Thursday, April 28, 2011

GREAT FREAKIN NEWS TO SHARE

I'm presently at mt chemo session, but mt daughter gave me her laptop to use while here.
My doc, Dr B examined me and to his sheer delight told me th e greatest of news:  My tumor in my left armpit (axillary) is GONE!!!! THAT 5 CM TUMOR IS GONE!  ARE YOU FEELING MY JUBILATION?  I'm sitting there smiling to the point of aching in my face.  You see I couldnt find it the other day and I thought it was me being too hopeful. And now he verified this that I ended up grabbing him and CLUTCHING into him with the biggest LYNN HUG of his life!  My breast is still large but there is reduction as well so thats great as well.  So because of this fact I don't have Adrimycin in my chemo treatment today. I love his creative mind and flexibility! because he's paying attention to my body and the fact what will ultimately happen down the road when I have my bi-lateral mastectomy and then the radiation.

I am writing with my right arm presently very slowly while I have my chemo treatment coming to an end within the next 10 minutes or so. I have to say it's been an easy-peasy event today. I was told my side effects will be fewer!!  How great is that? Now, I can get somewhat of a reprieve of sorts.  I've also been told I get to go back to working out at the gym!!! I need it so badly! I want to have a good sweat & get my heart rate up to continue forward strengthening. 

So that's all I have to share for now.  Once again, thank you for all the continued prayers, good thoughts & energy!  I know it's helping me.  Hey, I'm living proof! It doesn't get that much more real;doesn't it?

Big time Cup's Half Full today!  eeeeeehhhhhaaaaa!

and if I break out with zits again I guess its worth it considering I'm getting these kinds of results!

Blessings!
Ciao Ciao

Treatment 2 soon to begin

It's been a few days since I've had the desire or the time to write.  Many things have happened in the last few days. I guess the most obvious one is I stepped across the threshold and had my chair completely chopped off.  We waited till after our dinner to begin this process.  Sanny wanted me to feel ready and willing to be able to sit down and begin to unveil the new Lynn.  He's a very wise man!  He knows me way too well.  It's so strange to go through these motions.  I was rather ambivalent.  Yes, I care but at the same time, it's just  flipping hair.  And, my hair has been feeling dead on my head.  Everytime I would pass my fingers through my hair, I would get clumps of hair.  The funny thing was I didn't have any bald spots.  It was distributed pretty evenly.  I did notice on Sunday afternoon that I had the receeding hairline going on in the center of my part area.  But, I sure do have a lot of hair. I'm one of the lucky ones. 

So we began.  We gathered in my master bathroom where the light was really good.  Got my chair to sit in and we all began to watch the "unveiling" process.  Here were the cast of characters:  Jim (hubby), Ashley (oldest daughter), Patrick (Ash's honey), Thomas (Chef extraordinare and dear Friend), Amy (my youngest daughter and son-in-law, Loreto, via SKYPE from ROME)  and last but certainly not least, Sanford (couture dejour -- and dear Friend-brother ).  He took the first few cuts to get the bulk off my head.  Everytime he combed my would-be hair, it clumped and tangled because it was dead.  I truly felt as thought I had a mop on my head.  Lifeless hair-- so weird.  By the way, Ashley was filming the majority of this process and I will be trying to post this on here and if not here on YouTube. Will keep you all posted on that.
As he cut my hair, we saw different styles.  Oh, yeah, he gave me a mullet -- just as a reminder of what USED TO BE in our years gone by.  I was called a mullet head by a FORMER boyfriend of Ash's. It was pretty funny of that interpretation by this young man, but I guess in retrospect, it was similar to one -- I was trying to grow my hair out at the time. Either way, all of us had a good laugh.  Then, we stopped for a bit so I could see myself at this stage.  This was the moment I started to fall apart.  I was ready, but the reality hit me. Jim was quick to be there and give me a chance to gather myself up.  Once I finished the blubbering, I was much stronger and told them I was ready to get this going on.  So off Sanford clipped away.  We went to the next style which was considerably shorter.  The funny was and I agree with their opinion on this one:  as I got my hair cut shorter, I started to look younger.  I mean considerably younger.  So strange. I guess because there was no distraction with the hair -- not in the way of my face.  At one point, I found myself looking like a little kid --- boy-like when I was a kid.  NO, I hadn't been drinking!  No, this isn't wishful thinking -- it just made me look that way.  Mind you there are cameras clicking away and being videoed. 
That's one of the biggest changes I've seen in myself.  I am allowing this right of passage to be filmed.  I'm opening up like I've never opened up before.  I'm wanting to share it this way because oddly enough I do believe this can take the mystery out of this process for some who might be entering into this process.  And, we as women, have been put into their categories which dictates what femininity is or is not. Supposedly, we have strength in our hair.  I have to laugh at that.  I feel stronger without it surprisingly so! Either way, I want to take the mystery and the FEAR out of this process.  My tape is rather raw at times with the conversations we are sharing among each other.  There is senses of humor going on to lighten the situation for me.  There was nervous laughter at times from me as well as others in the room.  Everyone had their different comfort levels that you will notice.  There are good moments, sad moments, happy moments, supportive moments, freaky moments -- that's what makes this so real.  It's going to come to you unedited.  I want this completely honest from MY perspective. And that's what this is.  For ME, this is what I needed to go through. I do not suggest at all that this would work for others; but at least it's there to see and hopefully, gleen some insight into what people can go through.  It's an easy process overall, but emotionally, I don't believe it ruins a person.  I say this because we are stronger than hair; I am not defined by this disease. And if I need to lose my hair to gain my life back, then so be it.  HAIR GROWS BACK.  And I'm not going to waste anymore time mourning my hair.
When we got to the final stages of chopping my hair off on the sides and leaving a butch haircut on top (which I did not like the look at all) we took a break.  Had to -- just needed to take one more really big cleansing breath to do the final cuts.  We took more pics; laughed a lot at this look -- no not my cup of tea to say the least.  Then Sanny said, "Let's do it now and take the rest off; what do you think?"  I nodded in the affirmative (yes) and said, "Let's do it already."  And he did as I commanded.  He got the shaving shears and turned that puppy on and took my hair down ultimately to about 1/8 inch around my head. Had to clean it up so there were no stragglers hanging around.  But it was done.  It felt so weird because my hair folicles were in a pattern around my head and lay in that pattern. A bit on the sensitive side.  Doesn't hurt at all -- just sensitive when I ran my hand across my head.  It felt so different.  We talked about the fact that I would need to wash this and put a good conditioner on my scalp.  I have psoriasis in my scalp area but happily no lesions or anything that is gross.  I had big time fear that I was going to have disgusting red and seepy patches all over my scalp.  But I don't!  Yeah! Yeah!  Yeah!  I know inquiring minds want to know:  what's the shape of my head.  I'm happy to report I have a very nice and proportional head.  It's so nice and shapely and my ears are perfectly proportioned to my head.  Wow, I got a break on this one!  THANK YOU GOD!  But more importantly, Thank you Mom and Dad for creating me. 
The conversation stopped and we just observed my cranium.  From my perspective, I didn't expect to get the reactions I did from the gallery that was present.  This inlcuded my daughter, Amy, who was on SKYPE. Loreto is a photographer and he was going on about the artistic side of my head.  I was so surprised how happy everyone was for me.  They got to the point of gushing about me.  Kept on telling my my eyes and cheekbones pop out; how young I look; that I'm hot (that came from Jim big time!). About that time they all said,"Ok, maybe we need to give Lynn and Jim some private time."  LOL! No, it didn't happen.  Then they wanted to know my opinion: well, since I was the recipient, I was still processing this. Yes, my brain was clicking away it's movie of the look and I was staring and smiling.  I have to say, this is what you get. I cannot hide myself under my hair.  This is me. This is the new Lynn.  I guess this is my right of passage.  I thought when I turned 50 years old that that was the right of passage.  No, I would say shaving your head is a right of passage big time.  Suddenly, I was thinking about my make-up, big bangly earrings, scarves and hats.  And NO WAY do I want to cover my head with a wig -- at least not at this time.  I think that would be so fake for me.  I feel that I want the GENUINE Lynn to be seen for who and what I am.  And it doesn't get much more up in front like this.  I'm not doing this for shock purposes, but this is for me.  Please see me for who I really am.  You can judge me; go right ahead.  Assume what you want or must.  Bottom line for me:  I frankly do give a crap what you think.  I feel pretty darned happy and liberated by this.  It's not what I expected myself to feel.  But I do feel FREE; I mean REALLY FREE.  I'm tickled that I don't have to deal with the dead hair on my head. I'm thinking about all the money I'm saving not coloring or cutting presently; the hair care products are a savings as well.  Yes, this is temporary.  When I'm finished with chemo and then with radiation, my hair will come back.  And then it's really going to get interesting.  What and how will it come back as?  GREY? Curly? STRAIGHT? From what I see now, I have salt and pepper hair around the front.  Well, if I like it, I may keep it that way.  This would be, in my opinion, the time to allow this to stay when it's coming back fresh and new.  I don't want to look the way I used to.  Considering what I'm going through, I can never be the same.  I am not the same.  I will never be the same again.  There are lessons I'm learning daily.  I must pay attention to them. Once again, this is MY journey.  And I have to say again, there are more blessings that have come out of this horror than there negatives.  I will get to the other side of this disease and come back even stronger.  My insecurities are fading away quickly.  And I don't know why.  But they are. What a good sense of self and what a good sense of relief.  I don't carry many burdens in my heart the way I was.  I'm more grateful than anything. 

Since the hair shave, I've been out in the public a few times.  The first one was to take Woody, my dog, on his morning walk.  Now, remember I'm still recovering from the port removal, so my right arm is still needing to be taken care of and elevated, etc, but I am seeing improvement; and as my doc pointed out to me day before yesterday, my body was really compromised by this clot, so it's going to take a while, but it will recover.  So anyway, my walk was short, but I watched a video from YouTube about how to wrap my head with a scarf. Got some great ideas from a couple women and tried my version.  I wrapped my head up and to my surprise, it stayed on my head!  I did a great job.  I look rather exotic.  I even put some large earrings on  and took off with my dog for his walk in the field.  I noticed I walked very straight and tall.  Not cocky, just taller.  Felt good.  We did out thing and came back to the house.  I took my scarf off and I let my head breathe. It was a warm day out but I stayed in the house to avoid any sun rays that could burn my head and I needed to rest anyway.  I like it with my head exposed.  But I will place sunscreen on my head. The skin is very sensitive.  Later on in the day, Jim took me to lunch to a beautiful winery called Calloway.  What a gorgeous lunch and it felt so good to be among the living!  I changed my scarf to a silk scarf and made a twisted rosette to the side of my head.  It turned out way cute.  I can't believe how much fun I'm having twisting the scarves into different designs.  It's so easy and fun.  At the restaurant, I was treated just like everyone else: with respect and dignity which is the way it should be.  But you can't help feel a little self-conscious.  For the most part no one really cared; I did notice a couple double-takes. But I would do that too.  It didn't bother me in the least.  And if anyone decides to ask  questions, I'm completely comfortable in answering any and or all their questions within reason.  I also had to do some grocery shopping and that when very well. 
Today Ashley and Sanford and I hung out in Encinitas.  I had no idea what a cool coastal town it is. So great and very earthy So. Cal style.  We had a blast.  WE went to a knittery store called The Black Sheep. Talk about over the top yarns!  Oh, yeah, I had to buy more stash.  GORGEOUS.  It made me sweat I got so thrilled out of my brains!  For those of you who don't know me, I love, love, love to knit and crochet.  It's my ZEN!!!! I don't think I can ever have enough of the organic yarns and gorgeous colors.  I don't buy all organics, but I love the unusual.  I love the textures and I try to figure out who would love this particular yarn either in a scarf or socks, or fingerless gloves (I'm still needing help) but that's ok.  I try.  I love my time with knitting.  I also like to felt hand bags.  I have to say I have created some gorgeous bags, but they do take a bit of money and they take time.  But they are addicting. I'm about due again to knit a bag up.  But been waiting for my arm to improve so I can.  It'll take some time and I will be back in the saddle again. 
Needless, to say, I will be back to that knitting shop. Love, love, love it!  Gotta go if you are there. 

Ok. Wondering why I'm writing at almost 3am in the morning?  Well, I have Chemo today @ 10:30am down at my Scripp's Medical Center with my oncologist, Dr. Bernstein.  Love this man.  And I love Regan more! My nurse.  Anyway, I was corrected by the doc and he told me I take the Dexamethazone for the Taxere chemo drug i take to avoid allergic reactions to that particular chemo.  I stand corrected. I thought it was for the Adrimiacin.  Now, last time he and I talked he was going to removed that drug out of the equation, but since that conversation he has changed his mind.  He will examine me to see how far down the tumors from come down; he will then make changes to the drug as needed.  So I still may get the Adrimiacin yet. (CRAP) that one is a mean drug.  I broke out big time, diarrhea ville, loss of hair, fatigue and a change up in my taste buds somewhat. Not to bad there.  So we'll see what happens.  The will draw my blood and check my blood panel such as white and red blood cells, hemoglobin, liver, etc.  I hope I'm doing well. I feel pretty darned good.  But we'll see.  I'm am caustiously optomistic.  Cannot be glib about chemo.  So after this treatment, I will have 4 more treatments!  YEAH.

We leave here around 9am cuz I have an appointment with my surgeon for post-op to see how I'm healing and discuss a couple other items.  I have been eating well so I have not dropped anymore weight. I now way 152 lbs.  (down 13 lbs. total)  I have been told that I need some fighting weight still.  But my clothes are fitting great and no big muffin tops are around!  Yippee Skippee.  I defninitely feel better about being in my clothes. 

Will keep you all posted as to how the treatment goes this time. Not going to bring my knitting this time because I have to rest my arm. but there is plenty  for me to do.  I will pack some food to munch on while I hang around.  The procedure should take about 2 hrs if all goes well into my veins and I don't suspect any issues to arise. 


I continue to ask for as many prayers, good energy  and good thoughts as possible. I do feel each and everyone of them.  I can't thank you enough. 
I'll be in touch in the next couple days.  This weekend is going to be a good one and that's what i'm gearing up for.


Take care and I send big hugs and kisses out to all.
Yes, I'm doing ok.  I'm ready again. And I can't wait to hear from the doc that he's happy my tumors are responding so well. My surgeon couldn't believe when he felt my tumors how small they are now. He kept on saying, "Wonderful, Lynn; this is simply wonderful."  See, miracles happen and I know partly it's because of all the positvity and prayers!!!! There is power big time in prayers. 


So with that, yes, my cup's half full!
Ciao, Ciao