Wow! Time Flies

A great deal has happened since my last post. I will catch you up on the highlights...

After a great deal of prayer and research, I stopped chemo after my second round of Abraxane. I think a lot of people thought I did so because of the side effects...but it was because of the benefits versus the risks of other permanent damage to my body (things like leukemia, heart muscle damage, liver and kidney damage). The doctor told me that having chemo cuts my risk of recurrence by 1/2. Sounds good until you look at the actual numbers...that still leave a 15% risk of recurrence. If it had lowered the risk to 5% I probably would have continued. BUT, the ONLY risk factor I had for this type of breast cancer was that I am a woman...so to me, all the statistics are a crap shoot--in my case anyway. I would rather run the risk of metastatic breast cancer than leukemia.

I am still dealing with neuropathy in my toes, some toe nails have bruised and are in danger of coming off so I have an appointment this week with a podiatrist.

In the meantime, I have been having pretty sever pain in my right hip. Saw the doc who did my partial knee replacement. The MRI he ordered showed some mild osteoarthritis. The good news is no tumors!! He thinks the OA isn't severe enough to be causing the hip issues so he is sending me to a spine doc because it looks like it might be coming from the L3 nerve root. I see him this week too.

Can I just say I would love to have a couple of months where I don't have to see some kind of doctor!

Wilma and Chocula adopted me just before Christmas last year. They are both poodles (surprisingly not yappy) and are wonderful dogs given their life story. Wilma was seized in a puppy mill raid in Feb 2010. The conditions were horrid. She was barely pregnant when the raid happened and Chocula, her last puppy, was born at the Humane Society. Wilma is 2 years old, has no teeth, and is blind in one eye and all Chocula had ever known of life was the Humane Society. They are both such loving dogs!

Pete, Frances, and Nessa (my granddog) came for Christmas. It was such a blessing to have them here for several days during the holiday. We had a lot of funny playing on the Wii, Teri, Isabella and Frances has some "girl time" (that would be shopping), and Pete and I has some mom-son time. It was the first time in a long time the whole family was together.

Isabella turned 2 in January...can it really be? She is living up to the "terrible twos"...but she is an amazing kid. Her vocabulary is growing rapidly and she is stringing words together -- only 2 or 3 but still, it is incredible.

I went back to work on March 1st. It has been good to be back working...brings more normalcy to life. the biggest challenges so far are fatigue and my hip. The fatigue usually hits about mid-week but I can make it through to the weekend. The hip mostly bothers me during drive times -- especially in traffic as the rotation of my foot from gas to break really irritates it. Looks like I am headed to Dubai for 4 weeks at the end of April. I am looking forward to the trip and the craziness of training 300+ employees.

Teri's birthday is coming up in a few days...the big THREE-O!! Wow, how can my kids be in their 30s when I am only 32!! I am so proud of the woman she is becoming. It isn't easy being a single mom (know from experience) but she is doing a great job. This is such a milestone age for women and I wanted to do something for her to honor the changes she is making in her life and to symbolize the end of one phase and the beginning of another. In '99 she got a new Honda Civic and has been driving it ever since. With it closing in on 200,000 miles and looking pretty sad, it was time...so I bought her a new car. The ol' Honda was dark forest green and her new car is a BRIGHT yellow Chevy Aveo. I think the symbolism goes beyond the "old and tired to new and energetic" to "out of the forest and into the light". I hope she always remembers what a truly strong woman she is and how much value she has as a woman.

I guess the only other thing going on is that I am planning a trip out to California to see my brother again this September. I think this will be a yearly ritual. My biggest decision this year is whether to fly or drive. Since I will probably take my full 2 weeks of vacation, I think driving would be great fun...guess it will depend a lot on the outcome of my hip/back saga.

Namaste,

Jan