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ET phone home

8/30/2015

I am adjusting to life with less on top to say the least. I think I resemble ET and am waiting for a call to star in one of Steven's newest flicks. The good news is that the drains are out and I even caught a few winks on my side last night. I wouldn't say that I am in pain, just uncomfortable. I am praying that in time, that will lessen and I can resume some "normal" activities.

Tomorrow I have another follow up appointment with the surgeon and then on to physical therapy. My range of motion is good so I am looking forward to seeing what little tricks they have in store for me. I am still doing my once around the block walk and have progressed to a point where I don't have to come back and immediately take a nap!!

Emily and Matt are on a college trip tomorrow and will be gone for three days. This is my first time staying alone and I am looking forward to see how far I can push my independence. Luckily for me, so many of you live near by if I need you!! I think Smookie and I will be just fine.

I am starting to think about what clothes I will wear in the coming year, will my hair ever be the same and when will the toenails come back! Vanity taking over must be a good sign. No prosthesis until after Sept 24 when I get released by the surgeon, so I am hoping for warm weather to stay in summer tops until then!!

I get my radiation tattoos on Sept 15. I wanted to give my brother in law Ed a run for his money. Wonder if I can have the state of Texas as my starting point!! I never thought of myself as a body art queen but who knows!

So we move forward. I am taking a break from the blog until after my tattoo appointment so don't think I have disappeared with some biker gang somewhere. Or, Hollywood might have me tied up! Fall is in the air, school is starting and I am halfway there!!! Life is good.

Kisses, hugs and go Hawks!

Jill

9 Comments

In to the valley of death rode the 600

8/20/2015

15 Comments

No, my giant " TAS" did not weigh 600 pounds. My friends have a lottery going and I am sure Melissa had it pegged for this much. I know my sister Allison did, but alas, it was a meager 7.5 to leave this gorgeous body! But along with their disappearance went the cancer so it is all good.

My surgery was right on time and we never missed a beat. My Anesthesiologist was a hoot. When I got up on the table, he was playing around with my port. I hear a good night Irene...I say what? He said good night Irene. I woke up in recovery!!!! One poor person was sicker than a dog...not me, I am a child of the sixties. We took this stuff for breakfast! I remember trying to raise my arm not because I wanted to see how many lymph nodes she took, but if I could raise my arm in the allotted time frame for Dr. Morris the radiology oncologist. She does not suffer fools!

The next thing I know, I am in my room with Matt and Emily (thank you Midge) and I feel fine. They order me some food and Ed arrives...coincidence or purposely?? Matt leaves. Ed is leaning on the foot of the bed and it starts to move. I am freaking out. He was like Jill, this is what these beds do. They adjust so you won't get bed sores....oh right! I had brilliant pearls of wisdom to share with Ed as I would drift in and out of the conversation never leaving the topic. Damn I am good.

Home on Friday and my Mom arrives courtesy of Kathy Umlauf in our horrible storms. Someone hit Kathy on the way home. My Mom can't get over how we all freak out over rain. I guess to non Seattleites it sounds bazaar but we don't have boomers.

Cindy has taken my Mom and Me to two Doctor appointments where we met up with Matt. The first was Dr. K who gushed about my path report. He charmed my mother, hugged me and told me breast cancer was no longer in my future. Today it was the Surgeon's turn. To cut to the chase, two of my lymph nodes showed .03/.06mm of cancer. Anything under 2 is considered negative. The area will be zapped with radiation so this is not a concern. In the breast tissue, two spots marked were reduced to .03mm and .6mm. These were my tumors that had been 1.5 cm and 3.5 cm. Chemo did its job! I was reclassified from Stage 3 to Stage 1. Radiation will handle any cell left behind (lets pray it works better than no child, but that is a story for another day!). As both Dr said, with the radiation, the likely hood of any recurring breast cancer is miniscule.

So, now we work on the drains, hope to recover quickly and we start radiation set up on Sept 15. I will let you know how all that goes. Thanks for being here with me. The meals, the flowers, the books, the candy, the notes, the prayers just everything is overwhelming and so appreciated. You guys are uber super.

Next stop is microwave world!

Love,
Jill

15 Comments

You did what?????

8/10/2015

16 Comments

My first blog started with I have what? It is only fitting that this blog carries a sister title! We decided to take a cruise to the Caribbean in the weeks before my mastectomy and after the chemo. It would be a time of reflection and putting our collective family heads around the weeks to come. Val (Matt's sister) and Ed and Viv (his brother and niece) decided to join us. We met in Ft. Lauderdale where Steven (Matt's older brother) and his husband Tom joined us for dinner the night before we left. We were all excited about the trip, the ship and the upcoming time to "get it together"! We left on time and it was a beautiful departure and fun. Our first dinner was at a Brazilian steakhouse on the ship that was fabulous. The next morning Matt and I got up early and joined the masses at the gym.
Ed popped in as well. I was so proud that I did 35 minutes on the treadmill and went to wipe off machine. I had to get a towel from the other side of the gym. As I turned to walk back, I took one step and hit a rowing machine that was moved out into the pathway. I fell missing my head and landing on my shoulder in front of Ed on the elliptical machine. My body was like what is going on and of course, I was so embarrassed until Ed who had jumped off the machine was wrapping my leg and Matt who had run over was talking to me.

The cleaning lady for the gym called the emergency line and several people came over to wish me well. I was oblivious to why there was so much fussing going on and how Matt's blood pressure was 200. After about 15 minutes, the Doctor and the wheelchair arrived. Now this was a good thing as Juan Carlos the doctor was adorable! He told me to put my arms around his neck (in front of Matt????) and he would pick me up. I said are you nuts! He insisted. He did it and of course I was in love!! Well, next to Matt!

They took me to the medical unit and it was here that I found out that I would need stitches. They were talking about the bone that they were looking at it and how lucky it was that it wasn't broken. I think at this time I realized that I had no idea how bad it was. Seven stitches later and wheelchair bound, I figured it out! I sometimes can feel like Charlie Brown! Needless to say my cruise did not go as intended. I spent 4 days in a wheelchair and never could get in the pool or go to the spa. I needed a push everywhere I went so it put a cramp in everyone's fun. On the last cruise day, I was able to go off the ship to the beach in Nassau but that was horrible as I could not go into the water and it was hot! I had to go the medical unit daily and the times Juan Carlos was working made it nice! Val, Ed and I fought over who would be his girlfriend. I would make Mrs. Robinson look like a teenager with him, Val was about 15 years older than he was and he was not a member of Ed's tribe! He told me that his stitches were two beautiful women on a Harley!

This was not the relaxing trip we hoped for and NCL cruise lines are on my list! As I type this, I am waiting to talk to the surgeon about taking out the stitches and being assured that Wednesday is a go. Right now I am scheduled to go in at 10am, get the isotope for the sentinel biopsy at 11 and surgery at 1. I should be in recovery by 6 or 7 and into my room by 9. Long day so I am glad I get to sleep thru most of it.

Please keep me and my family in your prayers especially on Wed. I will be glad to rid myself of the cancer, but losing my girls will be a shock as they have been a big part of my life (literally!!). Your good vibes help a lot.

Here is to Round 2. Lets knock it out of the park!

XOXOXO
Jill

16 Comments

ET phone home

In to the valley of death rode the 600

You did what?????

Jill
Swaya

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ET phone home

In to the valley of death rode the 600

You did what?????

JillSwaya

Archives

Categories

Jill
Swaya