PSA!

My sister-in-law's post about Alice being a month old (already!) reminded me of something I wanted to post about...

I want YOU to do a self-exam!

HAVE YOU DONE YOUR MONTHLY SELF BREAST EXAM LADIES?

My guess is that most of my female friends and family did when they found out about what was going on with me (I'm hoping at least!) in early to mid August.  Whelp, it's mid-September.  Time flies.

Not sure how?  Here's some easy steps:

Pick a method (circles, up and down, whatever) and stick to it.  Notice any differences between breasts, changes, etc.  It's most helpful to do at the same time in your menstrual cycle.  Any concerns?  Tell your doc (family, gyno, whatever).  If you're not sure you're doing it right, show your doc and let them correct you.

Do self exams prevent cancer? No.  Can they help detect it earlier?  Absolutely.  Does early detection allow for additional treatment options and boost survival and quality of life statistics?  You bet.

Guys, you're not immune, you've got your own stuff to take care of: How to Do a Testicular Self-Exam.  Plus, it's also on you to remind your sisters, mom, wives, girlfriends, etc.  And hey, if you want to join in and help them do the checks (talking about the wives and girlfriends here), they may not mind...

Add it to your calendar, use one of the smart phone apps designed to remind you and provide info, whatever.  Just get it done.  Make it like paying your rent or mortgage or any other monthly task.  I wish I had been more diligent...I would have been able to provide more information and perhaps earlier information to my doctor.  I know we're still a few weeks from official Breast Cancer Awareness Month, but cancer doesn't wait, so you shouldn't either.

THUD.

That's me jumping off my soapbox.  

In other news...

-I bought a VivoFit  activity tracker so I don't get chemo-lazy about not being active throughout the day....or if I do, at least I know about it.

-After working a full day yesterday including moving boxes, restocking expo products, etc, I crashed at about 8 pm...apparently my endurance levels are dropping.

-I finally ordered a wig!  Pictures when it arrives...thanks to the broomball team for generous gift certificate to our favorite catalog to help with it.

-I started paying bills (exclamation point???)  Trying to match EOBs with actual bills is a PITA.  Forthcoming post on that at some point.

-Oh Peyton, why couldn't you have just not thrown that pick...

-Had my first booze in awhile...

mmmm brunch bloody mary...

at a brunch that could have been deserving of it's own blog post.  Great patio at a great place, Lily's in the Oregon District.  Unfortunately our server was...well, something to be desired.  We ended up getting the meal comped due to waiting literally an hour and a half for our food, which we alerted staff to.  It was tasty, and the hot sauce (that said server then "borrowed" off of our table mid-meal) was delicious.  All in all though, a few hours spent with good friends having great conversation isn't something to be complained about, so was happy to start my Sunday in this way!

Thanks for reading, now go

Taking Control of What I Can

Sorry all, back to me, Anne for this one.  But I must say, Sarah did an excellent job and I think the guest blogger idea will have to make a comeback at some point.

Saturday started off with breakfast in bed service courtesy of Sherpa Sarah, and I must admit was one of the better breakfast sandwiches I've eaten in awhile!  It was a beautiful weekend here, so got some yard work done, then off to the store to get some essentials as well as some supplies for having a few friends over in the afternoon.  Sarah was an awesome helper, prepping food while I went and got my immuno-booster shot.  A quick nap for me (was a little tired, but otherwise feeling good) and then UD friends came over for food and fun.

Ladder ball toss! Thanks Idaho Crecelii!

After a delicious dinner, some games, and a this time successful fire (wahoo for dry wood!), I said "so you guys want to help me shave my head?".

Throughout the day, I had played with my hair as I normally do, and each time, fairly decent sized chunks were starting to come out.  This was on the predictable time schedule, perhaps even a bit late, but as the nurse said, sometimes a second treatment is needed.  Also, when I had taken a long sleeve shirt off to get my shot, noticed quite a bit of shedding on my undershirt.  Soooo, rather than let these gross chunks continue, since I had family and friends around me, I decided it was time.

I think maybe best to let the video and pictures do the talking...

The first cut is the deepest...or in my case, the one that gets a little too close...

I let everyone take a good hack with the scissors then wanted my GI Jane moment...

Like Sarah said, life isn't like the movies.

Helped that Adam then read the directions and realized that we didn't actually have the clippers fully extended, which explained why they weren't cutting great (rather than just that they were only $10 that day at Meijer).

Awkward mid-cut shots

Can I just borrow some of yours Sarah?

Fabulous friends!

The new look!

First impressions of being essentially hairless:

1) It's cold!

2) The stubble gets caught on things like hoods and hats

3) Your own buzzed head is just as fun to rub as other people's.

The fun and excitement of the haircut wore me out pretty good.  After my first serious nauseous moment this morning managed to sleep a few more hours.  Went on a short jog/run with Sarah in the continuing beautiful weather then got lunch (mmmm Jimmy John's) and stopped by Runners Plus to do some shopping.  Was a little weird to take my stocking cap off there and "show off" the lack of hair, but thankfully my head is not overly misshapen.  

Just got home not long ago from a tough goodbye at the airport with Sarah and will rest some more after finishing this post.  I'm still feeling well, but I think Sundays will continue to be tough as the steroid and iv anti nausea meds I get Friday wear off, and the bone and muscle stiffness and pain from the Neulasta/immuno-booster start.  

The haircut definitely makes it all feel a bit more real, and I think it was time for that.  I could have probably waited a few more days, but making the shaving seem like an event, and one that I chose to happen seemed like the best idea, especially considering I lack choice in much of this.   

I'm sure that a scarf-day at work tomorrow will be a bit different, and I'll need to order a wig at some point, but it continues to be another step along this process.  And, maybe some birds will appreciate all the new material we gave them for nests!

Remarkable and Unremarkable

REMARKABLE:
Forgot to mention this yesterday...at about 5pm, I cleaned my glasses that I had been wearing all day and realized that they were not mine...

Twins!

Not only is my dear friend Emily that I spent the weekend with a great person, but apparently, we have essentially the same prescription.  I really couldn't tell a difference all day.  I'd say that's pretty remarkable.

REMARKABLE:
I got a package at my door today, which in itself is not remarkable given all you people being overly generous and showering me with love, support, packages, etc.  I didn't recognize the name or address in Minnesota, but thought perhaps it was an Etsy shop or something.  To my surprise, I found a card addressed to me with caring words from Susie, someone who volunteers with my good friend's parents (and my second set of parents) at Children's Hospital. Beneath Susie's kind words:

Stunning.

A beautiful hand crocheted afghan (in colors that are so "me"!) and a great fuzzy hat, that I'll affectionately call my Cookie Monster hat as it perfectly matches the jacket of the same nickname that I already have.  Susie is a survivor so knows first hand what an extra bit of warmth can do to get you through chemo.

Susie the Stranger, you are remarkable.

UNREMARKABLE:

Went to my oncologist this afternoon for the standard 2-week follow-up that I'll do throughout chemo.  Overall, a pretty unremarkable appointment.  "Are you sure you guys are giving me the good stuff? I feel fine!".  He seemed to think Big Bertha has softened a bit and her gang of nodes were smaller as well, all good stuff.  More importantly, the results from the CT scan to detect possible metastases last week were pushed to my patient account:

UNREMARKABLE!

I guess cancer does change things, as I never thought I'd be so happy to be unremarkable.

A Beautiful Birthday

Happy 29th birthday to me (yesterday...).

Before I get into what ended up being a really great day, I should say.  I'm not actually that big of a fan of my birthday.  I find them to often be a lot like New Year's...a lot of build-up and anticipation of what can often be less fun than a random Tuesday.  Over the years I've had a few notable less-than-awesome ones, that I should probably be glad I'm not going to find pictures from...the family might remember the high school one where I balled because Dad was watching a game and my presents weren't great...

Lacking the 3D hologram effect of the one from Marc and Sarah

and I had lost my tennis match that day.  Colorado friends might remember the "I had to have the stomach flu because I can handle light beer better than that" experience of late, and other not overly awesome ones in between.  Last year, I thought I might have reversed the trend with a great time at a Reds game, but alas, I was sort of prepared for another "whomp, whomp" kind of day.

I should have known better and had faith that my awesome friends and family wouldn't let that happen...and they didn't.

We started the day with a trip to Trader Joe's to prepare for the evening where I got a super cute free reusable bag because Emily felt the need to inform our checker it was my birthday.  Then despite the clouds, went and visited Young's Dairy, out past Yellow Springs (Yes, the Yellow Springs associated with Dave Chappelle).  

While somewhat underwhelming, it was a fun time of animals, delicious cheese curds and ice cream ("this is definitely the best flavor...it might give you diabetes but it's delicious"...credit the 15 year old for trying to sell me on it?).

 

Animals in the barn chilling.

Rain managed to hold off to allow for a lovely hike in John Bryan State Park with these compadres:

Happy times!

Made a stop by a coworker's house on the way home to chat and let kids play then headed home to prepare for having friends over.

A successful grilling experience, a less than successful bonfire experience (I blame the wet wood and lack of an ax to make proper kindling...I do know how to build a fire, I promise), fun times playing Kan Jam and Cards Against Humanity (awesomely inappropriate game if you aren't aware...i.e. perfect for me, thanks Jen!), and birthday cake candle blowing out later, and it was a really great evening.  

I feel so lucky to have friends that can be friends with each other, that can laugh at my semi-inappropriate jokes about my current situation of having cancer, and that overwhelmed me with delicious chocolate things to eat.  

Andria's adorable contribution to the fun.

It would be unfair if I didn't also acknowledge the numerous texts, phonecalls, voicemails, Facebook messages/shout outs, cards, presents etc from folks throughout the day and that I know are still even forthcoming.  So, THANK YOU!    

All in all it was just a really good, fun, normal day.  A perfect way to start what I'm sure will be a year to remember, but hopefully will also have many more good, fun days.

Friday's CT Scan

Posting a few days late...apologies.

Had a CT Scan Friday morning for a couple reasons:
1- Because the cancer is likely in the lymph nodes (the start of the lymph system, which essentially drain fluid and wastes), the chances of cancer cells being spread throughout the body (become metastatic) is possible.  A CT Scan will determine whether there are any concerning areas in the chest, abdomen or pelvis.

2- The breast MRI I got last week showed a suspicious spot on the sternum that given everything else, deserved additional examination.  

Through all of this, I'm learning why radiology  is a field deserving of it's own medical specialty.  It's really a whole heck of a lot of physics, in terms of sound, electromagnetism, and radiation.  And in general, it's interesting the levels of imaging that are done from a cost, safety to patients perspective.  The academic in me thinks it would probably make a pretty good dissertation topic of study (that's probably already been done) to examine some of the past and current practices by which all of these different technologies are used.  Yes, I realize I'm a dork.

After arriving at the hospital (which now I knew my way to radiology in...) and registering, the first step was to insert an i.v. for a blood draw.  Funny moment of this step...like at many hospitals, all employees wear badges displaying the unit with which they are affiliated.  The gentleman putting my i.v. had his badge turned a bit and I thought it said:

RADIOLOGY

AMIGO

to which I thought "huh, well, I guess he's my friend and maybe he speaks Spanish???".  So because I've decided to make all of the medical appointments as enjoyable as possible and engage in conversation with the various medical persons involved, I asked him about it.  Turns out, it said:

 RADIOLOGY

ANGIO

Yeah, that would make more sense.

Next step in the process was to drink the oral contrast agent over the period of about an hour or so....

Sure...I'll take the lemonade flavor...

Kinda awkward to sit in a waiting room with 4 other people doing the same thing (hmmm...wonder what's wrong with them!).

After that, it was actually a very quick process.  Got to leave my clothes on and everything, a few "hold your breaths" and a very interesting experience with the iv contrast agent that as more than one of the staff had told me "will make you feel like you're going to pee your pants but I PROMISE you that you won't" (Spoiler Alert: I didn't).

This CT Scanner could be yours for a low cost of 200K!

Results should come Monday, either from my surgeon or perhaps just at my appointment with my oncologist in the afternoon.  Also seen at the hospital that made me chuckle.  A vanity plate in the parking lot that said:

INTUB8

After the scan I enjoyed my non-teaching morning doing work at Panera, where I decided that I need to start a blog a la Texts From Last Night called "Conversations at the Coffee Shop", because, man, there were some doozies.  Also, I really hope the girl who was applying for the job at the March of Dimes gets it because based on her phone interview (of which I witnessed the entirety of), she really is a good candidate.

Lunch with a good friend followed, then our fall all-school faculty meeting.  Imagine like the Apple corporate meetings about new iPhones and such but people in suits, far less impressive presentations (properly branded PowerPoints...which by the way, I never appreciated "branding" until I met the aforementioned good friend who has educated me extensively in this area), and boring podiums.  So I guess nothing like it really, except an update and address for the faculty.  It went well, though I think many people I haven't seen in a bit were doing double-takes with the new short hairdo.

Friday night then consisted of spending time with my dear friend Emily, my former partner-in-crime at UD spearheading the creation of this (when at least I thought it'd be a massive failure) and her adorable little guy.  Also, I accidentally sent a pizza order to my old apartment.  Damn you online ordering!  Again, let's hope I was just distracted by the wonderful conversation and company and it wasn't a chemobrain effect.  Eventually got it right and it was delicious.

Physically felt great all day and should probably watch my whole eat whatever I want while I still have an appetite and lack of metal-mouth  otherwise soon none of my clothes will fit! :)