I know it’s been a while since I’ve posted any update, but
it’s because I’ve been busy! No news is
good news, remember?
I started radiation on Monday, April 1st. I wasn’t exactly thrilled with my doctor (not
a bad doc, just not a comfortable fit for me), but I absolutely loved the techs
who treated me every day. They really
took the time to get to know ME and they were really flexible with my time slot
since we had to squeeze treatment into the hubby’s lunch hour in order NOT to
arrange for a babysitter. I cooked
(pardon the pun) along for 5 weeks, everything going according to plan. My skin got progressively worse as often
happens with this type of treatment.
Once my skin broke open I couldn’t get comfortable at all. I couldn’t put my arm down as the rawness was
essentially in my armpit. I couldn’t
wear clothes because the slightest friction made me wince. About a week after this (and a prescription
for Vicodin and Silvadene), the doc looked at my skin and said NOPE, not
treating until healed. At first we hoped
it would only take a couple of days, but as it got worse instead of better, the
doctor mentioned not even finishing. I
was so disappointed since I only had 5 treatments left. I was so ready to be done, and even though I
had thought about quitting on multiple occasions, I really wasn’t ready to
throw in the towel on my chances… After
almost a two week break, I was given the green light to continue and I finally
finished. I am now healing. J
I need your support.
I have decided to participate in a fundraiser for an organization that
has been my life line during all of this- the Young Survival Coalition.
When I was first
diagnosed and began sharing my news with people, I heard so many “My mom beat
breast cancer” and “my aunt is a 5 year survivor” and “my grandma was diagnosed
15 years ago and is doing great…” While
I know those words were said as encouragement and support, it only made me feel
more isolated. I was TWENTY EIGHT years
old. These were older women, the “normal”
age range for women diagnosed. I was not
one of them. My life is totally
different than theirs. So I actively
sought out women like me. JUST LIKE
ME. Women who were young with aggressive
forms of breast cancer. I found YSC in
my searching and joined their online community.
At that time, the site wasn’t incredibly active as a community, but the
wealth of information I got from the site was so valuable. My first act as a cancer patient was ordering
YSC’s Treatment Navigator.
I found YSC on Facebook.
I needed to chat with real women any time of day. I needed to ask questions that people
actually had answers to- not the questions that my doc gave me general answers
to. I think my first post to them, in
the miserable first weekend after my first chemo treatment was “How do you do
it?” Meaning how do you make it through
all this crap in order to live your life?
The women of the YSC gave me the best answer, even though cliché, you do
it one day at a time. I now have a
tattoo to remind me that “with the new day comes new strength.” There are women there who are in my exact
shoes, stage III, little children, trying to work and take care of their
families as well as themselves. There
are women there who are worse off than me, stage IV, fighting to live their
lives as best as possible. There are
women who are 10+ years survivors and others who are even more freshly
diagnosed than me. It is a wonderful
community of support and they reached their goal with me. I learned through them that I am NOT alone.
So I am planning to participate in their Tour de Pink at the
end of September. It’s a 3 day bike ride
from Philadelphia PA to Washington DC. I
have not been on a bike in YEARS, so this is going to take a lot of training
and effort for me. Hubby has agreed to
participate with me, so I am asking you to please, please, please help us make it worth it. I have never had the inclination to give back,
but I feel so strongly about giving back to YSC. PLEASE.
I have not registered yet, I want to see how many of you will support
the YSC before I choose the 3 day ride or the 1 day ride. I would love to do the 3 day, but that all
depends on YOU. Oh, and is anyone interested in riding with us??
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_PZ4KvKmGcM&feature=share&list=PLWo_SAuUiK_N2xEa6usavs10OA6okAwn0
