August 22nd, 2013
Greetings all,
It's about that time for another health update! 5 word summary: movin' right along, feelin' good.
I have now completed a full course of radiation treatment and two rounds of chemo, whohoo! As a result, today I had a meeting with my medical oncologist and my surgical oncologist to discuss getting the tumor out of my leg. They said another round of chemo was not necessary before surgery, so I am scheduled to have surgery on Sept 18th (Happy Birthday, Mom!). They expect me to be in the hospital for 3 to 4 days afterwards as they monitor and do some physical therapy with me, and they'll let me go home when I can walk around on crutches safely on my own. Full recovery at home will be about 6 to 8 weeks, but it sounds like during that time I'll at least be able to hobble about. Tom and I will update what we need on the T&A KCA's Help Network Google Doc soon.
I also have a follow up appointment on October 10th (Happy Birthday, Tom!) to talk about how I'm recovering from surgery and what will happen next. At this point, it sounds like there are a lot of avenues we could take, so we'll just be doing some more "wait and see"-ing until October.
In the meantime I am enjoying one of the more long-term affects of chemotherapy. My hair began falling out in earnest a couple weeks ago, so I enlisted our nearby Wheaton buds John and Julia to shave my head for me. I have to admit, I am loving how it feels, though looking in the mirror still sometimes strikes me as odd. But not having to worry about hair during a hot summer has definitely been fantastic. And, it's apparently given many people the excuse to provide me with big, dangly earrings... I'm not complaining.
In other news, I've really been feeling great. Looking at my blood-work results today, my oncologist said my white blood cell count looks normal, so my immune system is still kicking ass. While I can't say I have 100% of my energy, I'm feeling more in the 87 - 93% range on most days. As you may have heard/seen on Facebook we recently adopted a rescue dog, and she is just perfect for us and keeping me active yet not overdoing it, and also totally happy with being lazy when I'm feeling that way too. She's also a great reminder that there are plenty of awesome things out there that aren't really related to cancer, and that my situation and my treatment are really just one facet of the multi-faceted Life of Abby; my sarcoma is not me. As with all difficult things, sometimes it takes an adorable puppy-face to help us remember that (it's hard not to enjoy life when you're walking your dog in the quiet woods of the early morning light without meeting a soul).
Thanks again for the plethora of thoughts, messages, packages, food items and support you all have sent us. I hope to someday enthusiastically return the favor... even if it means you have to travel here and let me pour you a glass of wine... or two :)
Love and sparkly things,
-T&A
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