6 Down, 24 more to go!

I hope that everyone had a great Easter weekend.  Ours was great, filled with family, food and lots of chocolate- too much chocolate!
So I have now had 6 radiation treatments and 24 left to go.  It seems to be going okay right now.  All of my treatments are scheduled for the morning which is great because I get to be home to watch the kids play their after school  sports- although the weather has been so cold and rainy that I watch from the car!  I get to the hospital about 10 minutes before my scheduled appt.  Now that I bought a monthly parking pass and I have a permit that allows me to park in reserved oncology spots- parking is a breeze.  Good to know that I can claim all my parking fees on taxes- they sure are adding up!  I go straight into the radiation department.  They have 4 treatment rooms and each treatment room has a very large and extremely impressive radiationn machine.  They set me up in the same position everytime- so that takes awhile, but once they have the configurations all correct the radiation only takes about 5 minutes. It is painless, can't really feel anything, just large beeping and noises from the machine moving.  If they are not behind then I can be done in about 20 minutes.  Thank goodness I live close to the hospital- met some people who come in from Guelph and surrounding areas every day.
I feel okay, there is some tightening in the area that they radiated and it is starting to turn red.  This could stay the same or could get worse- time will tell.
I went for a walk today and saw my cancer posse friend Sue who I haven't seen in forever and she looks fantastic.  Her hair is grown in and it is so curly!  I can't wait.  So we got to talking about our recovery and how the side effects continue to affect us.  We both have the same achey legs and joints and our oncologists both told us it is from the chemo drugs and can take up to a year to go away.  It was good to talk to her!  You look great Sue and so glad you are done!!!
Tomorrow I am going out to lunch with 2 very good friends and I am excited!
I got some more news on the Run for the Cure that is taking place in October 2nd.  The team is registered and if you are interested in joining you can click on "Team Elena".  Remember that if you are in a different area you can run in your own city.  I will post what Lynn posted on her wall with info

What are you doing October 2nd?! Please join 'Team Elena' and run/walk for the cure. There are locations all over the country, so pick your location and register with our team. Team Elena is dedicated to Elena (my sister-in-law) who is currently beating cancer. The K-W Team Elena clan invites everyone to join our team: our goal is to have the biggest team in "run for the cure" history."
 Top 5 reasons sign up:
5) It's a fun day for the entire family
4) If you are a runner but have never yet done a run - this is a great first run to do.
3) If you are NOT a runner this is a great run to do as there are just as many ...walkers
2) ...It is so inspiring to see all the pink shirts (pink = survivor)
1) With 1:7 women getting this disease - chances are that either yourself, your wife, your mom, your sister or best friend will one day have breast cancer.

Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation CIBC Run for the Cure:

www.runforthecure.com

 

 

Wishing you well!!!

"Just Beat It"

Hi all
I know it has been a very long time but I have been enjoying the few weeks that I had to focus on other things in my life that have been seriously neglected for a very long time.  I was able to go out for dinner with friends and spent time with my family enjoying basketball games and hockey games.  I went shopping with Jenna for a prom dress and Jake and I had a special day together doing whatever he wanted to do.  Sarah and I are also planning a special day together soon.  I got my hands dirty digging in the soil and trying to coax the spring flowers up- of course that was only one day that we got nice enough weather to do that.  As I sit in the front room I am amazed at the amount of snow swirling around outside- enough already!  Rick and I took a day and went to TO to walk around the Distillery District and out for a nice lunch.  It was really nice.  Yesterday we went to my brother and sister in law's house to visit with them.  I haven't seen them since the start of chemo and it was so nice to chill out on their coach and be truly spoiled by them.  I had the best dinner of homemade pizza, rapini and sausage and peppers.  My brother is the best chef- no question about that! Thanks Joe and Wendy!
Some of my friends and myself got together last week for what I thought was going to be a dinner and movie night.  Turns out they had something up their sleeve!  We had the nice chinese dinner and then when they said let's watch a movie they disappeared one at a time to reappear with funny hats on their heads.  Then they turn on the DVD player and we begin to watch not a movie but a video of them dancing to the song "BEAT IT" by Michael Jackson.  Of course they changed the words of the song and it was so hilarious!  I will try to post it for you as soon as I get my kids to show me how!  I love it. They all wore the silliest hats and the funniest costumes.   Then they read a wonderful book to me called "The Lemonade Club" by Patricia Polacco.  She is a well known children's author whose stories are inspirational, moving and thought provoking.  This book is about 2 best friends in Gr.5 who have a wonderful teacher who everyday tells them that when life gives you lemons, you make lemonade.  The one girl is diagnosed with leukemia and at the same time the teacher falls ill as well.  As they each took a turn reading a page from the book and as the events unfolded I couldn't help but think that this author must have experienced cancer first hand because she was writing and expressing the emotions so accurately.  Only someone who has been through it or has helped a significant other would be able to depict those feelings and fears.  In fact, this story is about her daughter who was the best friend of the girl with leukemia and it is in fact a true story with a very happy ending.  Lots of tears shed that night but truly an amazing evening.  I am so blessed to have such amazing friends to sense and know that I needed a night of good company, reassurance, acknowledgement and courage to get me through the next hurdle- thank you!
Speaking of next hurdle- last week I started the drug tamoxifen which I will be taking for the next 5 years and then after that I go on a different drug for another 5 years.  This drug is an estrogen blocker and will further reduce the risk of the cancer coming back. 
I also begin radiation tomorrow.  I will be going 5 days a week for the next 6 weeks.  Seems like such a long time- 30 treatments in all.  I really can't wait till this is over.  I won't bother telling you about side effects right now. Don't really want to focus on that.  I am still waiting for my hair to start growing back- it has been a month since my last chemo session and there is no new growth- none.  I guess it will start soon so in the meantime I continue to wear hats and scarves.
Thats all for now!  I hope that everyone is doing well and finding some time to get outside and enjoy the nice weather when it makes an appearance.
Ciao!

Hello!

Me again checking in to let you all know that I am still doing well.  I feel good, yesterday was my 3rd week anniversary from chemo- and the best part was I didnt have to go back- now that was a reason to be really happy yesterday.  I did have a horrible dream the other night that I went for a check up and the next thing I knew they had hooked me up to a bag of meds.  In the dream I started screaming and told them to take it off!!!!  So, you think I might be a little traumatized from the whole thing- just un peu... So congrats to me, I made it through chemo!!!!
  I have lots to share.  First off I went for my initial radiation assessment last week.  I went in and discussed with Dr. Basrur and his nurse Tanya what my treatment plan will look like and the side effects I may or may not have. I won't share those yet because I would rather not jinx it,  needless to say though, I am really tired of side effects. Then I went and got a ct scan so they can determine exactly where the readitaion will be for me.  It was actually kind of cool and the technicians are amazing!  They also lined me up exactly and then gave me three small dotted tattoes- yep, permanent!
So this week I found out that my first radiation round will be April 18th and I will have it everyday (except weekends) from then until June 1st.  That is 6 weeks and 30 rounds.  I was really upset because I guess they decided that I needed one more week of treatment than originally planned and they call it a "boost".  This means that for 25 treatments they focus the radiation on a large area but for 5 treatments they treat the areas that were affected by the cancer.  I was upset because I had my heart set on being done by mid May.  I know its just another week but still it bugs me.  Mostly because I am so anxious to be done with this.
Next week I go see Dr. Campbell for a follow up.  At that time she will start me on the drug Tamoxifen which is an estrogen blocker drug.  I will be on that for 5 years.
Today I went to my gym!  I restarted my membership and it felt awesome!  I went to a class and even though I had to slow down and go at a different pace then everyone else, it was fantastic!  It felt so good to get my body moving.  I was very proud of myself that I finished the class. I plan on going everyday for the next week and a bit and then I will just have to take it one day at a time once radiation starts and see how it goes.  Felt so so good!
Met some friends for drinks the other night and went out for dinner with friends on Saturday.  The best thing about this 2 week hiatus is that I get to do "normal" things again that I have missed so much. 
Also enjoying watching my kids play their sports and spending time with them because I am not in bed early these days. 
LOVING THIS LITTLE BREAK!!!!!
take care all and talk to you soon.