Lots of Catching Up to Do

I haven't blogged in a long time and have lots of catching up to do.

School Stuff
Last post I mentioned my first chemistry A. Well, I had another test last week and after taking a vacation day on Wednesday to study, I got a 96% on what should have been the hardest test yet. I was very excited and now because of getting to drop my lowest score and the rest of the grading, I should be able to get an A in the class as long as I get a mid to high B on the final.

Speaking of the final...It is scheduled for June 6, which I was supposed to be going to Finland for work and was going to have to schedule a make-up later. Last week, I finally got an answer out of work and becuase of cost, they aren't letting us go, so no trip and luckily for me, I can now take my test as planned.

Cancer Stuff
I want to thank Jacki for her nice comments about me on The Cancer Blog. Sometimes I feel like I'm just muddling through, but it always is nice to have other people say such nice things about you.

I've been taking the tamoxifen for about 3 weeks now and so far don't notice any side effects. That's good. I'll just keep taking it for a while and hope it's doing it's job.

In about 2 weeks, I have an appointment for consultation at the Cancer Genetics center. They'll take about an hour to create a family pedigree and go over my cancer risk. If everyone agrees, this is the first step to having the genetic testing done for the BRCA1 & BRCA2 genes. My biggest fear about the genetic testing is that after seeing my lack of family history, that they won't want to do the testing. I want to do it regardless. While they were both smokers, both of my paternal grandparents died from lung cancer and while there doesn't appear to be a connection between lung and breast cancer, I'd still like to know. Plus, because of my age, my Oncologist, Dr. Y, has been throwing around the idea of prophylactic surgery to remove my ovaries, and that's a decision that would be easier made if I knew if I was at an increased risk of developing Ovarian Cancer. Maybe my desire is enough to get it done. I guess I'll find out in a couple of weeks.

Life in General Stuff
I wanted to give you lots of pictures from our last two weekends, but I'm having a "Memory Card Error" and can't seem to retrieve them from my camera right now. I'll keep working on it though. Let's see...

Last weekend, we drove to Lafayette on Friday night to go to my friend Jamie's wedding. Well, technically Jamie is the cousin/sister of two of my best friends, but that makes her a friend by relation. Pictures are at Danialle's site. It was beautiful and we had a good time, despite the fact that Grace didn't get to nap on Saturday and was all screwed up on her schedule.

This week was a little crazy at work. Tuesday, I went golfing all afternoon. I got a little sun and did reasonably well. I think I could really like golfing if I had a chance to do it more often. Wednesday, I took the day off. In the morning I had to take Eric to drop his car off for some minor repair and then take him to work and Grace to daycare. I spent the morning studying, and then had a Herceptin appointment in the afternoon. Friday was an early close day, so I didn't feel like I got all that much accomplished at the office.

This weekend was also very nice. Friday afternoon I came home and did 11, yes that's right, 11 loads of laundry! Friday night Eric and I watched X-Men 1 & 2 in anticipation of possibly going to the movies this weekend. Saturday, I finished up the packing, took Grace to gymnastics, and then we went to Ava's 1st birthday party. It was fun and Ava really liked her cake! After the party we came home, loaded the car and headed to Indiana. We got to Grandma's just after 8 p.m. We put Grace down in a pack-n-play, until around 10:30 when we headed over to my cousin Karey's house to sleep. Sunday, we went to church with my Grandparent's, had lunch at Pizza Hut, stopped by Wal-Mart so Grandpa (my Dad) could buy Grace a bubble gun, and then went to Grandma's. Grace took a very short nap while we were making the food for a cookout. My cousin Kevin, had a graduation open house in the early afternoon. He was the Valedictorian and played both baseball and basketball. I'm so impressed! We then had a cookout and all hung out until around 7:30 p.m. Then we went back to Karey's and finally got to put Grace to bed. She was a terror this weekend. I think the change in schedule really throws her off, so she was tired and surrounded by lots of people she didn't know. She wouldn't hardly let me leave her side. Sunday night, Eric, my Dad, and Jeremy decided to go to a 10:00 showing of X-Men 3, but Mom and I were tired and decided to stay back with the cousins. We started watching Big Momma's House 2, but I couldn't even make it through that one.

Today, we got up and hit the road around 9 a.m. Grace is still napping and since she's been asleep about 2 1/2 hours, I'm thinking I should get her up, so she'll go to bed tonight.

One last thing... I also started doing the Weight Watcher's program on my own this week. Meaning, I'm following the plans but not planning on going to any meetings. I'll weigh-in in the morning, but I think I lost 3 pounds this week. Yeah! Only 20 more to go. I think this could work though. It's flexible enough, so that if you want to eat something that you wouldn't consider healthy, you can, you just have to count it and make adjustments to the rest of your meals that day. Or there is also a surplus of points for the week that you can dip into if you go over on a particular day, or you can save up for a "free day." For example, I saved most of mine for the cookout yesterday. Yum!

Ok, really, I'm going to go check on the baby!

Celebrations

This has been a weekend of celebration. In a sort of low-key way.

Starting off, Thursday night I finally got an A on a chemistry test. Yahoo! Now if I can get an A on the 4th mid-quarter and the final, I should be able to have an A in the class. That is definately cause for celebration. Also, when I got home from class, Eric had cleaned up downstairs and even vacuumed and mopped the kitchen floor.

Friday, was our 5 Year Wedding anniversary. Maybe I should update my profile...Anyway, I've now been married 5 years. Yahoo! Eric did give me a card first thing in the morning. I had one for him too. After work I gave him the clothes I had bought him at Kaufman's (a couple of shirts and a new pair of khaki shorts). Then we went to buy my requested gift. First we stopped at Fazoli's for dinner and Grace really enjoyed the people-watching while she ate her spaghetti. Then we went to Wal-Mart where I got a set of women's golf clubs. They are Wilson clubs, but they are breast cancer clubs, meaning the bag as a really pretty pink trim on it and the club heads have a touch of pink, with a ribbon and the word Hope. Very pretty. I don't actually golf...but, I do have a golf outing scheduled in about 2 weeks with a client, so I needed to do something. I'm supposed to go do a practice round tomorrow with some other ladies from work. At least I'll look cute! By about 8:00 p.m. Grace started melting down in Wal-Mart, partially caused by the fact that I wouldn't let her play in the toy section all night. This resulted in her not getting any toys (she was only going to get one if she was good), and Eric had to take her out to the car while I checked out. After we got home and Grace went to bed, I spent the rest of the evening doing some major cleaning upstairs. Vacuuming, cleaning both bathrooms, and changing the catlitter).

Saturday, Eric went to have some fun. He went golfing (with his own clubs) with Will and his friend Brock, and Samara's brother Donnie. Grace and I went to gymnastics. Grace is really enjoying gymnastics now. She likes the routine and knows what comes next and really enjoys doing flips and playing on the equipment. After that, we came home had lunch and a nap. My nap was shorter than Grace's so I balanced the checkbook after I got up. Shortly after Grace got up and had her snack, the guys came home from golf. Will took Grace with him back to their house so Eric and I could have a date. We went to The Melting Pot for some fondue. It was really yummy, I think we made good choices for the cooking style for our meats and instead of doing the sampler platter, we ordered steak and chicken only, so we loved every bite! We also had great conversation. It makes me realize that we don't talk enough. We talk about Grace's day and make plans for the next day, etc., but we don't really talk. That's important and we both have promised to try to communicate more effectively, so we don't get annoyed with each other. We'd like to make it many more years! Once we finished eating it was only 8:00 p.m. and we didn't know what to do next. We had considered going to play putt-putt, but it was raining, and we didn't really want to go to a movie, so we ended up going back to Will and Samara's and hanging out. That was really nice too, because we haven't spent much time with them since the kids came along. We sat and talked for a couple of hours, and finally headed home at close to 11 p.m.

Today was my 2nd Mother's Day! Eric got Grace up this morning, and when discussed making pancakes for me, but we decided to just go to McDonald's for breakfast on the go instead. We went to church and then picked up lunch and then I got to have my Mother's Day nap. Once Grace gets up from hers, we'll go to the grocery store and tonight is the Survivor finale and of course Desparate Housewives and Grey's Anatomy. Hmmmm....good TV!

It's been a very nice weekend. Next weekend we'll be out of town for most of it going to a wedding back in my hometown and staying with my friend Erica for the weekend. Fun!

Tamoxifen

I'm going to try to update quickly on my appointment with Dr. Y last week during my Herceptin appointment, because it is changing my treatment plans. I need to be quick though, as I have another chemistry exam tomorrow and need to study!

Wednesday last week I saw Dr. Y when I was in for my Herceptin infusion. He started off by talking alot about Tamoxifenand encouraging me that he thinks I should take it.

In case you don't remember any previous discussions, here's a brief overview of my history and the use of Tamoxifen. One test they do on breast cancer tumors if for estrogen (ER) and progesterone (PR) sensitivity. The cancer cells can have receptors that soak up estrogen or progesterone and that extra estrogen or progesterone can cause them to grow. My results were negative for progesterone and "focally weakly positive" for estrogen. This means that there were some spots on my tumor that had positive receptors, but not the whole thing and they didn't take in huge amounts of estrogen. There is a drug that is commonly prescribed when women are ER positive. It is called Tamoxifen and it is an anti-estrogen drug. Back when I was diagnosed, Dr. L had hoped I was ER positive because this drug does great things for stopping recurrence. It is also sometimes prescribed as a breast cancer prevention drug in high-risk patients. I did not want to be positive, because the common protocol is to take the drug (in pill form) daily for 5 years. During this time, I should not get pregnant. However, when my results came back initially, they were so faintly positive, that Dr. L told me they were negative. When we talked to Dr. Y for our inital consultation, he told me that in my case taking Tamoxifen would increase my survival rate stats from approximately 95 to 96%. If I were a strong positive it would have taken me from 95 to about 98%.

Fast forward. Over the past months, Dr. Y has mentioned Tamoxifen and that we'd discuss it later. I've done alot of thinking about it, and in my head, I was willing to give up that extra 1% of survival rate, to continue to build my family. I would love to start trying soon after I get the green light from Dr. L which will be in about 18 months.

Here were the benefits:
- Shown to decrease risk of cancer in other breast by up to 49%
- Lowers risk of osteoperosis
- Gives me back that percentage point on the survival rate

And the drawbacks:
- With a "focally weakly positive" diagnosis, I get limited benefit
- No pregnancy while taking
- Increased risk of endometrial cancer
- Menopausal type symptoms (hot flashes, vaginal dryness, mood swings)
- Increased risk of blood clots (heart attack, stroke, etc.)

I told him that while I didn't want to be selfish and risk my health, at the same time, continuing my family is important to me. My current plan for baby #2 would be the perfect timing for my med school plans. If I do 5 years of Tamoxifen, I would be right in the middle of med school before I got the go ahead, so I would want to wait until I was done, so now we're looking more at 7 or 8 years until I would get pregnant. I know people have kids at age 35, but I'm not sure that I want 9 years between my children. It seems like a lifetime. He asked what my plans were for having children. I told him, God-willing, I would get the all clear at the 2-year mark (Sept. 2007). Due to my class and M-CAT plans, I would wait until January 2008 to start trying to get pregnant. He told me that my risk of recurrence is front-loaded, meaning that I have a higher risk of recurrence the first 2 or 3 years. He thought for a moment, and then told me, "I'll take it." So, we compromised. I'll take the Tamoxifen for the next 20 months or so, and then if all doctors agree, I can stop it and get pregnant. I asked if it is safe to stop and get pregnant immediately and he said it leaves your system within 2 weeks.

Next we discussed the possibility of removing my ovaries when I'm done having children. This is still a theoretical discussion. I'd like to get the genetic testing done first and see if I really have an increased risk. His view was that Ovarian Cancer is extremely hard to screen for. There isn't an easy way to catch it early, so most people aren't diagnosed until Stage 3 or 4 and by then it's almost too late. I agree it sounds nasty and if the testing reveals I'm at an increased risk, I'll gladly give them up in a few years. Although, if there isn't any proof that I'm at risk, I'm not sure how eager I am to go into menopause in my 30's and permanently shut the door on future children (I'm not entirely sure 2 is enough for me). So, we'll continue to talk.

So, that was a heavy appointment. I'm happy with my decision and very glad that my doctor was willing to spend the time to talk about it rather than just writing me a prescription. This is also a decision that can remain flexible. I've started the drugs (day 3 now), and maybe in 20 months we'll all decide that I'm not ready to get started on baby #2 and then I can continue on the regimen. We'll just have to wait and see what God has in store. If anything, you'd think I learn that I can't make all the plans for my life!

Ok, time to go study!

GWO - Inked

101_0133
Originally uploaded by Jenmomma.

I'm a little slow to post, but last weekend was another GWO weekend. It was very refreshing and I'm already looking forward to the next one.

Friday
Because I had class Thursday night, I didn't drive over until Friday morning. I got to Erica's right around 11:30 a.m. and as soon as I dropped off my bag, we jumped back in the car and drove to our hometown and had lunch at the China Inn. Yummy! After lunch, we picked up some ice cream at a local place and drove around looking for a house that Danialle may rent this summer. Around 2 p.m. we headed over to a local factory for the girls' Grandpa's retirement party. It was kind of fun because I worked there for 2 summers and both my parents worked there until they moved, so I knew alot of people and got to catch up. We did get a bit of bad news though. The girls' great-grandpa had to be taken to the hospital, where they found a tumor on his brain and that he was in renal failure. After some thought, they decided they didn't really want to watch him dying at the hospital, so we decided to keep our appointments and get tattoos.


Mine is the one in the picture. It is a Chinese symbol that means "survivor." I had him make it in pink for breast cancer awareness. He added the shading around the symbol to make it stand out a little more. Danialle went first and got three small stars in blue, I went second, and then Erica got a symbol that means sisterhood. I won't lie, it hurt, but it was bearable and totally worth it. I'm happy because I got something that has some meaning to it. It's on my lower back. It's a great location because it's easy to cover, you can't see it even if my shirt raises up in my work dress pants, but in lower rise jeans it would be visable. After the tattoos, we headed back to the girls' grandparent's house to visit with the family that was there for the retirement party and to see the great-grandpa. The evening helped ease D & E's minds, as it turns out that while he doesn't have much longer, he wasn't going to be leaving that soon and was still in good spirits. They also decided to transfer him from the local hospital to the hospital in the town that Erica lives. With that news we decided that we would stop by on Saturday to visit.

Saturday
We slept in until about 8:30 a.m. and then decided to head to IHOP for breakfast. After breakfast we spent a good deal of time wandering around Target and then headed to PetSmart. After that we headed to the hospital. There was a limited amount of space, so while D & E were in visiting their Great-Grandpa, I sat in the waiting room and had a nice conversation with Danialle's mom. Once they finished we headed back to Erica's where Heather was waiting for us. We made a healthy lunch of sandwiches, pasta salad, and fruit and decided to play Phase 10. After Phase 10, we started dominos and a few hands in, stopped to make pizzas. We played some more dominos, and finally around 10:30 decided to call it quits. Then we watched Memoirs of a Geisha and then hit the sack.

Sunday
Once we all woke up, we ate a light breakfast and said our goodbyes. I got home around 1:30 p.m. and then did the laundry, grocery shopping, paid bills, and did a little house cleaning. Back to the real world.

Anyway, that's my recap. I need to go do some homework, but later this week I need to update on my Herceptin appointment from today. I spoke with the doctor and may be making some changes to my treatment plan.

Quick Update

Very quick update before I go hit the books. (Chemistry Exam on Thursday!)

As always, I've been pretty busy. Last update was a week ago after we took Grace to get her hair cut on Monday. Tuesday night I had class and then I left on a 6:45 am flight on Wednesday to go to Austin, Texas until Friday. One of my favorite clients was having a Controllers/Manager's meeting and they wanted me to do a 2 hour presentation on their insurance program. It went pretty well, but I was glad to get home on Friday night. When I got home, I had to do the laundry and repack for our weekend trip.

Saturday morning Eric had Step 3 of 4 of his interview process for the weekend job he's working on. After he finished, we left for Indiana for a family reunion. We met up with the BIL, SIL, and nieces at my MIL's house. The guys helped her put up a shed in the yard while I supervised the little ones. Once they finished up, we left the cousins with Nana and headed out for the evening with Kyle, Leslie and Eric's best friend from high school and his wife. We had a dinner at TGI Friday's, stopped by BW3s for a drink, and then headed to play putt-putt, unfortunately we had just missed the cutoff for the last round of putt-putt, so the guys took a turn on the go-cart track and hit some softballs in the batting cages, before we decided head for a local bowling alley. We bowled two games and closed the place down before retiring for the night.

Sunday we had a leisurely morning before heading to a local park for a family reunion on my Father-In-Law's side. It was a good time. Grace loved the food. She kept shoveling it in. We left for home around 2:30 p.m. and got home in time to put Grace to bed.

This week I've got lots to do both at home and work. Today I had class, tomorrow I'm taking my car for an oil change, plus laundry and studying. I have a test on Thursday, plus this weekend I'm going to Indiana for a girls weekend. I was hoping it was going to be a weekend of celebration, but Erica's month didn't end as we all hoped, so we will have a lot of the supportive side of friendship going on.

I'm going to try for one more post before the weekend, but we all know good intentions don't always work out.

First Haircut and Easter

100_0095
Originally uploaded by Jenmomma.

Feel free to scroll through the pictures on Flickr to see pictures of Grace's first haircut and some Easter pics.

Grace was very good for her haircut. I resisted the bangs, but they were very cute. We went to a place that specializes in kid's cuts. She really enjoyed playing on there slide and play area and watched some Wiggles while they cut her hair. For an extra $3, they took a polaroid, gave us a certificate and a baggie with a lock of her hair. She's such a big girl now.

This is Grace on Easter morning. We just went to church like normal, but dressed a little nicer.

Exam I

Eric’s already given me a little pep talk, but I must admit that I am slightly disappointed after my first Chemistry mid-quarter exam last night. It was 25 multiple choice questions and I felt well prepared. The first 20 I breezed through, but the last 5 gave me some trouble. I was pretty sure I figured it out and then when I checked the facts after the test, I still felt good. To be honest, I thought it was possible that I got 100%. After the test we had to do the lab. It was ok, but it was agonizing to wait on my score. Finally, at the end of lab he handed back the answer sheets. I got an 88%. I missed 3 questions, but only one of them was in the last 5, so I don’t know what happened on the others. We’ll go over them on Tuesday.

Luckily, we can through out the lowest of our four mid-quarter exams, so hopefully this is it for me. This just scares me, because I really need to get an “A” in this class. I did get 10 out of 10 on my first lab assignment, so that is good, however, the best I can get on lab #3 (next week) is a 3 out of 10, because I won’t be present for the actual lab and can only do the pre-lab assignment. I guess I better ramp up the studying, if I want to do well. There should still be enough points that I can bring my grade up if I try. Uggh. To be honest, the worst thing was that there is this girl that acts like she know it all and I overheard her say that she got a perfect score on the test. Maybe she does know it all…I guess I’m just used to being the one to get the highest score in the class. Although, I’m sure if I were a professional student and not working 40+ hours a week and having a 16 month old to chase around in the evenings and weekends, I might have a little more time to get those perfect scores. Ok, enough, next time I’ll do better. Now time to get to the job I get paid for.

Cancer Milestones

Look how bad I’ve been…I forgot to write on Monday that I am officially finished with radiation! To be honest, it was a little anticlimactic. I just went in like usual and my favorite tech, Roger, wasn’t even in there. When we were done, they said goodbye and gave me hugs, a parking pass, and told me to stop at the desk on the way out to make a follow-up appointment with the doctor in a month. Since then I haven’t tried to drive there in the morning or missed it at all. Again, I think I’ve been so busy these last six weeks that I didn’t really let this part of treatment effect me much. I feel a little bad, because radiation is all some people have to do and for them, it seems like a really big deal. For me, it just was a minor inconvenience in my day. I kept telling people it was a breeze. I guess in a positive light, I’m not getting down about it.

Regarding symptoms…I finally got to take off the stickers. I still have a bit of sticky residue and the lines, but I don’t want to scrub, so I’ll continue to wash as normal and it’ll probably be gone by the weekend. I’m also peeling. I’m kind of glad, because the skin underneath seems to be less tan/red looking and more like the other side. I’ve also noticed that my scar seems less noticeable. That’s a good thing!

So now I just have to finish my Herceptin treatments. I’ve got one today and will go every 3 weeks probably through the end of the year. Approximately, 14 or 15 more treatments. I don’t really mind the Herceptin days either. I enjoy chatting with the nurses and other patients in the room. As long as they aren’t too full for me to get a recliner, I’m comfortable and sort of enjoy the drowsiness after the shot of Benadryl. I’m also forced to get away from work for a few hours and just sit. I’m going to start bringing my school work to study between chatting and resting. The only negatives of Herceptin days are
1. Accessing my port. It’s not so bad, but I’d still prefer no needles.
2. The smell of Herceptin. For a day or two afterwards I can smell it when I use the restroom or sweat. It’s not necessarily a bad smell. It just reminds me of the drugs and that doesn’t seem normal.

One more thing. Wednesday, April 5th was the last day I wore my wig. I’ve been getting positive responses and feel so much more comfortable when I get over the self-conscious thing. So, I think I’m done with that too. I’ve just got really short hair, but it’s all mine!

Weekend

I'm just finishing up a very nice weekend with Eric's Dad and girlfriend. Grace is currently in a great mood and is eating goldfish and playing in the basement as I type. If that changes, I'll finish this tonight.

All week, Eric and I have been doing little bits of prep work on the bathroom. Sunday we dry-walled, Monday I put on a coat of primer, Wenesday we did a little more sanding and taping in preparation for painting. Thursday after class I did a quick cleaning job. Friday the plan was to steam the really icky spots on the carpet and paint. We were expecting the family in around 9 or so (assuming they'd leave after work).

Friday morning we got a call that they were leaving around 2 p.m. so would be arriving around 6. Eric ended up going home early from work after his post-surgery medicine was making him sick, so he steamed in the afternoon. We had to skip the painting. After they made it into town and checked into the hotel (they prefer to stay in a hotel, as they both smoke and can't in our house), they came by. Eric's dad got a look at the bathroom and they finished up the last section of drywall. We had skipped the piece where the faucet is.

Saturday they came over around 9 a.m. and the guys got started on the tiling. Grace, Christie and I decided to go to Babies R Us. I wanted to get her a new jacket for spring and Christie asked if she could buy her a couple of outfits for summer. Now that we know she was 25 pounds 7 ounces at her doctor's appointment on Thursday, it makes since that her 18 month clothes are getting tighter. Most 18 month brands end at 26 pounds. We don't have much in the 24 month range. Christie went a little wild and bought Grace about 7 or 8 outfits for summer, 2 sets of summer pj's, 2 pair of shoes, plus her new spring coat. It was lots of fun. After that, we went to baby gymnastics (again I forgot my camera!) Once we got home, Grace took a nap.

Ok, time to save for later...
I'm back (several hours later...)

At around 3:00 p.m. on Saturday, the guys stopped work in the bathroom, so we could all shower and get ready to go out. We took Grace to a friend's to babysit and then we headed downtown and had dinner at Gordon Biersch. Then we went to the Bluejackets vs. Detroit Redwings hockey game. We lost, but it was still fun! Then we picked up the baby (who was still awake at 9:45 p.m.!) and headed home and to bed.

Sunday morning Gary and Christie came back around 10 a.m. I finally woke Grace up at 9:30 a.m.! Sleepy girl. The guys worked on the tile project until 4 p.m. and then the in-laws left for home. During the day, Christie played with Grace while I tried to study a little and I also tried to take a little nap on the couch while Grace was napping. Tonight I kept Grace entertained while Eric did some final touch-ups on the grout and caulking. After she went to bed, I went to the grocery and then just had a nice chat with my Mom.

The other big news of the weekend was this morning when my friend Erica had her egg retrieval as a part of the study she's in. All the details are here, but the good news was that they got 20 good eggs! Her embryo transfer will be on Wednesday and she'll get her pregnancy test results during the week before our next Girls Weekend. Keep praying for her, because I would like to celebrate more than the end of chemo and radiation that weekend!

Ok, better go spend some time with the hubby before bed and then back to work tomorrow. Oh, the thought makes me a little nauseous... (work that is, not spending time with the hubby!)

Holding it Together

So, I've been neglecting my blog...

In the midst of my busiest time at work and extra hours when possible, my week 6 radiation fatigue, student, Mom and wife, I've been lax about keeping up the blog. I've had a post brewing for a while that has less to do with what I've been doing this week and more to do with how I feel, but I'm not quite ready to post it yet. It will come.

I am surviving though. Monday will be my final radiation treatment. Yahoo! Next week I also have several work projects that HAVE to be completed. Not sure how it's going to happen. With class two nights a week I have to leave on time those days. The other days, I could stay late, but too late and I'll go two days in a row without spending any evening time with Grace.

This weekend Eric's dad and girlfriend are visiting. The guys are planning on finishing up the bathroom project. As of tonight all the drywall has been completed (we left the last wall with the fixtures until we had more help). Tomorrow they tile. Tomorrow evening we have plans for dinner and a hockey game. Sometime I need to study as next Thursday is my first chemistry exam.

Sunday, I'll attempt to get some new Grace pictures up. Also, Sunday I'm hoping to get some very exciting news from one of my very best friends.

Only three more weeks until my next girls weekend. Boy do I need it. If only I could find a magic Jennifer clone to go to work and get my piles of work in order while I'm gone...

Back to School

I have now completed my first week of class in my med school pre-req project, now to be known as (MS-PRP). Tuesday I was almost late for class. Parking is a nightmare and when I eventually found a lot that had spaces and walked to my building it was right at 5:30 p.m. I planned ahead and brought a sandwich and apple that I ate in the car on my way. Sitting in that class room brought back alot of memories. The teacher seems cool, but I can tell my five years of "real world" experience has changed my prospective. He is an older gentleman (been teaching 41 years) and keeps trying to make jokes, but no one laughs. I try to at least smile at his jokes. In the office environment and your in a meeting and someone cracks a joke, you at least acknowledge it (even if it isn't very funny).

We spent the first hour or so of class going over the syllabus. I got a little freaked out because all the stuff we're covering in the first 3 chapters and first mid-quarter exam should be review from our last chemistry class (which since I got the pre-req waived, for me, was in high school about 10 years ago). He was also saying that everyone in the class was pre-professional meaning you don't take this chem class just to fill a science requirement. It's only for those going into medical, dental or pharmacy school. Again freaking out a little. He also said that while this is a 2 day a week class, we should plan on studying every day. (Hmmm...do you think Grace can help with flash cards?) The last important thing was the exam schedule. I think I'm fine for mid-quarters, but the final is on June 6th and the syllabus says no early exams are allowed. (This date is bad for me, as I'm supposed to have a business trip to Finland that week!) After class, I asked him about it and he confirmed that no early exams are allowed. What to do?

After these discussions, he started to lecture and then I started to
relax. I've decided to take it one class at a time. While he was lecturing some of the things started to sound vaguely familiar and the stuff that wasn't familiar was easy enough to understand. While I may not remember everything, I am a quick learner, so if I pay attention in class and do the required reading and assignments, I should be ok.

I actually was late for Thursday's class. I made it to campus and parked fine, but then I stopped by the bookstore to buy lab goggles. Then I went to the lab, because during Tuesday's class Mr. T (my teacher) had said that he would prefer lecturing in the lab on Thursday's since we wouldn't have to change rooms after the first hour. No one was there. Then I checked the room from Tuesday and there was a different class in that room. Finally, I looked at my sheet and went to the room that the class is scheduled in on Thursday's. Everyone was there and the lecture had started. I found my seat and tried to catch up on my notes. After 50 minutes of lecture we went over to the lab for a Safety lecture and check in. It actually took almost 2 hours. Labs should be fairly fun, although I may need to bring a change of clothes so I don't screw up my work clothes. I also don't think I should wear my wig in the lab since it's synthetic and could have reactions to heat or a weird chemical spill. Now I have to decide if I go all natural for lab or bring a cap or scarf...After class I stopped by to run the idea of a late exam (Friday instead
of Tuesday) by Dr. T. He, however, has a business trip to Tokyo leaving Wednesday that week. However, he did say that I could take a make-up exam after the quarter ends. If I do that, he'll have to submit my grade as-is at the end of the week, then when I make it up after the quarter, he'll submit a grade-change request and change my grade. That scares me a little, but I really don't want to miss my opportunity to go to Finland on the company's expense. In a couple years, my opportunity for free world travel will probably come to an end.

I've got some homework to do this week. Reading a chapter or two of my text. Reading the lab book intro and first appendix and then doing my pre-lab assignment for next week. Our first exam is April 13th. It feels so weird to be a student again, but I've got to do my best.

Tidbits

Lots of mini topics to discuss...

Bathroom Woes
I think I mentioned in my previous post about the project my Dad started in my bathroom. One thing he kept mentioning was that eventually I'd need to replace the tub surround. After some discussion, Eric and I decided that we'd do it now and tile the bath/shower area. After all, we needed to prime and paint and replace the tile trim around the surround anyway. So, Saturday we trekked to Lowes and bought all of our tiling supplies. Eric's Dad (who has some tiling experience) is coming to visit in two weeks and we thought he could help with the hard parts (i.e. cutting tiles). To prepare, though, we decided to go ahead and remove the surround, spackle and sand all needed area, and prime and paint. Then the project kept getting bigger. When Eric removed the surround we found some moldy looking spots on the drywall around the tub. Once we found it we decided we would have to replace it, and believe it or not, it doesn't seem like that will be too difficult, so we think we can do it ourselves. Since we're going to replace it, Eric decided to go ahead and pull it off. Guess what, more mold. This time in the insulation. Luckily, it doesn't appear to have damaged the studs, so this should be it. So, in the next two weeks we need to replace the insulation and drywall around the tub. Prime and paint the walls and be ready to begin tiling. Guess what our weekends will be filled with?

Wig/No Wig
Sunday, I decided to go wigless for the first time in public. My hair is really growing back and now just looks like a really short boy cut. I'm really self-concious though and decided church was a good place to start. I got several compliments and more than anything people understood. Then it got interesting. We needed to get the spackle (for project above) and stopped by Lowes after church. I didn't want to mess with getting Grace out of the car, so I ran in to the store while Eric waited in the car. My new fear? Instead of people thinking I was a cancer survivor (as I assume they do when I wear a scarf or turban), they now probably are thinking I'm a butch lesbian. That would be my first thought seeing a woman walking through a Lowe's store alone with a buzz cut. Nice.

Grace's New Chair
One of Eric's co-workers gave Grace this glider.

She loved it and spent all weekend trying to figure out how to get in and out of it. She had to do everything in her chair.


Ice Cream
Sunday when we were putting groceries away Grace was playing in the freezer. You know, taking things out as I was putting them in. Well, I stopped watching her for a moment and then looked back to find this.

She's a girl after my own heart.

Working Parts?
I thought I was doing good regarding keeping the possibiilty of fertility, because I continued to have my period somewhat regularly the whole time I was doing chemo. However, my last period started on January 21, so the last dose seems to have knocked my girl parts out of commission. Added to the fact that I started having hot flashes, I was pretty sure I was doing the chemical menopause thing. Of course, I'm still hoping it's temporary because I REALLY want more babies. Last week, on Cycle Day 64, I thought AF was showing her face, but it seems to have been a false alarm. Just a couple of days of super light spotting. I'm hoping this means my parts are trying to get back to working. They've still got some time before I need them fully functioning, but I'd be happy to know they are working before I need them. Infertility isn't fun.

Back to School
Tomorrow I start my chemistry class. I'm scared and excited all at once. I told Eric today that I was afraid to fail, but that isn't exactly true. I'm a smart girl, so I know I won't fail. I think I'm more afraid that I'll get a "B." I know that sounds a little petty. I think it'll be tough to get into med school. Right now I have a 4.0 from my previous college work. Since these classes are the science ones and thus more important to the schools than my degree classes, I need to do just as well in these classes. Oh, the pressure.

Ok, time to go relax on the couch and dare I attempt to go to bed early? We'll shoot for an update after class tomorrow (or maybe on Wednesday).

Where Have I Been?

Ok, so I didn't get around to blogging on Tuesday or Wednesday. I used to update a couple days a week and now it's been over a week since my last post. Life has just been speeding past me at the speed of light.

Here are some highlights from the last week...

Last Tuesday I had my 6th CPCU exam. I hadn't studied quite as much as I should plus they scheduled Eric's Lithotripsy for the same day, so I tried to re-schedule. Unfortunately, I had already passed the window to move it, and it would have cost me alot to move to the next window, so Eric told me to take it anyway. My test was at noon and his procedure started at 1:30 p.m. I came home from work changed into jeans and a scarf (instead of my wig) and dropped him off at the Kidney Center. Then I drove up to take my test. Weird story about the test...When you sign in they make you leave everything in a locker except your ID. I put everything away and went to sign in and the proctor asked me if I was wearing the scarf for religious reasons. I said no, and he told me that headgear wasn't allowed in the testing room and I needed to put it in my locker. I probably could have argued with him, but I just did as he asked and took my test with my head uncovered. While I always am uncovered at home, I havent' been in public that way, so I was a little self-concious. At least my hair is growing back! I finished in about an hour and fifteen minutes and then drove back to the Kidney place. They had just took Eric into surgery, so I waited in the waiting room. After about a half hour they told me he was in recovery. Once he woke up a bit, I took him home. (Side note: As of now, a week later, I think he's passed all the little stones and this is finally behind us. They'll do a follow up appointment in another week to confirm).

Later last week, I got my results and I passed my test. What a relief. Now I just have two more to complete to get my designation (and my trip to the ceremony in Hawaii!)

Work kept me very busy too. Wednesday I had a big proposal for a client and Thursday I worked late again. That seems to be my thing.

Friday my parents came in for a long weekend. They were at my house before we got home from work. We went out to dinner at TGI Friday's and then went to Lowe's to get some supplies. The main purpose of the trip was for my dad to do some home repairs/handywork as a birthday gift. Here's a list of what he got done:
- Replace front storm door
- Change outside lighting on garage and front stoop
- Repair board off of fence
- Add shelving to garage
- Install shop light in garage
- Put up new mailbox
- Change lightbulbs in 2-story entryway
- Cut out 3 mold/mildew spots in bathroom and repair drywall
- Strip all wall paper from bathroom (I'll need to repaint now)
- Babyproof Grace's dresser and bookshelf
- Bring shelf/quiltrack for Grace's room (I'll need to stain to match)
There may have been more, but that's all I can think of at the moment. Also, my Mom stripped and waxed my kitchen floor.

Besides all the work going on at home, this weekend I went to the school and paid my tuition, paid for a parking pass, got a student ID, and purchased my books for my first college class in almost 5 years. Wow. Saturday, Grace had gymnastics and we went grocery shopping. Sunday, we went to church and for dinner went to Outback.

Monday I went to work and left my parents at home to work on their projects. I have come down with a nasty cold though and was so exhausted from the weekend, radiation, plus Grace was up coughing all night, that I came home after lunch and took a sick day.

Today, it was back to work and while I still don't feel great, I just couldn't call in. I was supposed to go to a hockey game with clients, but I did decide to get out of that. I thought relaxing at home sounded better.

So that catches me up. Still got some work to get done this week. I've got a Herceptin appointment tomorrow. This weekend we need to paint our bathroom, so we can put it back together and start using it again. I'm also due for an oil change and I think I want to get Grace's hair cut (just so it will have some kind of style). Wow, even my home life is busy.

I'll try to get more interesting soon. I don't want to lose all my readers by just complaining about being busy all the time.

Getting Better

I'm feeling a little less overwhelmed this week. Eric came home from the hospital Friday night. His Mom came to help out over the weekend and we got my house clean and I got to rest a bit.

Work is still really busy, but I'm actual able to start marking things off of my to-do list instead of just adding them, so I feel like I'm making progress. I can't write much tonight because I'm taking a CPCU exam tomorrow and I need to study.

Eric is having a Lithotripsy tomorrow to break up the remaining kidney stone and hopefully, this chapter of our saga will be ending soon.

In other news, I think I'm starting to feel some of the radiation side effects. My bras are starting to become uncomfortable by the end of the day and if I exam myself close enough I can detect a slight difference in the color of my skin from the left to right side.

This weekend my parents are coming for a long weekend. For my birthday my Dad is doing some odd jobs around the house for me and Mom and I will get to visit.

Ok, I only have a couple of hours until bedtime and need to get prepared for my test. Maybe I'll write more on Tuesday or Wednesday.

Cracking...

I need to rest more than I need to post, but I wanted to give a quick update.

We're still dealing with Eric's kidney stones. To make a long story short...
Saturday and Sunday - Eric rested on couch and kept taking painkillers

Monday - Eric tried to go to work, but came home by 9 a.m. because he needed more painkillers and couldn't take them at work.

Tuesday - He went to work until 1 p.m. and then headed to the ER. I waited for a phone call to tell me when to pick him up. At 7:30 he called and told me he was being admitted. I found someone to watch Grace while I went to check on him.

Wednesday - I planned on working until noon, but at 10 I got a call saying he was having surgery at 1 p.m. I left immediately and headed to the hospital. Surgery went ok, but the doctor was only able to remove one of the two stones. As a result he's staying another night in the hospital and may need another procedure. We'll find out tomorrow.

I hate that we have to deal with more sickness. Plus I've had to miss even more work and this is not a good week.

I just need to take it one day at a time. More later.

ER

After I came back upstairs last night, Eric told me he wasn't feeling well. He said that it felt like he might be getting a kidney stone. He took 4 tylenol and we watched a little TV. Around 11 p.m. he decided to take some percocet (I've got alot of left over pain killers laying around). I went upstairs around 12:30 a.m. and read for a bit before going to sleep around 1 a.m. When I went to bed, Eric was pretty sure it was a kidney stone, but since we had a good supply of pain killers he didn't think we needed to go to the ER. Around 3:00 a.m. I heard some noise. I checked the monitor and Grace was quiet. I came back downstairs and Eric had been getting sick. He said he took some more percocet and told me to go back to bed. A little after 4 a.m. he came in and woke me up and told us that we needed to go to the ER. I got Grace out of bed, threw a blanket over her, threw on some shoes and my glasses and got in the car. Eric said we could just drop him off and he'd call us in when he was done. However, on the way he was definately in alot of pain and was concerned about filling out the paperwork. We decided I'd go in until he got registered and settled. Grace was really good and didn't seem annoyed that she was up 3 hours early. Around 5:30 a.m. Eric had gotten his drugs and told us to go home and he'd call when done. We got home around 6 and I put Grace back to bed. I layed down and at 6:20 a.m. the phone rang. It was Eric telling us to come get him. I got Grace back up and we went to pick him up. When we got back, we got breakfast and then we tried to go back to bed around 7:30 a.m. Grace wasn't acting overly sleepy though and was talking in her crib, so I jumped in the shower (I wouldn't have been able to fall asleep with her talking through the monitor).

Around 9:30 a.m. Grace woke up again, so we decided to get up. I got everything togehter and then Grace and I went to Wal-Mart to fill Eric's prescriptions. It took a little longer than we hoped, so I was cutting time short. I called Eric and he was still out of it, so Grace and I went to her Baby Gymnastics class that started at 11:15 a.m. It was pretty fun. She was really clingy at the beginning and wouldn't try some of the activities, but by the end, she seemed to get more comfortable and acted like she was having a good time. I think we may sign her up for a regular class.

Eric pretty much slept all day. After gymnastics Grace and I had lunch and then took a 2 hour nap. We had a pretty good day once we caught up on our sleep.

I did forget the camera, so no gymnastics pictures. Although if we sign up for good, I think eric will come next week and we'll try to get some pics.

Another Week Goes By

I can't even describe how over-extended I feel right now. Although, at the moment, it's Friday night and I'm sitting in my basement listening to the washer run and enjoying catching up on my blog reading and having a moment to update.

This week was extremely busy. Work is kicking my butt. My increased work load is really hard to keep up with. My desk is full of stacks of paper and work. Of course, it's extremely well organized (hee-hee). I have a list I keep with all of my open items or to-do's. Once an item gets written on the list, it goes into a stack by client. My open items list right now is about 1 and 1/2 pages of a regular notepad (one item per line). Any e-mails I print or new items that come in for me to do, go in a separate stack until I can either address the item or add it to my to-do list. I think when I left today I had about 20 things in that stack. Right now, I also have another three stacks of policies or endorsements that I need to check (review for accuracy, file, summarize, and send a letter with the summary and a copy to the client). I think I have about 8 endorsements and 4 policies waiting. I also have a stack of things to file, but the files are in the cabinets and not at my desk, so I haven't done it. We also have an online system where we are supposed to file all documents and e-mails, so I have another stack of stuff that I need to scan or add the attachments from e-mails to the online system. Next week, I have to put together renewal proposals for 2 clients.

So, that's what's currently on my desk at work. This week was also full of doctor's appointments. I had my appointment on Monday with Dr. Y and got my Herceptin. Thursday, I met Dr. B2 who is my new OB/GYN(I have another Dr. B that is my radiation doc). Today, I took Grace to see Dr. R for her surgery follow-up. Even with all of those doctor's appointments I still worked about about 45 hours this week.

I already gave you a recap of Monday's appointment. Thursday, I saw Dr. B2. She was great. If you remember I changed OB/GYNs back in August, before I knew I had cancer. I saw Dr. B2 on Maternity Ward on the Discovery channel and she seemed great and was in my city. Dr. D, my previous OB was ok, but didn't really give me the warm/fuzzies, so I decided to switch. However, in August I was just due for my annual and then wanted someone to check out my lump, so I saw a nurse practitioner. Today I was scheduled for an IUD insertion, so I got to see the doctor. When she came in, she gave me a hug (I love that!). She said she had reviewed my chart and the nurse had talked to me and she thought I was an amazing person. Talk about warm/fuzzies! Originally, she wanted to use an IUD called Minera. I had reviewed the information on it though, and it said not to use if you had or have breast cancer. The reasoning is that the IUD also releases small doses of progesterone. Her view was that since my tumor was negative for progesterone receptors, it would be fine. The other advantage to Minera is lighter periods. However, I don't really have problems with my periods and I'd prefer to stay away from the hormones, just in case, so instead we decided to go with a Copper T IUD. The advantages are it's long-term use (up to 10 years). It is as effective as tubal ligation. It's reversable. Since it's non-hormonal, I will cycle as normal and should be able to get pregnant as soon as it is removed (assuming the chemo didn't screw me up). There is also no maintenance involved. The doctor will check to be sure it's still in the right place in 6 weeks and then I'm supposed to check it monthly, but that's it. My insurance also paid for it 100% once I paid my office visit copay. The actual procedure was a little painful, but I was fine by the time I left the office. So, now no need to worry about an "oops" while I'm on radiation and Herceptin.

Switching gears, radiation is still going well. My appointments are extremely convenient. I get in and out quickly. The techs are extremely nice and friendly. No noticable side effects yet. I don't have any pain or redness or noticable increase in fatigue. 5 weeks to go.

Grace's doctors appointment also went really well. We had to wait for an extremely long time to see the doctor (1 hour past our appointment time), but he checked her palate out and it looks good. He said it looks like there is a "dent" in the roof of her mouth and there may be a tiny hole, but it shouldn't cause any problems. I pointed out that she had a hole when they saw her back in January. He checked her chart and agreed and said in that case it was healing nicely. They'll see her again when she's turns 2 years old. That's an answer to prayer. No more surgeries!

Looking forward. Tomorrow I'm taking Grace to a gymnastics class. Ava and Samara went last week and had a good time. They have a free trial class, so we are going this week. We'll see how she likes it. I'm going to try to plan some good meals for next week. I tend not to eat well or exercise when I'm extremely stressed or busy, so the last two weeks have been bad. I feel icky though and I really want to lose some serious weight by July and Heather's wedding, so I'd like to get back on track next week. It really stinks that since my diagnosis back in October I've gained about 15 pounds (although that's completly normal during treatment). Add that to the 10 I still had from Grace's pregnancy and I'd really like to lose about 25 or 30 pounds. Ick. Also, my Chemistry class will be starting soon. I'm a little worried about my work-load and class, but I'll have to make it work. I'm seeing more early mornings in the office in my future.

Ok, enough for now. I may go say hello to my husband before it's time for bed.

MIA

I haven't had time to update lately. Work has been so crazy that I have been bringing work home most nights and haven't been online to update. Here are some things to update about.

Tests - CT and MUGA
Last Wednesday I spent the day at the hospital getting my repeat chest CT and Muga scan. The tests went fine. Today I got my results and all was good. My CT showed the nodule was still there and the same size. That's a good sign and they'll continue to follw-up in about 6 months. The MUGA actually showed a 1% improvement in my heart function.

Radiation
Last Monday I had my radiation simulation. Wednesday, I thought I was going to start radiation, but they just took some x-rays to be sure that the marks they made on Monday were in the right spot. Thursday was my first official day and I got an 8:15 a.m. time for every day. It's been really easy. I go in, put on a gown, go to the room and get on the table, get zapped, then change again and I've been back at work at 8:45 a.m. So far no noticable side effects and the baby powder seems to be working fine as deoderant. So far, so good.

Herceptin
Last week I was scheduled for Herceptin on Wednesday, but I was so busy with all of my other Wednesday appointments I tried to reschedule. Instead, they just let me cancel it. This week was my last weekly appointment. Next appointment is in 3 weeks.

Girl's Weekend with Work Friends
Last weekend I went to Lake Cumberland in Kentucky with 4 other co-workers. One of them owns a lakehouse, so we stayed there. It was awesome and beautiful. It sleeps 20, so it was huge. We left work early on Friday and drove the 5 hours to the house. We got in around 8 p.m. and stayed up late. We played Phase 10 and made some snacks and then got in the hot tub. Saturday we slept in a little and then got up and had pancakes, bacon, and eggs for breakfast. After everyone dressed we drove over to the boat dock and walked around for a little while and then drove over to the marina and looked at all the house boats. After that we went back and had a late lunch/ early dinner of hamburgers on the grill, pasta salad, and baked beans. After that we walked down a huge hill (I'm talking my calves are still sore) and saw the lake. When we came back up to the house we started playing 5-handed Euchre. Then we played a little pool and then Scrabble. We went to bed a little after midnight. Sunday morning we had another big breakfast and then packed and cleaned up the house. We got home around 6 p.m.

More Appointments
I'll still be busy this week with doctor's appointments. Of course, I have my daily radiation. Today I had my Herceptin appointment. Thursday, I'm scheduled to go meet my new OB/GYN and get an IUD. I had called about it the week before and my doctor was on vacation. They called me back on Wednesday and she thinks I should get an IUD. I've done a little research and have a list of questions to ask before they go ahead. Friday, Grace has her follow-up with the plastic surgeon. The good news is that I think that her small hole may have closed. She won't really let me look, but last time I did it looked like it was getting smaller. I also think she can suck now. She makes a sucking noise now when she uses her sippy cup and I never heard that before. We'll see. On top of that, I'll probably have to work late at least one night this week or take more work home. Also, Wednesday is my birthday. No plans, but maybe that will change by then.

Just For Fun

I've been bad about the pictures lately, so here are some recent favorites.

This was taken on 1/25 when Grace was still in sleeves. Her Grandpa Gary sent her this big red dog.


This one was Grace dressed up for church using her sippy cup. The outfit was one of her birthday gifts from Grandma. Taken 2/5.


Same day. Grace was sitting in her birthday chair from Erica.


Here is Grace in all of her glory last weekend throwing a fit.


Still...


Still...


After the fit, she needed to chill out with her lovey.


This one was was taken on Monday before leaving for daycare. This outfit was a Valentine's gift from Grandma.


And finally, this was taken by me last weekend to show how much my hair has grown back. I promise, it's growing.

Plans

I don't feel like I've got much to write about for a weekend recap. We didn't really do anything exciting. We rented a couple of movies, I did the usual laundry and grocery shopping. Saturday afternoon Grace and I met Samara and Ava at Babies R Us and then we picked up the husbands and went to dinner at Applebees. That was about it for the weekend.

Today, however, started the first of a week of busy days. I had the morning to myself after Grace and Eric left for work and daycare. I put away laundry, picked up downstairs and went through Grace's closet and dresser and put away her outgrown clothes. I then went downtown and met an ex-coworker for lunch. After lunch I headed over to the hospital for my "Simulation" appointment in Radiation Oncology. It was a little weird because I had to lay on this table for about 45 minutes while 2 Techs and the doctor kept adjusting the machines and trying to line up everything. I had to be exposed the whole time, but I just tried to relax. Once they got me positioned correctly, they drew all these marks on me with permanant marker, so when they actually start the radiaiton they'll be able to aim at the same spot everytime. They'll touch up the marker when I come in to be sure it stays on until I'm done. They also put clear stickers over the important marks to help them stay on. The worst part is they told me I can't wear deodarant on that side until we're done. Apparently, deoderant has aluminum (or some other metal) in it, so if I wear it it will react with the radiation and make it like a rally bad sunburn under my arm. I'm supposed to use baby powder or corn starch until then. Once they got me set up, they sent me to get a CT. The CT was just to get a three dimensional picture of me, so they would know how "thick" I was. This will help them with the dosage to be sure it goes in the right depth. After that, they sent me over to the lab to get a blood test and be sure I'm not pregnant before they start.

Tomorrow, I don't have any appointments, but I'm sure I'll be really busy at work. Again, I have five new accounts, so they are keeping very busy.

Wednesday, I'll be spending the whole day at the hospital again. I have an 8:30 arrival. At 10:00 a.m. I have my lung CT. I'm pretty sure this is the test that requires me to drink the Barium stuff before hand, since they told me no food or drink after midnight. This test is to check on that small spot that they found on my lung in October. At 11:00 a.m. I have a MUGA scan. This is the test to be sure my heart is still in good shape after the Epirubicin and before they finish up the Herceptin. I did have a 2:00 appointment to get my weekly Herceptin dose, but I called today and they are going to let me skip it this week. Now I have a 2:30 p.m. appointment to start my radiation.

Thursday. Since I am starting radiaition on Wednesday, I'll have an appointment some time on Thursday for radiation. It's a busy day at work too. I have 2 different client meetings. One at 10:00 a.m. and one at 2:00 p.m.

Friday. Radiation some time. I also will be leaving for the weekend to go on a girls weekend with 5 coworkers. One of my coworkers has a lake house and is having 6 of us down for a weekend. She's got a hot tub and we're bringing tons of food. It should be lots of fun. I'll get back some time on Sunday.

Makes me tired just writing about it. The family will be home any time, so that's it for now. I did take some pictures of Grace this weekend that are worth sharing, so I'll do that tonight after Grace goes to bed (and after I work out!).