A Good News Update and Happy Thanksgiving!

TL;DR: I’ve seen all the doctors and there is no sign of recurrence which is great news! Healing well from radiation and expect reconstruction surgery in possibly February 2024. Still struggling a bit mentally, but trying to be patient and work through things. I’ve also developed a cord in my left arm likely due to the sentinel node removal last year and will need to do some PT. I will update everyone again before my next surgery.

It’s been quite some time since I last posted, and I’ve now seen all the doctors in the last few weeks or so so I thought I’d give everyone an update.

As I mentioned in my last post I see the breast surgeon and the oncologist once every three months so they can do exams and check for any sign of recurrence. I’ve seen them both now in the last few weeks and I’m pleased to say that everything is looking great, bloodwork is good, and no sign of cancer recurrence! This is wonderful news!

Also in good news, my bloodwork is showing my neutrophils are approaching what they were before I started treatment…yay for a stronger immune system!

In just a couple of weeks it will be my 1 year cancerversary and I will have been cancer free for a whole year! (Date of surgery is where this date is keyed off of…12/2) It hardly feels real.

I have also seen my plastic surgeon and things are healing well from radiation although it will likely still be several months before I can do the reconstruction surgery. Right now we’re thinking February 2024.

Overall I’m doing ok. I re-read my last post to remind myself of what was going on a few months ago and a lot of it is the same. I’m still battling with insomnia and anxiety. It’s a lot to deal with and I’m definitely struggling. Things had improved but the last few weeks have been a revert to that state and while I think I know what’s causing it, it’s hard to figure out how to manage a couple of big stressors in my life right now. Feels like it should be easy because after all, it’s not breast cancer, surely I can do anything now, but somehow that’s not quite how things/the brain works. It’s hard being patient with all the mental and emotional healing that is still clearly taking place.

Complicating things, my oncologist (as I kind of expected) isn’t a fan of the hormone replacement therapy (HRT) I started in late summer. It’s contra indicated for patients with other types of breast cancer (ER+) and while there isn’t a lot of data on my particular type of breast cancer he’d prefer I stop it. He indicated it wasn’t urgent that I stop it, but he did recommend I cease it in the “near future”. So I have to think about that as my doctors also want me to stop taking one of the medications I’ve been taking for insomnia which may or may not be helping with my anxiety as well. (It’s also possible the HRT is helping my sleep/mood which is why I am nervous to stop it.) I see my psychiatrist next week and I think it will be a strategy session on how to wean off some of these medications, in what order, and should there be something we have on standby if the wean off affects me adversely.

I’m also going to see the doctor who prescribed the HRT to talk about a step down on the HRT so that I’m not stopping it cold turkey. The bummer here is that he’s leaving City of Hope to move cross country so I may have to find another doctor to help me work through this which may be a challenge. I’m not sure if one of my regular doctors will be willing to do this or not as I don’t think it’s common for breast cancer patients to be on HRT.

One thing that is new is that I’ve developed a “cord” in my left arm. This is likely due to removal of the sentinel lymph nodes during my surgery last year to confirm that there was no cancer in my lymph nodes. I don’t know a lot about this yet but it seems that I need to go back to physical therapy to help resolve this.

It’s Thanksgiving this week and I know I’m looking forward to having an extra day off of work. I hope all of you are looking forward to a wonderful holiday surrounded by those you love! My Mother in Law is joining us for the holiday and a friend is as well. It will be small, and as many of you know, we don’t do Turkey…but it should be nice; we’re really looking forward to it.

I want to give everyone a heads up, as there’s not a lot going on it may be a while before I post again. I’ll be sure to post an update before my next surgery.

Thank you to all of you for your continued support, it continues to mean so much and we are very grateful!

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Thank you for taking time to keep up with us and see how we’re doing as well as all the help!  Because, I think like me, much of the world does nearly everything on their phones…I’m adding this note to the end of posts to make website navigation easier if you are on a phone.  If you’d like to read other journal entries, please click here (oldest post is at the bottom of the page).  There’s also a “hamburger” menu in the top right of the webpage that can help you navigate between the journal, ways to help page, stay in touch, and welcome pages.   Please know that reading this page and thinking of us is help!   Thank you for your support in all forms! If you have any issues, please email [email protected].