Post-Surgery Results Are In! (Click here)

It has been a busy three weeks!  Chris and I ran around to a number of medical appointments when he first arrived, including a consultation with the renowned breast surgeon Dr. Armando Giuliano at Cedars Sinai Hospital in Los Angeles. We did this in order to get a second opinion on if in fact a lumpectomy was a reasonable option for me.  He confirmed that yes, absolutely it was, but that he would recommend doing a level 1 and 2 lymph node dissection for me since it was determined that I had initially had cancer in my lymph node! We thought that I only needed a sentinel node biopsy, so we were a bit taken aback.  But after consulting with our Santa Barbara surgeon, we decided to go ahead and have my right axilla lymph nodes removed even though the chances of my getting lymphedema would be greater than if I just has a sentinel node biopsy.  But this seemed the best bet to prevent cancer recurring in my lymph nodes. So we decided upon our plan - a lumpectomy with a level 1 and 2 lymph node dissection.

My surgery took place on Wednesday in Santa Barbara and all went well - or according to my surgeon after the surgery - even better than she expected.  All of the doctors and nurses at the surgery center were great.  The procedure took about two hours and I was in recovery.  Chris was by my side as soon as I woke up - and before we knew it we were on our way home. 

Post-surgery recovery. Perhaps the last time that you will see Chris with more hair than me!

OK, sort of gross, but this is my drain - my newest fashion accessory!

There hasn't been too much pain, more discomfort than anything.  I do have a handy little drain in my armpit at the moment and will have it for about another 4 days (what a brilliant fashion statement - no?).   However, everything seems to be healing up well.  I do have some numbness in the back of my armpit and upper arm, but this is fairly common and the hope is that it will fade and disappear in the coming days.  Hopefully, my drain will be removed in about 4 days.

I also have to say that my husband has been wonderful.  I am so thankful for his love and support (and his being able to help me with all of the interesting things one needs help with during cancer treatment!). 

Chris cooking, cleaning and taking care of me.

SAVING THE BEST NEWS FOR LAST...The Pathology Report!

Just this evening we received a phone call from my surgeon saying that the pathologist's report was in and they found NO cancer in my tissue!  Hooray!  We couldn't be happier right now!  This was the news we were hoping for.  Our 6th anniversary is on August 29th - and we celebrated last week by spending one night at the beautiful Ojai Valley Inn and Spa. But now we are ready for more celebrating - so we are on our way to Paradise Cafe for dinner.  Chris and I will celebrate being cancer-free, our 6th anniversary, and feeling grateful that we might just have beat this cancer thing!

View from our room in Ojai.

Early Anniversary Celebration in Ojai!

We still have radiation to get through, but for now we are heading out to enjoy this beautiful evening in Santa Barbara!  Thank you all for your kind and healing wishes. I felt, and continue to feel, overwhelmed by the love and support everyone has shown me.

With love and graditude,

Jodi 

Big Chemo Wrap-up & Upcoming Surgery (Click here)

Now that my 6 main chemo sessions are over (hooray!), I thought it would be a good idea to capture some thoughts and reflections on the whole process. This is partly because, as mentioned in an earlier blog entry, my chemo regimen – for Her2/Estrogen/Progesterone positive breast cancer – is one that up to 50% of women in treatment are unable to complete.  I feel so lucky that I was not only able to complete my 6 chemo treatments but that, after my 4^th chemo, my MRI showed that my two main tumors and the stuff in my lymph nodes looks to have disappeared (we won’t know for sure if this is true until we get back the pathology reports from my surgery, but we are crossing fingers that no cancer remains)!

Still bald...

How I survived chemo:

-       Exercised nearly every day (from a ½ hour walk to two hours of yoga (on a few occasions!), I am getting exercise nearly every day – which research shows helps treatment.  Even if I was feeling a bit off, I always felt better after a short walk.

-       Took one, 4 mg pill of Zofran every morning with breakfast and then one with dinner.  My friend David said it was a good idea to take this anti-nausea medication from the beginning (a pre-emptive strike!), before you start to feel sick. I think that this was great advice! I had some nausea and tummy issues, but it was all manageable.

-       Took Chinese herbs to help strengthen immune system, boost appetite and reduce side effects, such as nausea.  

-       Used TheraTears eye drops 6-8 times a day during the week of chemo to reduce eye irritation and complications.  Used eye drops 2-3 times a day rest of time (some people end up with clogged tear ducts due to the chemo working its way out of your body). Thank you Dr. Taguchi for this advice!

Nails post-chemo.

-       Put hands and feet in ice water during the Taxotere infusion to reduce impact on nails (I didn’t loose any nails, or have them turn brown – see photo). I also sucked on ice chips during the Taxotere infusion to reduce appearance of mouth sores. I only had one small mouth sore during my first chemo treatment.  Thank you again to Dr. Taguchi for this advice!

-       Used a baking soda mouth wash 1-3 times a day, again to avoid mouth sores.

-       Therapeutic yoga classes for relaxation – very helpful in settling my mind and keeping my body from getting too stiff! Thank you Cheri Clampett for developing and teaching such nurturing yoga classes at the SB Cancer Center!

-       Went to healing touch sessions at the SB Cancer Center and had a few reiki sessions.  These sessions are energy sessions, to open up chakras/getting your chi flowing. I know, my friends in London are thinking – you crazy Californians! But I have to say that I felt better after every session.

-        Read the book Radical Remission to think about all of the lifestyle tools available to me to get rid of my cancer (this is where the inspiration for my green juice came from)! 

-       Tightened up my diet – VERY low sugar (no cakes, fruit juices, cookies, cereals with high sugar etc.).  I think this has also helped prevent dental decay which can be a problem when you go through chemo.  Read labels, you would be surprised how much sugar is added to many foods!

Lunch!

-       No caffeine (the idea of coffee or green tea would turn my tummy!); I drank organic ginger tea, or three ginger tea almost every morning and for an afternoon treat, sometimes had iced chai masala tea (decaffeinated)
- Stay hydrated! Lots of water (and sometimes water with a bit of pure cranberry juice to take about the metallic taste caused by chemo).

-       No alcohol (took a few unsatisfying sips but that was it!).  I knew that my pancreas and liver were under enough strain trying to cope with my chemo.
-    Tried to eat only organic food, and hormone and antibiotic-free meat.

-       No dairy products! I learned that dairy is an inflammatory so cut it out of my diet. I really think that this helped reduce my tummy issues.

-       Used the Cancer Fighting Cookbook for food ideas, tried to keep a very heavily plant-based diet (including beans, rice, eggs, oatmeal, lots of broccoli and vegetables, salads, nuts and seeds etc.).

-       Green juice 2-3 times a week (kale, cabbage, spinach, carrots, lemon, celery, fresh ginger, apple, parsley).

-       Fruit smoothie 2-3 times a week (banana, strawberries, blueberries etc.)

-       Every night before going to sleep, I would think about all that I was thankful for, do some deep breathing, and try to visualize my cancer disappearing.

-       Trying to laugh and smile as much as possible.

-       Appreciating every message of support and care that I received from friends and family!  Feeling loved and supported really does lift the spirits and help produce feelings of strength.

My surgery is confirmed for August 18^th here in Santa Barbara. I will be having a lumpectomy (they will be taking out roughly a ball of tissue that measures 3 cm in diameter) and they will be doing a level 1 and 2 lymph node dissection.  Send me all of the healing wishes and anti-lymphedema thoughts you can muster up! 

I go in for my first, Herceptin only infusion on Tuesday.   I am also happy to report that Chris is now with me in SB.  He is here for 3 weeks!  It is nice to have him by my side, visiting doctors and making decisions about my treatment.  Skype is great, but it will never beat the real thing! I am also thankful that Chris will be here for my surgery on the 18th.  

So life in my cancer-cation marches on!

I hope that you are all having wonderful summers, and that you are stopping to smell the flowers!

With love,

Jodi