So I thought I'd upload some new photos for those of you who aren't on Facebook. The little black dog is the one I referred to in my last post who followed Kyle and Lightning home. We have decided to keep him, and his name is Thunder, of course. He is VERY sweet and funny, and I am happy to finally have a dog who loves to cuddle after living many years with two dogs who didn't/don't (as much as I love(d) Christmas and Lightning, neither one likes(d) to snuggle). Kyle tells me that I'm spoiling Thunder already, which I doubtless am, because I allow him up on the bed in the evening before I go to sleep. In fact, our ritual has become that both dogs and Kyle hang out with me on the bed at night before all three kiss me goodnight and then leave me to sleep in peace. Of course, Kyle isn't doing ANYthing that would spoil Thunder at all (hah!).Updates on my treatment: In my last post, I mentioned that I would ask Dr. Krekow her opinion of Dr. John. As I expected she said he is very competent, but she agreed that his bedside manner leaves much to be desired. With that reassurance, I was ready to start radiation. Dr. Krekow also said that I would not see her again for six months (maybe it was three?) unless I had problems, and before I see her again, I will have a mammography, CT scan, bone scan, and MRI to check for metastasis(es).
I was supposed to start radiation on April 19, but Dr. John's office had a huge computer SNAFU, so I was unable to start until April 22, which will push back my ending date. I am currently just over halfway through. The treatments are very fast (usually about 30 minutes from start to finish) and painless. I have so far been extremely blessed by the fact that I have had almost no side effects at the treatment site; my skin is a bit pink and only very slightly itchy. I can only hope that it stays this way.
I saw my plastic surgeon, Dr. Heistein, on Friday for a six-month checkup on my status in general and my tissue expander and condition of my skin in particular. He was amazed that my skin is doing as well as it is, so I talked with him about doing my last surgery earlier than what he normally recommends, which is six months after completing radiation. I would like to get it done sooner for two reasons: (a) the tissue expander is still uncomfortable and awkward-feeling, and (b) we have already paid my hefty surgery deductible ($2000) for the year, so if I have the surgery before September 1, we won't have to pay it again (since I work at a university, our insurance year runs from Sept. 1 through Aug. 31). I emphasized to him that I don't want to endanger myself or have a bad outcome, but if it's possible to do this thing in August, I'd like to. He said that he didn't think it would be problematic, especially since my skin is doing so well this far into my radiation treatments. So I have scheduled another check-up with him for August 9, and if he thinks that I look good then, we will go ahead with the final stage of reconstruction (permanent implants in both breasts) on August 25. It's not an ideal date in terms of my work, since August 26 is the first day of classes, but it is outpatient surgery and they say I will only need to be off work for a week or so -- not too bad.
With all that news covered, I will say that for the most part, I am feeling well. I was having some issues with pretty bad joint pain in my lower body -- back, hips, knees, and feet. I talked to Dr. John about it, and he said that it was not due to radiation. He thought that perhaps I had a slight flu that was manifesting itself in this very mild way since my blood work is and has been totally fine, and I have not had fever or any other symptoms. This pain seems to be getting better, but it's not completely gone. Other than that, I am tired most of the time, and I'm still having some internal issues from the chemo, but that's to be expected (Dr. Krekow told me that it will take a year or more before all the side effects from the chemo are gone).
Work is going well. I am actually very happy that the semester is over as of this past Friday since it will give me a chance to breathe and catch up. As I believe I have mentioned here, I am presenting a poster session at the American Library Association's Annual Meeting in Washington, DC, in late June. So I have been working on gathering the data for that, and now Kyle is helping me put together my poster. (Some of you may not know or remember that he was a graphic designer by profession before we moved to Michigan, so he still has all those skills, which means I will have a killer poster. Woot!) I am really looking forward to going to DC; it's my favorite city in the world, and of course two of my best friends live there, Mike Larson & Jerry Maready. My former boss at APA and still a great friend, Mike Cannon, also lives in the area, but not in DC proper, so I hope he might have the chance to come down for a visit since I doubt I would be able to get up to where he is (Frederick, MD).
The big deal for the past week or so at work has been that the third floor of the library, where my office happens to be, will be undergoing a complete renovation over the next six weeks -- ceilings torn out so that a new sprinkler system can be installed, new flooring, paint, the works. So my neighbors, Eric and Rafia, and I had to move all our stuff this past week to the fifth floor, where our temporary digs will be. Admin has arranged for movers to come in tomorrow and move all our enormous furniture up -- thank goodness we don't have to touch any of that. But it was very exhausting having to pack and move all my books and other stuff. I found out after I had done it all myself that our all-around exployee/helper extraordinaire, Mako, and her student workers were going to help me, lol. So it was stupid on my part to have done it all, but at least it's done and I think I've recovered. Mostly.
Kyle and I celebrated our 10th anniversary this week, May 13. We had a wonderful dinner, and he gave me the most beautiful card on which he wrote some very dear and loving words that mean a great deal to me. We decided that that would be all we would do in celebration until I am finished with radiation and the house deal is settled (it looks like we may be selling it, but I'm not talking about it too much until the deal is done and all papers are signed).
That's about all I can think of for now. I will try to post more often now that things have slowed somewhat at work. I love you all and wish you a very happy spring. Peace, Jody.
