It's Been Real Quiet Around Here....

I haven't posted anything because nothing to report is good news, right? I saw some of my docs in August and all went well. Labs were good. Checkup was uneventful. I finally made a big decision to have my second stage reconstruction done by the end of the year since I met my out of pocket deductible again. Might as well. It's free, right? So I have to get cardiac clearance on November 28th which includes a stress test. One of the ones I have to run or walk real fast on and they watch my blood pressure and heart rate. Now, keep in mind, I don't exercise and never did go through cardiac rehab after my surgery. This should be interesting. Then I go back to the cardiologist 2 weeks later so they can tell me if I can or can not have the surgery. I am suppose to have a PET scan on Dec. 16th but that's only if insurance allows it. I won't know until a few days before it's due. Stupid if you ask me! They should be getting the information they need from the doctors now and not a week before the scan. So on December 28th, what will they be doing you ask? They will be giving me nips. Yes, that's right, nipples. They will make them from the skin I already have and then later in the office they will tattoo the areolas on. They also are going to do fat grafting which is where they will liposuction the fat out of whatever part of the body I tell them to (my hips most likely) and transplant the fat to the breasts. Right now there isn't any fat between the implant and the muscle or the muscle and the skin. This process will smooth out the wrinkles in the implants I hope making the breasts look better. Erik's cousin had this done and highly recommended I go through with it so here I am...just passing the time until I have to go under the knife again. I just really want it all to be over with. Could I live without nipples? Yes, of course. Do I really care if I have them or not. Not really. But I do want the fat grafting so might as well do the whole process. Oh and the other part of the surgery is going to include them taking out my port finally! No need for chemo so no need for a port! They never use it for my surgeries anyways so why keep it. I have been going to have it flushed every 6 weeks since 2014. I am over it. I'm over all this really. Over with the doctor appointments, the lab draws, the medicine I have to be on, and the insurance crap I have to deal with sometimes. I don't wish cancer on anyone, not even my enemies. It's dumb. But I am thankful that I survived it and now I'm a Thriver!

On the Medical Front....

I didn't get the March PET scan approved by my insurance. They say I don't have any active cancer or reason to have one done. So for now, we are waiting and when I meet with Dr. K again in a few weeks, he will most likely order the CT scan instead to check things out. I see Dr. G., my plastics doc, Friday. I know he wants to get my case behind him and move forward but I just don't have any time in my schedule to take time off work for an elective surgery that I don't really need. I want nipples, yes. And so it's in my mind a lot. But with the way our schedule is this summer and how much we need for baseball travels financially, I can not justify being out of work for 2 weeks. Then there's the whole controversy of whether or not to just take out those pesky ovaries. They are essentially fueling my cancer. Sure, I take tamoxifen daily but that doesn't 100% suppress the production of estrogen and progesterone. Taking them out would. I talked to a doctor up here at work who specializes in gynecologic oncology and he says, "TAKE THEM OUT!" So I'm back to wanting that done. But when?????


May 23rd I'm speaking at a women's group at one of Erik's co-worker's church about my breast cancer experience and how God has been with me the whole time. I pray that God will give me the words to help just one of these women, give them hope if they are battling something life threatening too.

Honorary Bat Girl for the Houston Astros

Erik nominated me to be the Astros Honorary Bat Girl a few months back and all my friends and family got to vote daily for me. Turns out, I won the contest and will get to go out on the field during the May 8th, Mother's Day, game and even throw out the first pitch! The boys have been coaching me on my pitching techniques and I'm proud to say, I think I can get it across the plate without bouncing it. I only have one throw to prove myself! LOL! This contest was for breast cancer survivors and fighters who continue to go to bat against breast cancer every day. I'm one of the lucky ones who seems to be winning the fight. I hope to represent my fellow survivors and fighters well. The MLB had an article about me being the winner as did the Astros site. I was interviewed by KSBJ for a radio segment to be aired Friday, May 6th. And last I heard the Humble Observer wants to interview me. It's my 1 minute of fame. I'm so nervous and excited!

Nipples or Not?

Met with Dr Gill a few weeks back and he wants me to go ahead and have the fat grafting (aka liposuction and fat redeposited to my breasts) and nipple reconstruction surgery. I think he was looking at getting it done the beginning of the year however, I have other plans. I am just too busy to have that done right now. I honestly can't fit it in my schedule until August 2016 at least. He also sent me to a pain specialist to give him recommendations as to what pain meds he should prescribe post surgery. Nice of him really because I was upset at how my pain was managed with the last surgery.

I also found out that even though my cancer doctor is happy with the results of the last PET scan, he did say they found one lymph node on the right armpit area that lit up. This can be from inflammation so he wasn't concerned just yet. We will be having another PET scan in March to look at it again. I also had another big cyst on the ovary which we already looked into and deciphered it was from ovulation and not cancer.

A friend from nursing school just found out a month ago that she has cancer. Pretty much the same kind and stage as me. Her course of action is a little different, doing chemo first. It felt good to give her some positive reassurance based on my journey so far. I am glad I could help someone else. If you are reading this, please pray for Marsha.