Home from Portland

I didn't write about it previously in the blog because it was a surprise for Ryan's dad, but we spent Friday and Saturday in Portland to celebrate Ryan's dad's 75th birthday. Happy birthday, Dad Surface! The entire family was there - all 21 of us - and Dad was actually surprised (I think). We had a great time hanging out with everyone, and Tessa was in absolute nirvana to be surrounded by 10 doting cousins. (Sometimes it's very fun to be the littlest!)

The trip went very well, and we all had a great time, but my radiation burn is NOT being kind to me. On Saturday after my shower a big piece of skin came off under my arm and started bleeding where the skin was missing. I sat on the edge of the tub and cried for a minute because it hurt and because it's frustrating, and because it's scary knowing that it's this bad now and that it will get worse for a few weeks. I am horrified to think what "worse" looks like at this point. The top layer(s) of skin have come off almost entirely from the radiated area, not just under my arm now, and under my arm I lose more every day. I'm not exercising because every movement is painful, and that is a mental challenge because I WANT to walk and move and exercise. Maybe after another day or so I will try again, but I have just felt the need to curl into a ball and not move for a while.

Despite all this grim stuff, I'm doing pretty well. The rest of my body (front left chest and underarm excluded) feels great, and the scale continues to be kind to me.

I started Femara three days ago, as I mentioned, and I do not yet feel any ill effects. I hope this bodes very well for the future. My adored sister-in-law Kerri tried Femara as part of her treatment, and was in bed with horrible headaches for the first three days (oh, Kerri, I'm SO sorry!) and had to switch to a different medication. It looks like Femara is not being so unkind to me, and I hold out hope that my five year relationship with Femara will be healthy.

The sun is shining here, though it's very cold, and we're enjoying a quiet day at home. (So quiet for me, in fact, that I slept in until 10am....UNHEARD OF!....while Ryan took Tessa out to play and go to Starbucks. Thanks, Ryan, for letting me sleep in.) We're off to enjoy it!

Love to all,
Kristina