I just noticed that it's been a long time since I last posted - since March 4, chemo ended; surgery was April 27 (went very well - no pain, minimal upset from the drains and no problems sleeping!) and I started radiation.
Week 5 (of 6) starts in two days so I'm almost finished with that too - another step on the road to recovery! Radiation itself lasts about 8 minutes from the time I walk into the room until I'm dressed again - so it isn't long at all. It is every day Monday - Friday so that can be annoying sometimes. I haven't had bad reactions (at least not yet) but there is some redness of my skin (I use ointment) and a wee bit of nausea that quickly passes.
I'm also taking Letrozole which is a synthetic hormone that blocks the hormone receptors on my cells so that real estrogen can't get there and cause additional cancers. So far that's working well too - no major bone pain but I do have to take more Vitamin D to combat bone loss. All in all I can see a light at the end of this tunnel - and it should be almost exactly 1 year after I first went to the doctor because my right breast didn't look right.
I haven't really been depressed through all of this - I've had wonderful support from family and friends and certainly couldn't have done nearly as well without the caregiving of my son - I have thought about the strangeness of it all - I never thought about my getting breast cancer, never thought about having a breast removed or undergoing chemo and radiation. Sometimes I think about how strange it all feels. I do think I'm very lucky to live right now - there are so many advances all the time in treatments. I'm near a good hospital and oncology center, I have a wonderful oncologist and all the people I've met through chemo, surgery and radiation have been wonderful.
