Hello!
Time for a random update :)
I know I don't come on here often, but it's good to occasionally come back and say hello. I hope I never have to upate this site regularly again (since that might mean dealing with the beast again), but I enjoy coming back occasionally to just say hi.
Hi.
Anywho, life is good right now. Really crazy, but very good. Caleb is 4 now. FOUR! To think that we celebrated his 2nd birthday during my treatment and now he's FOUR is exciting and crazy all at once. He now informs me at least once a day that he is a big boy. Which apparently means he can do anything he wants. Or so he thinks. So my job as a parent currently consists of telling him when he is climbing too high or needs to stop walking on the back of the couch. OR that the roof is not a place for little boys (he's obsessed with wanting to be on roofs right now, though he's never been allowed). As my brother in law described it, "its like he looks for the most dangerous thing he can do and then tries to do it!" And THAT perfectly describes parenting a 4 year old.
In other big news, I might soon be living with my husband again. He's currently in the process of getting out of the army and he will hopefully be living with us again by the end of summer. Which is exciting, scary and wierd all at once. Mostly exciting... but scary to think of learning to live with each other again. The funniest part to me is when he deployed almost 3 years ago, I literally FREAKED because I didn't know how I'd make it all work without him. Now, I'm trying to figure out how we're going to live together again. I guess we're at a different level of "reintegration" :)
In cancer news, all is well. I still go see the doctor every 3 months. Since my subgroup of cancer is so aggressive (HER2+), I'll keep this up for another year and then maybe go to once every 4 or 6 months? The really good news is that I don't feel like I NEED that reassurance anymore. I feel really good. I feel healthy. I'm working out pretty regularly. I should be eating healthier, but I'll get back to that point soon. I just feel good. Which is usually when the worst things happen... but for now, I'm cautiously optimistic. Once I get past this coming December, my recurrance risk will drop a good bit. Then 2 more years after that and I will be "cured" :) I'm planning a BIG party for that day!
I did try to enroll in a clinical trial about a month ago. I contacted the Mayo Clinic in Rochester to see about doing a HER2 vaccine trial that they were conducting. I took a day off of work, provided SEVENTEEN vials of blood, had an echo and a tetanus booster... only to find out that my ejection fraction for my heart wasn't good enough. Apparently I had to be a 55 or higher and mine was a 53. Booooooooo. According to my doctor, my heart is fine... apparently it was just having an off day.
Some people were confused about my interest in doing a trial. Why would I consider that if I'm so far out from treatment and "probably won't die of cancer"? Well... for two reasons. First, I think I need to keep being vigilant. Keep taking care of myself. Keep working hard to stay healthy. And if a vaccine can help my body fight off a recurrance, then heck yeah I'll give it a shot, particularly when the health risk was so minimal. And second, I'm the FIFTH woman in my family in 3 generations to get cancer. I'm currently the only survivor. If there is ANYTHING I can do to help further cancer research and hopefully find a REAL cure, then sign me up. That's my responsibility to my children, my extended family and my friends who might face this beast themselves one day.
So that's the update. Life is good. It's getting better. I feel amazing. I'm SO excited spring/summer is here (after so many months of SNOW!).
OH... and how google is screwing with me? I googled "Minneapolis Nipple Tattoo" to search for a cosmetic artist for someone that asked about. And check out what the first search result is/was:
Time for a random update :)
I know I don't come on here often, but it's good to occasionally come back and say hello. I hope I never have to upate this site regularly again (since that might mean dealing with the beast again), but I enjoy coming back occasionally to just say hi.
Hi.
Anywho, life is good right now. Really crazy, but very good. Caleb is 4 now. FOUR! To think that we celebrated his 2nd birthday during my treatment and now he's FOUR is exciting and crazy all at once. He now informs me at least once a day that he is a big boy. Which apparently means he can do anything he wants. Or so he thinks. So my job as a parent currently consists of telling him when he is climbing too high or needs to stop walking on the back of the couch. OR that the roof is not a place for little boys (he's obsessed with wanting to be on roofs right now, though he's never been allowed). As my brother in law described it, "its like he looks for the most dangerous thing he can do and then tries to do it!" And THAT perfectly describes parenting a 4 year old.
In other big news, I might soon be living with my husband again. He's currently in the process of getting out of the army and he will hopefully be living with us again by the end of summer. Which is exciting, scary and wierd all at once. Mostly exciting... but scary to think of learning to live with each other again. The funniest part to me is when he deployed almost 3 years ago, I literally FREAKED because I didn't know how I'd make it all work without him. Now, I'm trying to figure out how we're going to live together again. I guess we're at a different level of "reintegration" :)
In cancer news, all is well. I still go see the doctor every 3 months. Since my subgroup of cancer is so aggressive (HER2+), I'll keep this up for another year and then maybe go to once every 4 or 6 months? The really good news is that I don't feel like I NEED that reassurance anymore. I feel really good. I feel healthy. I'm working out pretty regularly. I should be eating healthier, but I'll get back to that point soon. I just feel good. Which is usually when the worst things happen... but for now, I'm cautiously optimistic. Once I get past this coming December, my recurrance risk will drop a good bit. Then 2 more years after that and I will be "cured" :) I'm planning a BIG party for that day!
I did try to enroll in a clinical trial about a month ago. I contacted the Mayo Clinic in Rochester to see about doing a HER2 vaccine trial that they were conducting. I took a day off of work, provided SEVENTEEN vials of blood, had an echo and a tetanus booster... only to find out that my ejection fraction for my heart wasn't good enough. Apparently I had to be a 55 or higher and mine was a 53. Booooooooo. According to my doctor, my heart is fine... apparently it was just having an off day.
Some people were confused about my interest in doing a trial. Why would I consider that if I'm so far out from treatment and "probably won't die of cancer"? Well... for two reasons. First, I think I need to keep being vigilant. Keep taking care of myself. Keep working hard to stay healthy. And if a vaccine can help my body fight off a recurrance, then heck yeah I'll give it a shot, particularly when the health risk was so minimal. And second, I'm the FIFTH woman in my family in 3 generations to get cancer. I'm currently the only survivor. If there is ANYTHING I can do to help further cancer research and hopefully find a REAL cure, then sign me up. That's my responsibility to my children, my extended family and my friends who might face this beast themselves one day.
So that's the update. Life is good. It's getting better. I feel amazing. I'm SO excited spring/summer is here (after so many months of SNOW!).
OH... and how google is screwing with me? I googled "Minneapolis Nipple Tattoo" to search for a cosmetic artist for someone that asked about. And check out what the first search result is/was:
I don't think I've EVER been the first result in any google search... so do I say HOORAY? Or "huh, that's wierd." :) Just thought I'd share.
Hope you all are well and feel free to contact me with any questions ever. It might take a few weeks for me to realize I've gotten a message, but I will respond. Big hugs and lots of love.
Hope you all are well and feel free to contact me with any questions ever. It might take a few weeks for me to realize I've gotten a message, but I will respond. Big hugs and lots of love.
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