Kicking Cancer's A** -- My Road to Recovery

Cancer is a sneaky, greedy thief. It wants to take your health, your money, your happiness ... even your life. Fuck Cancer! Your job as a survivor is to not let it. I have been off work for more than two weeks. While I can say that I have appreciated this extra time off, especially during the holidays, I can also say that I am a person who prides herself on a busy schedule and getting things done and I am beginning to feel a bit useless. I know that's not true; it's just easy to fall into a rut and let those thoughts take over. I have one more full week off and will return to my first event gig on January 3 for set-up. The show itself runs the 4th through the 8th. I wonder if I can handle it like I could before. I am still in pain. Sometimes it is a dull ache and other times when I move a certain way, it is a sharp shooting pain deep inside that is like a knife. I am on my second prescription of pain meds (albeit, a weak Rx). Lol. I can't look with scrutiny at my scar...

Well it's almost Christmas .... I've been hoping to share a bit of good news this holiday season. By george, I think I've got it! I went to see the breast surgeon for my post-surgery follow-up appointment yesterday. After pulling off all the bandages and checking everything out, she said it looked to be healing well. The smaller incision in the front where she took out the benign papilloma is not even bothering me anymore. I'm still in some pain and sometimes it is a deep burning or stabbing pain way inside rather than just the soreness at the site of the incision. She said this was normal as she had gone in deep almost to my chest wall and done quite a bit of tugging and pulling in through a relatively small incision and had probably bruised my chest wall muscle in the process. Apparently, nothing that some more healing time won't fix. She also handed me a pathology report. Surgery: complete success with negative margins all the way around. Wait for it ... It...

Hello all and Merry Christmas (yes, only 9 more days of shopping left!). I have been pretty busy for someone who just had major surgery. Thursday I got dressed and went out in public with my boss. Having a supportive boss who not only cares what you can to do make him/her look good or bring to the company, but cares about you as a person and how you are doing cannot be overstated. I am proud to call her a friend. She came and picked me up and we went out to eat and she helped me run a few errands including picking up a check from AFLAC. For all you people who are sick of the duck and all, I will jump to their defense and tell you how helpful they have been and how easy submitting my documentation and getting paid within a week was. They have helped take any financial worries connected with my illness off the table so far. And yesterday I was gone pretty much gone all day as my beautiful, smart and vivacious daughter attended TSU commencement ceremonies and received a BBA Magna Cum ...

It has been about 32 hours since my surgery was completed at North Central Baptist Hospital in San Antonio under the guidance of Dr. Wagner and a highly specialized team of doctors and nurses. While this was only my second major surgery that was necessary to save my life (therefore I don't have a wealth of experience to draw upon), I will say that I believe I got the best of care a patient could expect. To sum the experience up ... I think it turned out as well as it could have. The surgery was a success and the doctors feel they got the whole tumor and clear margins as well as the papilloma and as far as I know, they only did a sentinel node biopsy vs. an auxiliary node dissection which involves a whole lot more lymph nodes being removed. That could have gone either way if she had seen more trouble once she got in there so it looks like my lymph nodes were not too disturbed and the incision line not too high into my armpit. All good news and positive indicators but only patholog...

Have you ever wondered what an MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging test) is like? Well, I know now so just for grins I will describe it for you. First and foremost, while is it a very loud and claustrophobic tube, it is painless and completely safe (no possible side effects like radiation). The only painful part was that, in my case, they used contrasting dye which was injected into an IV in my arm and well, I don't like needle pokes. Other types of MRI scans don't call for dyes or IVs. After changing into a medical gown that opens in the front, I was wrapped in a blanket (it tends to be cold in those rooms) and escorted into the room with a machine that looked a bit like a space capsule with a sliding table in the middle. Although the majority of MRIs are done with the patient lying on their back, mine was done with me lying face down with my head on a headrest, arms stretched out in front of me (yep, think Superman without the cape) and openings in the chest area. This MRI only...

Sorry I haven't posted anything in a while ... but I'm back after a short "final fling" in Vegas with a friend. No more travel for a while (sad face). I am going in Monday for an MRI and pre-surgery blood work-up. And I FINALLY have a date! No, not that kind of date ... lol. My date with the surgeon, Dr. Wagner, and the operation to remove the tumor is Monday, December 11. I will be so glad to get this over with; however, I'm apprehensive. It's always nerve-wracking to go under the knife. Believe it or not, the surgery will just be an outpatient deal. I think most surgeries are being done that way nowadays because of the insurance companies and the expense of hospital stays. I will be driven by my daughter to recuperate at her house and should be pretty much back to normal by Christmas.  The surgical team will also be removing the papilloma (another small incision) and doing a sentinel node biopsy to check my nodes. They will be sending the cancero...