We certainly have had a busy weekend. Friday my parents and I took O to get his picture taken with Santa and then to Zoo Lights. Last night was our Big Extended Family Christmas Eve, and today we stayed home and had the party come to us.
O got everything he asked for from Santa Claus and then some, and now he's happily sleeping. He's been fighting a cold that I really hope I don't get since I have my surgery in a few weeks!
Here is a photo of us opening presents this morning--check out ALL my hair! (It's still short enough that a waiter called G & I "gentlemen" a few weeks ago...but compared to where it was...)
ANYWAY: hope you had a wonderful day wherever you are.
Things right now are pretty simple. I have yet to experience any side effects from the Tamoxifen (Dr. Chui said most patients don't for about 6-8 weeks...) So I just go in from time to time and have needles stuck in my tissue expanders and saline added until I get the size I want to be for reconstruction.
My reconstructive surgery is scheduled for January 17 and it is an outpatient procedure. Dr. Hansen, my plastic surgeon, says the recovery is a "walk in the park" compared to what I've already experienced....here's hoping the anti-biotics don't cause a recurrence a c-diff!
Then, about two weeks after the reconstruction, my radiation treatments will begin: Monday through Friday for six-and-a-half weeks. The good news in all of this is that if everything goes according to plan I'll be done with my treatments (except for the Tamoxifen) inside of a year of my diagnosis.
And in other news: my hair is coming back nice and thick everywhere except my eyelashes (which, aside from my head, is probably the one place I wish it would come back super thick!) My fingernail is about 2/3rds grown out at this point...things are recovering nicely....
So I recently started thinking: Do I have cancer or should I say I've had cancer? I mean, my hope is that I had it--that at this point it's all eradicated from my body.
While I realize that it's really semantics, in some ways it really isn't! The weirdest thing is I don't want to say it in past tense because I don't want to tempt the fates, kharma, or what/whomever I might be tempting to slap me down and teach me a lesson. I'm oddly superstitious that way (you should see me when the Cowboys play...)
I guess until my treatments are over I'll just go with HAVING it, present tense, because the medical professionals are still behaving as though I do and that's good enough for me.
In other news, we had a Holiday Party at work last Friday night. It was great catching up with co-workers and spouses (even if it meant talking A LOT about cancer...) I do okay talking about everything up until the topic of having another child comes up. SO: NEW RULE: unless you want to talk to me about being a surrogate for Greg & I, I cannot engage in talk of having another child...it's too upsetting for me right now.
Also, I shouldn't be listening to Judy Garland sing "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" this year. Even though it's my favorite, and she's my favorite, it pretty much makes me cry every time. Better to sing "I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas!"
I did NOT post any pictures of Hawaiian sunsets while we were away--and now we are back home.
However, we had a wonderful time. Last Friday my sis, O & I flew over to Maui and met up with my parents. Even though he's two-and-a-half, I have to say, O did great on the flight. Special thanks to APPLE for inventing the iPad!
We had a wonderful, relaxing week in Ka'anapali. The weather was great, we had a few meals out, two with old friends, a whale-watching cruise (saw LOTS of whales!)...all in all a great week.
I am especially grateful to my parents for all they did with O on this trip, making it even more relaxing. I got to lay by the pool and read and read and talk to my sis.
Today, all 5 of us flew back and O did great again. Right now, G is reading him his bedtime story. We both missed G, and I could even sense little bouts of homesickness in O on this trip.
Here's the obligatory family photo for your enjoyment:
I am also grateful to G who had a Christmas tree set up for us when we got home. He would go without, but I'm a sap for Christmas decorations, and O was very excited to see it too. This weekend we will deck the halls (within reason...) and I will (hopefully) get my cards ordered....
Finally, I'm grateful again for my wonderful co-workers, who took care of lots of business for me while I was away. The chocolate-covered macadamia nuts are en route!
