to make the best of it, however possible. That sounds strange because how do you make the best of having cancer? I’m not sure but I have a couple of months to try.

  • Halfway there

    I think it is finally safe to say that I am halfway through chemo. I have 3 rounds down, 3 more to go. I still have chemo every three weeks. My next one is on January 5.

    This round hit me last Friday afternoon. By Saturday, I felt like I had the flu again. It lasted through this morning, and then I started to feel better and improved quickly. There are still a few lingering symptoms, a touch of nausea here and there. But if it goes like before, I should be good now until the next round!

    When it starts to hit, I tend to not respond to messages or calls. I really do not feel well and have found that in order to get through, I need to shut out everything else. There isn’t much that can be done except for to get through it. I feel kinda bad about the silence, but this is a lesson in self care that I’m practicing. One of many.

    I spent the sick days literally sitting there doing nothing at times because I couldn’t even focus on a TV show or an audiobook. When I could focus on something short, I scrolled Insta, watched rubbish (I’m a few seasons behind on “90 Day Fiance”), and saw some bad movies (“Oh. What. Fun.” is the one that comes to mind… Why don’t they have phones? Or know how to look up a credit card charge?) I made the mistake of watching “The Family Stone”. It’s a solid holiday rom-com, but maybe not the best choice for me right now given one of the characters’ stories, IYKYK.

    And now, the holidays and the main holiday that our family celebrates, Christmas, is upon us. Although we (my husband and I) haven’t been in the best of spirits, we are really trying. Every single day. That’s all we have. I know that I have to remind myself of this all day long, especially when I’m sick. It can be depressing and sad.

    I tend to interact with a lot of positive content on my Instagram feed, and this is one of the sayings that came up for me yesterday that I shared to my story. A lesson in gratefulness, even in the most difficult time. It’s really true! I’m so glad I haven’t forgotten this yet. If I ever do, send help!

    And when I do start to feel better, like now, I start to make plans again. I work outside. I work inside. I am slower and my stamina is definitely not where it was before, but I have a lot to do. I socialize and visit! I try to do all of the things to fill up my soul and get ready for the next time.

    Happy Christmas. ❤️

  • Chemo – Round 3

    I had my 3rd of 6 infusions on Monday. I am supposed to expect that the effects of this round will be more like round 2, which means I will start to feel lethargic this Thursday through Sunday, then I might have flu-like symptoms for a couple of days, and start to feel better after that, maybe in time for Christmas. I got hives again after my last post, but it was manageable. My white blood count has dropped, but I’m still in the expected range, although immunocompromised, so I need to avoid anyone that is sick. And the reason I’m up again so early today? Steroids. Ugh! I even took Benadryl which at least helped me sleep for 5 hours. The steroids won that battle! These are a some of the things I just have to work through to keep fighting cancer.

    The holidays this year are difficult due to sickness, grief deaths of close loved ones and loss, and also empty nesting with 3 of our 4 kids no longer living at home or nearby anymore. Traveling to visit family is not an option at this point. But we have plans after Christmas to attend and host a couple of celebrations, which is great because by then I should be feeling better. And thank goodness for technology so we can keep in touch with those we can’t be with physically, and we can still talk to loved ones in spirit. Some days, or even moments, will be hard, and some not so hard. All we can do is find ways to cope through it.

    Another side effect of chemo that I have managed to avoid so far is neuropathy. During my chemo infusion, I suck on ice chips to help with mouth sores, and put ice mitts on my hands and feet. It is freezing! But worth it as it seems to be helping. Here is a funny picture that Jeff took of me during that process on Monday.