I don't have time to go into the details right now, but due to a scheduling error on the part of my plastic surgeon's office, my surgery has been moved to November 10 at 2pm.
Sigh. I just want to get this thing over with! I am REALLY looking forward to having two breasts, and despite my frustration at the scheduling/postponement, I am deeply excited about seeing the final results.
Thursday, October 26, 2006
Monday, October 23, 2006
Colonoscopy update
I had my colonoscopy today, and they found one small polyp and some internal hemmorhoids (sp?). I will hear in 10-14 days what the pathology of the polyp was, but they're not particularly concerned. And now that I've announced the state of my colon on the internet (really, do I have ANY boundaries left?!) I will go so far as to say that I'm actually relieved that there were 'roids, because that might explain some of the blood in the stool that sent me to the colonoscopy in the first place. As long as it's not cancer, I can face it...
Chemo really, really messes with the system. Here I am, ten months after chemo, and my body is still showing wear and tear from it.
I have to state, for the record, that the "drink" (Fleet phospho-soda, I believe) that you have before the colonoscopy procedure is truly the nastiest, most foul, awful, disgusting stuff that has ever passed my lips. I had to have it before my hysterectomy, and I had it twice again to prepare for the colonscopy. It's designed to completely clean out your system, and it is very effective at doing so (here, I will spare you the gross details). The mere thought of it sends me into literal shudders, and makes me gag and choke. Really, can't they come up with something even a bit better?! A couple of hours after taking it, I was throwing up, feeling horrifically nauseated, shaking with chills, and miserable. YUCK. (It is insult to injury here that I have a nasty, nasty cold, with a raspy voice, cough, etc. on top of all this.)
The procedure itself was no big deal, however. The drugs made me happy but lucid enough to watch some of the procedure on the screen - I think I dozed on and off. The "no boundaries left" thing is helpful in situations like this...I've been poked and prodded and cut and such by so many medical procedures that one more doesn't really mean anything to me; I'm able to disassociate from my body somehow to get through it. This is a helpful skill, it's just unfortunate that I've had so many opportunities to practice using it.
I'll update when I have more info about the pathology results.
Oh, and because some have asked....I haven't yet had the additional genetic testing. It's a new procedure...so new that the lab that conducts the testing doesn't have the insurance codes, and the insurance company doesn't have the insurance codes. I'm still working on figuring out if insurance will pay for it, and we'll go from there.
Thursday is my next big medical day, with four appointments: follow up with oncologist, Herceptin, meeting with plastic surgeon, and physical therapy (I'm going to do the treadmill test again...should be interesting!). The plastic surgeon will tell me if I"m ready for surgery on Nov. 7, and I pray that I will be able to go ahead with it. The sooner it's done, the better. I REALLY want to be done with reconstruction by my two year diagnosis anniversary. Isn't two years enough?!
So, I continue on in Medical Land. It's not Cancer Land exactly, but a bordering country.
Kristina
Chemo really, really messes with the system. Here I am, ten months after chemo, and my body is still showing wear and tear from it.
I have to state, for the record, that the "drink" (Fleet phospho-soda, I believe) that you have before the colonoscopy procedure is truly the nastiest, most foul, awful, disgusting stuff that has ever passed my lips. I had to have it before my hysterectomy, and I had it twice again to prepare for the colonscopy. It's designed to completely clean out your system, and it is very effective at doing so (here, I will spare you the gross details). The mere thought of it sends me into literal shudders, and makes me gag and choke. Really, can't they come up with something even a bit better?! A couple of hours after taking it, I was throwing up, feeling horrifically nauseated, shaking with chills, and miserable. YUCK. (It is insult to injury here that I have a nasty, nasty cold, with a raspy voice, cough, etc. on top of all this.)
The procedure itself was no big deal, however. The drugs made me happy but lucid enough to watch some of the procedure on the screen - I think I dozed on and off. The "no boundaries left" thing is helpful in situations like this...I've been poked and prodded and cut and such by so many medical procedures that one more doesn't really mean anything to me; I'm able to disassociate from my body somehow to get through it. This is a helpful skill, it's just unfortunate that I've had so many opportunities to practice using it.
I'll update when I have more info about the pathology results.
Oh, and because some have asked....I haven't yet had the additional genetic testing. It's a new procedure...so new that the lab that conducts the testing doesn't have the insurance codes, and the insurance company doesn't have the insurance codes. I'm still working on figuring out if insurance will pay for it, and we'll go from there.
Thursday is my next big medical day, with four appointments: follow up with oncologist, Herceptin, meeting with plastic surgeon, and physical therapy (I'm going to do the treadmill test again...should be interesting!). The plastic surgeon will tell me if I"m ready for surgery on Nov. 7, and I pray that I will be able to go ahead with it. The sooner it's done, the better. I REALLY want to be done with reconstruction by my two year diagnosis anniversary. Isn't two years enough?!
So, I continue on in Medical Land. It's not Cancer Land exactly, but a bordering country.
Kristina
Sunday, October 22, 2006
I ran 9 miles!
I can't believe I did it, but yesterday Michele, Susan, Adrienne & I all completed the Halloween 1/2 Marathon in Olympia. We had planned to run half, and walk the other half, and we'd worked out a plan for doing so. Well, we were all overly excited....so we started running more, and walking less....and whaddyaknow, by the end we'd run 9 miles and only walked 4.1! This blows my mind - I really, truly did not know that I had it in me to run so far, and I'm really excited by it.
And, I must add, I have the most amazing friends to run with. The camraderie is fablous, and we're very fortunate to be paced well with one another. We did all but the last minute together (and I'm not ashamed to say that I was LAST!).
Today I've got a nasty, nasty cold, and I've almost lost my voice. I was getting this cold yesterday (I nearly bailed on running the event) but held on....and now the cold is here for real. Coughing, sneezing, congestion, sore throat, laryngitis....it's a real pleasure. (Not.)
And, to make things just a little more fun, I'm preparing for a colonoscopy tomorrow. (Read: I have to drink nasty stuff to clean out my system, and I'm on a 24 hour liquid diet.) I pray that they don't find anything...I'm hoping that my problems are a residual from chemo, and not colon cancer. Tomorrow we'll find out more.
At least as I sit here miserable I can think back to yesterday's glory with the run!
As of now, we (the aforementioned team) are looking at running the Portland Marathon in 2007. If I can run 9 miles with so little training, imagine what I could do with lots of training....! Hopefully, I can run 26 miles in 5 hours or less. (That would NOT set any records. That would be a slow time. But slow is fine with me....and since some people take 6 hours, 5 hours seems like a reasonable goal!)
And, I must add, I have the most amazing friends to run with. The camraderie is fablous, and we're very fortunate to be paced well with one another. We did all but the last minute together (and I'm not ashamed to say that I was LAST!).
Today I've got a nasty, nasty cold, and I've almost lost my voice. I was getting this cold yesterday (I nearly bailed on running the event) but held on....and now the cold is here for real. Coughing, sneezing, congestion, sore throat, laryngitis....it's a real pleasure. (Not.)
And, to make things just a little more fun, I'm preparing for a colonoscopy tomorrow. (Read: I have to drink nasty stuff to clean out my system, and I'm on a 24 hour liquid diet.) I pray that they don't find anything...I'm hoping that my problems are a residual from chemo, and not colon cancer. Tomorrow we'll find out more.
At least as I sit here miserable I can think back to yesterday's glory with the run!
As of now, we (the aforementioned team) are looking at running the Portland Marathon in 2007. If I can run 9 miles with so little training, imagine what I could do with lots of training....! Hopefully, I can run 26 miles in 5 hours or less. (That would NOT set any records. That would be a slow time. But slow is fine with me....and since some people take 6 hours, 5 hours seems like a reasonable goal!)
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