I am officially more than half way through radiation! Which means I am closer to going home. We are all set to return to Virginia on May 4.... and trust me when I say I am counting down the days, heck the minutes until then. Radiation has been going well- aside from the undeniable hunger I have everyday with some itchy skin and fatigue the side effects have not been to bad. Last week we had my second video follow up call with Radiation Oncology and this time we got to speak with both the resident from last week as well as Dr. Oliver. It was a pretty informative appointment. He reviewed with us how they lined up my original PET scan (before surgery) with the post op PET scan (from March) and showed us where the beam is targeting as well as how much radiation is getting to the exact location of where the tumor was. It was really cool. (Eric was supposed to take pictures while Dr. Oliver was explaining it all but he only took one.) The images allowed us to see that greater than 80-85% of the radiation from the beam is hitting where my thymus once was and the immediate surrounding tissue. The other 15-20% (which in negligible) of the radiation barely reaches the top of my heart, breast tissue, and lungs. The cancer I had tends to aggressively return to where it initiated so the fact that we are killing the cells in that area with such accuracy is HUGE. Had we not been approved for proton beam radiation half my lungs, most of my heart and a good portion of breast tissue would all be radiated, not to mention that the precision of targeting the location of the tumor would not be as accurate..... We are very fortunate to be able to have this covered by insurance AND have my parents stay with Dylan and Rylie so we can get the BEST treatment.
At the risk of sounding corny, I wanted to piggy back on my previous blog "The one with all the C's" (which by the way was a play on how FRIENDS labeled all their episodes). This past week I found some really great "C"s...…. Care Packages, Cards, Coloring Books, Completed Puzzles, Cutting Hair, Celebrations, and Church. I can not get over all the love and support that I have received while in Minnesota. It is everyday, no joke, EVERYDAY that a card or a care package arrives. From family and friends to patients and co-workers as well as Friends of friends and friends of my parents so many people have sent prayers and well wishes.....THANK YOU!
Being here with not much to do I realized that I am kind of living the life of a preschooler! I spend most days working on a puzzle (which I finally completed on Friday) coloring (which really does help pass the time) and napping. Eric even takes me out for recess. We go for about a 3 mile walk almost everyday which is good for the mind and body. On Sundays we walk down to the church and take some time thanking God for all our blessings and of course asking for help to get through the next week!
Keeping with the covid lock down phenomena of women cutting their husbands hair- I had to cut Eric's hair last week....which for the record, should certainly be added to the vows! Not going to lie, it took close to 2 hours, and I will not ever be doing it again. It turned out fine with only a few arguments but it was touch and go on who was going to make it out of the bathroom alive.
Sunday was Easter and there was a blizzard. It snowed all day! All day! We did venture out to the church before it got to bad. It just didn't seem like Easter without all the pews filled.. Aside from Eric and I there was only one family of six praying. They were all dressed in their Sunday best and it was nice to hear someone say “Happy Easter”. We stayed about an hour before we headed straight back to the hotel to make brunch.
Dylan turned 16 on Wednesday!!! I am not even sure I know how to put in words what that day was like. I am chocked up just trying to type this. The outpouring of love that day was so great that it was palpable half way across the country. Technology can be a real curse and yet the greatest blessing. Through text messages, DMs, and the help of some amazing friends we were able to pull off a birthday surprise he will never forget. Friends new and "old" came together for a social distancing birthday drive by shout out full of balloons, signs, gifts, Chick Fil A and the most beautiful cake ever. There was every bit of 20-25 cars of friends that showered him in love!!!! My heart was so incredibly happy as Eric and I watched it all over facetime.
Finally, last week marked the beginning of my hair falling out. People talk about losing their hair during chemo but I feel like they leave out some very important information. Listen, I knew it was going to happen, the oncologist told us there would be "significant alopecia" with one of the chemo meds so we knew it was inevitable. I knew that it would start off by thinning and blah blah blah blah. What I did not know is that It is super ANNOYING!! It started falling out the day after Dylan's Birthday. I would scratch my head and find that strands of hair were coming out. By the end of the day more and more would come out as I ran my hands through my hair. On Saturday it got real frustrating. Imagine if you will you are in the shower washing your hair and handfuls of hair are coming out as you shampoo- and it sticks to your back, your arms, and your chest. Then its all over the shower curtain and wall. What a mess to clean up! I am not sharing this for pity, I am just keeping it real! Hair falling out is straight up annoying and no one ever talks about that. I used to think as soon as it started falling out that I would just shave it (in good old suck it cancer kind of way) but on Saturday my mind shifted a little.....Forget this, lets have some fun! If its going to thin out before its all gone lets make it less annoying. I have a lot of hair, losing long strains was gross so I decided to have Eric cut off about 6 inches. For the record it took less time then it did when I cut his hair! Luckily the manager at the hotel had told us he had scissors we could use when we needed them, so we didn't not have to go out and find scissors. He did a pretty good job. And it helps that lopsided haircuts are in style! Lol.... I think next week (ok whos kidding, more like in a few days) I will go shorter and by the weekend I would imagine it being gone. I was hoping that I would be able to hold off until I got home and have the kids be there to help shave it but cancer is a real bitch...…Good thing I can be a bigger one so I win!
Monday starts round 2 of chemo! Wish me luck!
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| My new Hair Cut |
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| Signs, Balloons and more! |
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Starts with Brooke and Family, wait for it!  |
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