The (Hopefully) Home Stretch

 It's the first full week of April, and I'm starting to feel normal again. I should say "new normal". Even though I'm finishing my 2nd of three weeks of daily radiation treatments, I'm feeling pretty well, just a little burned from the radiation. My cat now thinks that walking on my burns while I'm napping is a great new passtime. Mostly, I'm just a bit sore from the burns, and my surgical areas are either numb or just a bit sore, and I have some residual swelling, which will go down as time passes. But radiation, although daily, goes very quickly once they have you all set up. They x-ray me every monday to make sure my bones are doing ok, and I see the radiology oncologist every Wednesday, so that's comforting.

I have to admit, March of this year wasn't much fun. It took about 14 days before my drains could be removed (which is normal), but it makes it hard to sleep as they are sewn to the skin, and if you accidentally lay on one, or move the wrong way...ouch. Having them removed was very easy and not painful at all, just sort of odd. The drains are about 14" long and are tucked up into the surgical area, so it has been nice not to be aware of them all the time, which is kind of icky. And not having to empty the drains has been good. I can do all sorts of icky things (veterinary stuff), but taking care of one's own drains is sort of nauseating.

Mom's condo is on the market. I didn't think it would ever be ready to go, and was feeling sort of defeated by that, but Paul helped a lot, and my realtor knew some great people who took care of big stuff that needed to happen for not too much money. Stuff like fixing nail holes, painting, washing out cupboards, cleaning the carpets. My mom's neighbor is the property manager, so he got the front of the condo all painted and cleaned her back deck. Whew.

After mom's big move, which Paul and Conor supervised and helped with, Camille has been up to mom's new apartment a few times to help her order stuff and hang pictures, empty and get rid of boxes, etc. So all in all, mom's apartment looks great, and she is settling in very well, which is a big comfort to me. 

I will most likely go back to my volunteer job at Thrifty Kitty after radiation is over, because I've missed it so much, and my volunteer buddies. What a great community of women they are. I am very grateful for their love and support through all of this.

I know so many women who have been through cancer, and some who are still battling, struggles which are much worse than mine, so I am extremely grateful that it was caught early enough, and my surgery seems to have taken the cancer away. My next biggest challenge doesn't feel like a challenge at all: figuring out how I want to "look". I'm currently not needing to wear a bra at all which after a lifetime of wearing one, is a relief. I'm finding though, that I can find clothes that fit, but a lot of tops still have room for breasts, so I will eventually head into a mastectomy gear shop to check out my options. There is a really great one in Bellingham, and they will take the prescription from my doctor, so that's a relief. I was going to use Knitted Knockers, but I think they are a wonderful resource for women who are struggling financially, so I will leave all the knockers for them.

I still have my chemo port under my collar bone, and we'll leave that in for a few more months to make sure my blood tests all come out ok. I hope I won't really need to use it for chemo, but it's there if I do end up needing it. If I don't, it's easily removed in the surgeon's office, he says.

Again, all I'm really feeling is grateful right now, grateful for friends and family who have helped out and sent well-wishes, checked in on me, sent cards, flowers, food you name it. Grateful for a wonderful care team at Skagit Valley Cancer Center. I feel like one lucky woman.