Check this out!

Today I got my power port taken out.  I wasn't sure at first that this would be a good idea since it cost $11,000 to have it installed and how do they know I don't need more chemo.  Well, apparently you don't get more chemo, just surgery if the tumor comes back. So, I guess it's okay it's out now even though I'm only a month post treatment.  Besides, I go to Hawaii in a month and it will be much cuter in my swimsuit not to have that creepy bump on my chest.  

They gave the Power Port to me to take home so I'm sharing a photo of it. I am on great terms with the doctors there.  They think I'm a freak because I won't be sedated during surgery.  I just have them numb it up with lidocaine and cut away.  It doesn't hurt.  It just feels like wierd tugging and pressing.  I guess most people like to forget about the whole event.  But I don't like missing out on 30 minutes of my life I'll never get back and plus you kind of feel crappy after sedation so I pass whenever I can.  My husband offered to take the sedative for me.  He's a great guy.  They said no.  

Much cuter NOT in my body.  The fabulous POWER PORT.

Four Weeks Post Treatment

Time flies when you're having fun.  It's true.  It's been 4 weeks since I finished my last treatment on July 23rd and the time has flown by.  The reason I'm having fun is that I have my old self back.  I feel really great!  I feel just like I did before May 16th, the fateful day that I learned I had cancer.  A lot has happened since that day.  I think a lot differently and I have learned so much medically and personally.

Going through six weeks of chemo and radiation seemed to take forever.  I remember signing the log book for my very first radiation treatment on 6/11/12 (same day as my first chemo), and thinking....... "wow, 30 treatments is such a long time".  Then when I was down to my last few days, my skin was peeling off, I had terrible burns, daily constant diarrhea, low energy, fogginess, dry mouth, lack of appetite, I could see the light at the end of the tunnel.  Now, I'm having fun again.  Yay me!  I'm back!

I went in yesterday to meet with Dr. Murday, the surgeon.  It was a followup visit from my first consultation with her back in May.  Fast forward to  three months later and she is my hero.  The meeting was short.  She did a manual inspection and informed me with a big smile and hug that there was "marked improvement".  She repeated it more than once.  Basically, the tumor has shrunk sufficiently and is pretty much gone.  The chemo and radiation worked just the way that it was supposed to and will continue to work for around 12 weeks (post treatment) and I'm only on week 4.  I go back in 6 weeks to meet with her again.  As long as the tumor doesn't come back or grow, I won't need surgery.  I know I won't need surgery.  I've felt confident all along that this stuff works.  And, I've been so lucky for all kinds of love, support and prayers to supplement the medical magic which cures cancer in just 6 short weeks.  What a miracle right?

I asked her when I'd get a CT Scan to confirm everything.  It will be 12 months out.  That is what the standard is.  I continue to go in for followups a lot until then.  I'll confirm that with the oncologist when I go in November again.  In the meantime, I'm enjoying the fact that I went through all this and it worked and I feel great!

Tomorrow I get to go get my port taken out.  No more chemo for me so out it comes.  Time flies when you're having fun.