Radiation... Check!

Today, marks another milestone in my treatment regimen… I have completed 33 radiation treatments. I am feeling grateful for having another treatment option that kills bad cells.  Elated that I am living and survived this dis-ease.  I am grateful everyday for my life in a way I hadn't experienced pre-diagnosis.  Everyone puts up a good “fight” when they are living with the disease but it is unfortunate, that not all of us get to continue to live. Being a survivor doesn’t make me any better than the next girl that has to live with cancer, I am just different, my outcome/experience is different.

8 months ago, when I was diagnosed, I said over and over again that I didn’t want to be defined by cancer  or what was to come in my treatments.  Now, I am a survivor, and proudly define myself as such. It's a badge of honor, I am the owner of a healthy body.  What I don’t forget and am reminded of is that I am a survivor today and I don’t know what is to come tomorrow, so I cherish the time that I do have.

The scans they used to map my radiation.

What’s next on the treatment trail:

I will start tamoxifen in the next two weeks.  I will take the pill, everyday for 5 years.  How it works: Estrogen can promote the growth of breast cancer cells. My breast cancer was classified as having an estrogen receptor-positive which means that I have a protein to which estrogen will bind. These breast cancer cells need estrogen to grow. Tamoxifen works against the effects of estrogen on these cells.  Potential side effects (there always is): blood clots, strokes, uterine cancer and menopause-like symptoms. I will welcome back hot flashes with open arms (*sigh and smile). However, the benefits of the treatment far outweigh the side effects.  I was very reluctant to take tamoxifen, because of the potential of the menopause-like symptoms, for some, the drug completely changes the make-up of the body.  But, I am      
  hoping for the best. 

I will continue to have Herceptin infusions every 3 weeks, have my heart checked regularly (heart conditions are side effects of Herceptin). I will continue to have regular follow-up appointments with my surgeon and radiologist.  But, with all that said, with 75% of my treatment behind me now, I have more time and energy to get living, again. Cancer rocked my world and it has forced to me find a new normal, really, I am willing and open to the new normal, luckily... because I don't have much choice in the matter with the physical and cognitive restrictions I now have on my life.  Conditions of living, is what I call them. 

Fun Stuff:

+ I taped a public service announcement for young adults with cancer on Saturday.  Different and fun at the same time. 

+ Saturday I attended a survivorship day at UCI… got to see friends and catch-up plus ask lots of questions… like, “Did this happen to you?”. 

+ I am attending another survivorship day at UCLA on May 19^th.  If you or someone you know is a survivor, pass this information along. More info

+ Had an great girls night on Friday night, Katsuya for dinner then to the Pantages to see Billy Elliot.  
+ Just finished reading American Wife by Curtis Sittenfield.  A good read. 

Survivors!