Chemo officially over!

Yep, my actual chemotherapy is over as of Friday. I still have 9 months of Herceptin which is administered the same way and place as chemo, but the chemo drugs are done with! Yippee!! My hair is growing back and I'm feeling better. In fact, I've been so busy since my last chemo, that I haven't had time to sit and write since then.

One phase down and now moving to the next: surgery. I have my mastectomy scheduled for December 4th. It's one week after Thanksgiving and as most of you know, that's my favorite holiday. The heal time is 6-8 weeks post surgery, but I'll be home from the hospital after 5 or 6 days. That should give me time to decorate the house and get ready for Christmas and have a few weeks recovery so I can enjoy Christmas with the kids. The hardest part for me will not being able to drive and hold Hayden. I still don't know how that's going to work. We are trying to figure out help for the time I'm down. Jason will be able to take a couple of weeks off, but has to work after that. I have a number of friends waiting in the wings to help with the kids and shopping, etc. I think we will be able to manage some how.

I also have confirmed with my radiation oncologist that I will have radiation. That will start a couple of months after my surgery and will last 7 weeks, going 5 days a week. I should be able to have the Herceptin at the same time. If any of you saw the Lifetime movie last weekend called Living Proof, then you have heard of Herceptin. Apparently, if I had this cancer 15 years ago, I probably wouldn't survive. Herceptin is a drug that stops the growth of the Her2+ gene. My cancer is very aggressive and can spread quickly. Herceptin can stop the growth, but can also reverse it. I'll go in a few weeks to have another ultrasound to see if the tumor has shrunk. I've been told it should shrink a lot. Let's hope!!

In other news, the kids are great. Soccer season is nearing the end. The girls have had a lot of fun playing and making new friends. I never thought I'd enjoy spending my time going to practice and games, but it is a lot of fun. The first quarter of school is almost over and both girls have done a great job. Hayden is a typical 2 year old and is into everything. We have safety covers on all the bathroom doors and a couple of the bedrooms to keep him out of trouble. And if the back doors aren't locked, he often escapes into the yard with the dogs.

Life is good!

Busy Week

Last Sunday was a wonderful day. Our large debris was picked up. Those of us with kids were sitting out and watching the big trucks take trees and brush away. It was pretty neat. Our lawn bags were picked up last week too, so now there is no evidence of Hurricane Ike around our house. Yeah!

Sydney and I were playing around and taking pictures. I let Sydney take a rare picture of me, so enjoy!

Last week was reading week at school. I love this week! The school and PTO really make it a lot of fun with a different theme each day. We also collected food to restock our local food pantry. Here are a few pictures. Anna, Sydney and friend Sarah are with Smokey on Walk to School Day. The girls had Storybook Parade on Friday. Hayden had fun entertaining parents before the parade.