Estrogen Positive

The verdict is in. The specialist agreed with the first guy. I'm still borderline but on the positive side. That means the operation this Wednesday is a go. Followed by the fancy estrogen-prevention pills for 5 years. At least it's a plan. If the report had said that my tumor was NOT estrogen-positive then the treatments would all be finished. I'm glad I have the chance to kick at this cancer a few more times yet.

I'm going out and about without a bandana or wig now!!! It's grown past the stage where I look like I just parked my motorcycle around the corner. Still, ponytails are a ways off.

The radiation burn on my chest peeled. Now instead of angry red, the skin is more pink and not as sore. That's progress.

I'll write after the operation.

Mid Summer's Stroll and Campout

Several people have commented that doing a 60 km walk this summer is risky. They feel that my body needs time to recover from all it has been through, and that doing something this hard is not going to help. It made me think, but I don't agree.

The weekend to end breast cancer will be hard but it is my Mt. Everest. It marks the one year point of having this disease and we've all been through a lot. By focusing on this challenge I'm doing one more thing to take my life back. I expect it to be hard work, but with a lot of people helping me wherever they can. Your $ support has amazed me, and allowed me to get to the starting line. I'm training regularly so I can enjoy the accomplishment.

Here's a web site that has a lot of pictures showing the spirit of the event. Weekend Stroll Pictures - Click on the "View Pictures" link.

Just when you thought you could see the end of the rollercoaster

Saw a new doctor today that picked a hole in our carefully built treatment plan. Up next was an ovariectomy (June 1) to get rid of most of the nasty estrogen followed by Arimadex to get rid of the rest of it.

Today's MD pointed out that the estrogen sensitivity for Carolin's tumour in the report was 3 out of 8 which is right on the dividing line between sensitive and not sensitive. That was news to us. That doctor is going to have a specialist do a pathological review of the slide to see if he thinks its sensitive to estrogen or not. If he rates it as a 2 then forget all the rest of the treatments because Carolin's tumour doesn't use estrogen to multiply, so Carolin's done all she can do to prevent a recurrence. If the review finds it's a 3 or 4 then we carry on as before. The results will be known on the 26th.

End of toxic treatments

With the end of the radiation, it's also the end of toxic kill-the-cancer treatments. There's still two big medical things to do but they're preventative (ovaries) and cosmetic (reconstruction). Under normal circumstances both would be tough things to work through but in perspective at least there's nothing poisinous being injected into you.

Several people have asked about the lumpy lymphnodes (sounds like a band's name) that she had at her collar bone before the radiation started. She'll see her main cancer doctor next week and see what she says but one of the doctors along the way said the radiation would still be shrinking things for two to three weeks after the treatments ended. Still it sure would be nice to hear her say she can't find them.

With the end of modern medicine's array of treatments Carolin's free to try the Chinese medicine she has got. Between the pills and the tea there's lots of things to do. The good news is you can do it at home and it doesn't involve any accupuncture needles. The bad news is the list of ingredients looks like an inventory of the neighbour's compost heap. But why not give it a try?

Last day of radiation

This afternoon was my last radiation treatment. I completed all 25 without missing any because of skin problems. It feels good to be done but I will miss the care givers on Unit 8. They were wonderful people and treated the patients so well. I need to keep putting cream on for the next 10 days as the skin will continue to redden for that long. It is quite red now and a bit itchy.

I have lost another finger nail. That is number 3 now. They don't really hurt but they look quite odd. A few more to go I think.

Training walks are going well. Yesterday (Mother's Day) I walked 10 km with my friend Karen. I felt good and could have kept going. This morning my legs felt fine. I ran 20 minutes on the treadmill and then did my Body Pump class. Tomorrow we are scheduled to walk another 8 km. I am meeting lots of wonderful people that are also doing the walk.