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Well I’m glad THAT’S over!!
What a crazy day! Started with the thought “I have all morning to relax before being picked up at 11:30”. I sat down, ate my oatmeal and put on the U.S. Open to watch me some golf. Phone rang. It’s the cancer agency saying that my blood work from yesterday has come back with blood counts too low for chemo, and could I please come and get more blood work done NOW so they can make a decision on whether I can follow through with it. So I lost the morning, and then waited and waited and waited to see if my new blood counts were better. Best part is…
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Change of plan!!!
Well I wish I could say it was a good change, but I’m not so sure it is. I saw both of my oncologists today. Tomorrow is my last round of the worst chemo, which technically means that the next three weeks will be the hardest. Then things are supposed to get better as the next four rounds are a different kind, which aren’t supposed to make me as tired. However, instead of having surgery as planned in the fall, now I need 28 rounds of radiation first. So surgery won’t happen until 6 weeks after THAT, so probably after Christmas. I now have to wait for my surgeon…
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Timing is everything
I’m such a control freak. I have been scared to death, cut open, poisoned, and basically made androgynous, but the hardest part of this whole ride has been about time. I was going to say waiting, but that’s only part of it. The concept of TIME covers waiting, healing, counting the days between treatments, knowing when I do or don’t or will or won’t need help, planning my days, planning my future, and waiting some more. TIME has been my largest struggle. I should have known it would be an issue when time stood still after my diagnosis. Then there was the wait for a surgery date, while fielding a…
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Shit people say….
Today I’ve run into a sort of theme. It started innocently enough by an internet troll trying to sell me some multilevel supplement that “will change my life”. I was feeling somewhat adventurous so I responded, mostly to her marketing technique of trolling her friends’ facebook friends and hoping for a bite, and we got into a bit of a conversation about “what’s best for me.” I finally told her sorry, I can’t do her supplement because I’m doing chemo, and she responded with a list of people she knows who have died of cancer, and how it only affects the strongest people, etc etc etc. Her logic was way…
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The stigma of suffering alone
Many, many people have sent me notes and messages thanking me for being so open about my journey through cancer. To be honest, my first thought has always been – well did you expect any otherwise from me? I’ve always been a pretty open book, and I’ve rarely been one to keep my mouth shut on anything (although to be fair, I’m getting much much better at that as I grow older and wiser. Or maybe it’s just learning from my mistakes…. either way…..). But as I think further about it, I realize that the majority of people are not the same as me. Many people go through this alone,…
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My story
Where to start. Well I suppose that’s easy. Buckle up – this will be a long one. In October of 2014, I went to the doctor for my annual check up. All was well, no issues, no lumps. I asked my doc if now that I’m 41 I should start getting regular mammograms. She told me that “actually, they are now recommending that women without any family history or palpable lumps or issues can probably wait until they turn 50 to go for regular screening”. So I said ok then!! December 2014, I got an email at work that the BC Cancer Agency was bringing a mobile screening clinic to UVic…
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Let me introduce myself……
I know you’ll inevitably check out the the “About me” section, but I thought I’d start off with a bit of the who what why of this blog. My name is Teri. I am a 41 year old mom of two, wife of one, who pretty much just likes to say it as it is. I have breast cancer. There, I said it. As it is. It’s a funny thing, this cancer thing. Everyone seems to react to that word differently. I have a lot of people saying things like “oh you’re so positive!” and “aren’t you angry?” – well the truth is, I’m positive because it’s the only way…