A New Full Time Job

This week I have not been busy managing 2 bank locations and 6 employees (I haven't had time to)! This week my new full time job has been being a cancer patient, and trust me it's been an all.day.long. Full Time Job! So here is what my last couple of days have looked like.

Monday morning started off at 8:30am at the oncologist office. There, Ryan and I met Dr. Masri, my oncologist. We finally found out that my HER2 lab came back positive. So, I am an Estrogen and Progesterone negative patient with an HER2 positive hormone receptor. They tell me that this is the better option than being what they call a "triple negative" breast cancer patient. I am still a Grade 3 which means the breast cancer is growing aggressively. Dr. Masri suggested that due to this, we need to get chemotherapy started very soon to make sure this does not spread, and we know it had already spread to my lymph nodes in my arm pit. So, next Wednesday, Dec. 30th will be my first chemotherapy treatment. He picked a chemo regimen that is very aggressive but he feels with me being young and healthy I should be able to handle the chemo. We talked about the side effects of chemo and what to expect. Yes, I will lose my hair and yes it bothers me. I know it is a side effect I should not care about but let's face it girls.... No girl wants to be bald. Ryan and I left the clinic and went to breakfast. I cried the whole time, the shock was wearing off and this is becoming real. This is going to happen. I have to do chemo (which terrifies me more than anything), I have to tell my children what's going to happen to mommy (which I still have not done), and I have to have a test that is going to tell me if this cancer has spread to other areas of my body (which I wasn't sure I even wanted to know). 

So, let's talk about today Tuesday...

Well my insurance company denied the authorization for a pet scan, but they would pay for a ct scan and a bone scan. Seems silly to me, but ok.. I went with it. I was at the hospital at 6:45am for a 7am ct scan and a 11:00am bone scan. Ryan and I then met the breast surgeon Dr. Savereide at 1:45. We loved him! Even though surgery will not come for a few months, it was great to meet him and talk over my case. I asked about results of my ct and bone scan and he was able to look them over (along with the radiologist) and give me some very good news! They did not see any areas of concern on the ct or bone scan. Finally some good news!!! And a piece of mind going into the holiday weekend. I still have breast cancer but they don't see any concern in the other areas of my body.... PRAISE GOD AND YOUR PRAYERS!!

SO, tomorrow brings on another full day at the hospital. I'm starting at the hospital at 8am to have an echo cardio test. This is just to check my heart to make sure it is healthy enough for the chemo I am starting on Wednesday next week. Then in the afternoon I am having a procedure to insert a port in my chest where my chemo will go into. 

How ironic is it that today my mother had a chemo port installed in her chest and tomorrow I am having one installed. Same exact thing. My mom as many of you know was diagnosed with colorectal cancer in August. She had already done one round of chemo (pill form) and had surgery the day before Thanksgiving. She has been doing wonderful since surgery and is currently disease free, however she will be doing a follow up chemo round to make sure all cancer cells are out of her. She starts on Monday next week, and I start chemo 2 days later. We are in this together! I don't know why we both had to get cancer, but we have each other and she has been so strong! She is going to see me thru this and I am going to see her thru. I love you Mom and I am so proud of you! I'm going to make you proud too ❤️.

I should also shout out to the best husband ever! It can't be easy being the spouse of a cancer patient, but Ryan has been by my side thru it all the last 2 weeks. It's been a full time job for him as well. Thank goodness we have supportive employers who are allowing us to focus on me right now. It's not easy for either one of us to not be in control at work, so thank you to all of our coworkers and employers for being supportive to us both.

That's all I got for tonight! Merry Christmas to you all! Enjoy the holiday this week and most importantly Count Your Blessings!!