One Year Survivor

I can still hear the sound of the rain that was pounding on the windows when I sat down to write my first blog entry. It seems appropriate now that as I write my last entry, it is quiet. I decided about two months ago that my last blog entry would be on the anniversary of my diagnosis. Here we are, one year later. I am officially a “One Year Cancer Survivor”.

I thought I would throw in another Q & A to help wrap things up.

Q – Am I cancer free?
A – Let’s hope so. My oncologist tells me that it will be ten years before we know if all the treatments worked. One down, nine to go.

Q – If I could change the events of the past year, would I?
A – Strangely enough, no. I’m a strong believer that everything happens for a reason. I think cancer is one of the best things that has ever happened to me. After the past year, I can say that life seems richer than ever before.

Q – If I had to do it all again, would I?
A – Yes, in a minute.

Q – What kind of testing or appointments will I have from here on in?
A - I will continue to see my oncologist every 9 weeks for the next 2 years. I will continue with my Herceptin infusions until June. I will be taking Tamoxifen for 5 years. I will have annual mammograms; the next one being February 23rd.

Q – Will I have my tattoos removed?
A - No. They’re a good reminder for me on how precious life is.

Q – Will I miss writing in my blog?
A – Yes, but seeing as things are getting back to normal, what would I write about? ‘Today I had soup for lunch. Andrew had a hockey game tonight. I baked cookies for Valentine’s Day.’ I’ll spare you from all those boring details.

Q – How will you know what’s happening to me?
A – Call me, e-mail me, drop by.

I have to take this last opportunity to thank all of you for ‘getting on the bus’. You were part of my therapy; you kept encouraging me and kept me moving forward. I will be forever grateful.

To Steve, who endured more than anyone, no words can ever describe how much you mean to me. Happy Valentine’s Day.

Thank you.

The end.

me

Fulltime

Today I started back to work fulltime. I laugh because I had at doctor’s appointment at 2pm...so maybe tomorrow is my first official fulltime day. So far so good.

Friday I’ll be having and ECG and Echocardiogram to make sure all is well with my heart. I’ll be wearing a heart monitor for 48 hours so if you see me at wearing it you’ll know it’s not a new iPod.

me

1 in 9

Today the doctor in genetics said, “I have good news, we did not find any mutation in BRCA1 or BRCA2.” Translation…I did not inherit a BRCA1 or BRCA2 gene mutation and I will not pass one on to Andrew or Sean. The Lincoln’s and O’Bryan’s can have some relief that this mutation isn’t floating around our family. So I fall into the 90% pool of people who get cancer for environmental reasons. When you figure that 1 in 9 women will get breast cancer in their life, someone has to get it, and I guess my number was picked.

My next appointment today was with my radiologist. This was just a follow-up appointment. The doctor said that everything looked and felt good so she didn’t want to see me for a year. Although I’ll still have appointments with my oncologist every 9 weeks, it was strange to hear a doctor tell me that I wouldn’t see them for a year. During this process you lose the ability to think too far into the future. So it was like, ‘Wow, she thinks I’ll still be alive in a year…that’s awesome!’ As trivial as all that may seem, today it gave me huge sense of accomplishment, even more so than when I finished chemo or radiation. It makes me smile.

me

Remember

This past week at work just seemed to fly by. I’m slowly starting to remember everything I used to do including my routine at home.

It was a year ago on February 2nd that I had the mammogram, ultrasound and biopsy then the wait to find out the test results. It was on my mind all week. I can remember every detail of that day as if it were yesterday. It’s amazing what I’ve learned in a year.

This week I will be seeing my radiologist for a check-up. I will also be meeting with one of the doctors in genetics…my test results are finally in. Remember the blood work they did for the tests??? That was back in May! As I said before, only about 5 - 10% of cancer is genetic; the rest is environmental. If my cancer is not genetic, it makes me wonder what I did or didn’t do, what I ate or what I touched or where I went that started those cells to go wacko in the first place. Perhaps we’ll never know.

me