Summer Time and the Living is Easy!

Well, here it is, July 17th, and with my main cancer treatment behind me, the living IS easy. My last radiation treatment was on July 2nd. I'm finally getting over the burn. The worst of that hit after the treatments had ended. There was an area under my right arm that looked like it had been fried. It was brown and dry, and the dead skin just finally sluffed off. The rest of the area that was radiated was just like a very bad sunburn. No matter how much Miaderm I put on, it just plain hurt. Now it's finally healing and I can actually wear my bra again. I know this sounds awful, but I didn't have it as bad as some of the women that I befriended in the waiting room. There's always someone you meet that's worse off than you, and it really gives you pause and just thankful for your blessings.

Anyway, I met with the surgeon that will do my reconstruction a week after I was finished with the radiation. He said that I would not be a candidate for a silcon or saline implant, because of the effect the radiation had on my skin. I don't know all of the reasons, but I think alot of it has to do with scarring, etc. So, I'll be doing the reconstruction where they take fat, etc. out of the lower stomach (tummy tuck) and make a boob. They attach blood vessels, etc. so there is circulation. This is a major surgery. It'll take about six to eight hours. I won't be having it till October because I need to be totally healed from the radiation.

In the meantime, I'm taking part in a study at the Huntsman. It's being done to find out if adding bisphosphonates (drugs that have strong effects on the bones and can strengthen them) to hormonal therapy (Tamoxifen) will help prevent cancer from spreading to the bones or other parts of the body. Since I was already taking Fosamax, I decided to do this. It certainly won't hurt me, and if it can find answers to help in the future fight against this disease, I'm only glad to be part of this. It's a national study involving about 4000 women. They are studying three different bisphosphonates. Two are pills that a woman takes on a daily basis for three years, and the third is an infusion that a woman has on a monthly basis for six months, then quarterly for the remainder of the study. I was radomized into the one that is the infusion. The bisphosphonate is Zometa. My oncologist told me it is a very good drug and he uses it along with chemotherapy for people who are already suffering from bone cancer. I've had one infusion already and my next one will be on July 22nd. So far there have not been any bad side effects. I'll be doing this for three years along with the hormone therapy, Tamoxifen (which I take for five years).

And so goes my life. I sometimes wonder what happened and how I got here, but here I am, and I'm going to make the very best I can of it. Life deals everyone challenges, and it's how we handle these challenges that makes us who we are.