Where to start...

I thought a long time before I moved forward with this blog.  Do I?  Don't I?  Is it too much?  But in the end I thought it would be a good way to let everyone know how how I was doing.  First I have to thank everyone who has reached out to me to help me and my family during this process.  It is still all so new and a bit of a shock.  I never thought I would find myself where I am.

Just a bit of history, I had my first mammogram in March of 2012 when I turned 40.  With no family history and being under 50 they said they would see me in 2 years so I was not even scheduled to go back until March of 2014.  We were in New York this summer for baseball and I found a lump on July 10th that didn't feel quite right.  I made a doctors appointment as soon as I got home and he confirmed the lump and sent me on to radiology for more tests.  I had a diagnostic mammogram and ultrasound on August 1st and they determined that I needed a biopsy which was done on Friday August 2nd.  They said it would take a week to get the results but I got the call on Monday the 5th.... I had breast cancer.

I never thought this would be me!  

Needless to say the next 3 weeks were a total whirlwind!  Appointments with surgeons, radiologists, oncologist, geneticists and an endless chain of scans, MRI's, X rays and blood tests.  Exactly 3 weeks after my diagnosis on August 26th I had a double mastectomy and began to take charge of fighting this!    I did much better than I thought I would with the mastectomy I guess losing my boobs was not as tough as I thought it would be.  And as I noticed last night they are still bigger than Claire Daines as I far as I could tell at the Emmy's.

It was determined that I had Stage 2B grade 3 triple negative breast cancer.  At first being triple negative I thought was a good thing but I soon came to find out that it was was not.  What it means is that my type of cancer was not hormone driven and there was no medicine for it.  The only thing to treat it is Chemotherapy.  It is the most aggressive, fastest moving, most likely to reoccur and most likely to spread to other organs.  Thank goodness it was not in my lymph nodes though, so after surgery I was considered cancer free.... however I still needed to do chemo.  They needed to chase the one cancer cell that could still be out there that could pop up somewhere else.  Much like the odds of me getting cancer in the first place they need treat the odds that one cell was left behind.

I had my first Chemo treatment on September 18th and it was not that bad... the day of.  First I had to get a pic line put in the day before and it was horrible!  This is a line that will be in place throughout  treatment (until February) that goes from my right bicep up through a vein and drops in right above my heart to administer the chemo meds.  It took 3 attempts to get the line in and it was not a fun process at all.  What should have taken an hour or so ended up taking over 4 hours.

When I came home from Chemo I slept for about 4 hours and the next day was not that bad.  Once I was home I needed to take a hand full of pills 3 times a day to help with nausea and pain.  I really didn't start feeling anything until Friday the 20th when I had to also start taking a shot in addition to the pills.  The shot made me very sleepy so Friday was a lay low day.  I have to take the shot everyday for the next 7 days so I decided to take them at night.  I am so glad that the meds are working and I have not puked yet!  I don't know if it is coming but I'm just glad it's not here yet!

Saturday was a new day and a new set of issues... my hair!  It is not falling out yet but it will and my head is starting to hurt...  a lot!  It feels like my scalp is on fire and numb all at the same time.  I have started to put together a pretty big collection of beanies.  I don't thing I will be a wig girl but a beanie girl for sure!


A new day a new side effect... Sunday.... I can't taste anything.  It is so strange I can taste maybe the first half bite but that's it.  I have lost a little more than 5 lbs. in the past 10 days so I just need to keep up on my protein drinks to keep my strength up.

It has been unbelievable all of the amazing food that everyone has been bringing over.  It is truly overwhelming all of the support and thank you just does not seem like enough!  I have received so many beautiful flowers, goodies, fruit arrangements, gift cards, notes and calls.
 I hope you think this blog is a good idea... I know I am a very open person so there might be a bit more info than you were looking for.  I am going to try to update this at least a few times a week just to let you know what is going on and keep all posted.  I love you all and can't tell you how much all of the love and support has meant to me and my family!