Challenge Accepted: September 20, 2011

Tuesday 9/20/11

With my final expansion behind me I have been cleared to start on the path of radiation. Some of you might be thinking ... why does she need radiation ... didn’t the chemo work? The truth is that yes, the chemo worked very well. The double mastectomy actually showed that I had a “complete response” meaning there were no cancer cells in the tumor or the lymph nodes removed only calcifications. But, due to the fact that I am young, the cancer had already traveled to my lymph nodes and the tumor was the worst grade and size the radiation is preventative, I am a candidate for a recurrence of breast cancer even though I had a double mastectomy. My treatment team wants me to live a long life and therefore we are doing radiation.

Today I had a simulation - during which a body cast was done and my body was marked for radiation. I will not start radiation until my treatment plan is worked out, which is currently expected to be sometime early next week. Once I start I will be going daily (Monday - Friday) and I am expected to have 35 treatments, which means 7 weeks. They scanned my body and marked me with a “paint” marker. They then covered the markings with tape.

The markings can wash off and the tape can peel, so they gave me the following directions:

shower with my back to the water ... avoid direct water on the front of my body.
use very little soap.
pat myself dry with a towel (no rubbing).
avoid sweating (which means no exercise).
if I notice that the markings are disappearing have Matt redraw them on by laying down and using a marker that they gave me.

They said that if the markings come off before my first treatment we have to get a scan again and my treatment will be further delayed. Despite my plea about the importance of exercise I was told that I need to hold off on exercise for at least a week. Seriously ... does no one care about this chunk off?

Despite the fact that this is a rhetorical question ... the answer is still no ... the people that treat cancer do not care about chunk offs or exercise or anything like that.

Oh yeah and one more thing ... I got all this done while topless, all the radiation girls my radiation oncologist and a couple of other doctors all came in for various reasons. Modesty is absolutely a trait you have to check at the door when you have breast cancer.

Upper Body Mold shown here

Body Markings Side View

Body Markings Front View

Monday 9/19/11

All good things must come to an end and today was my final physical therapy treatment. I am totally in love with the idea of physical therapy and I think the women at this treatment center are very special. I have quite a bit of information and I am grateful for the fabulous care provided. After my normal treatment I handed out a few SuperMonkey Pins and said my good-byes. The information and positive attitude provided will not be forgotten. Thank you Ingrid, Layla and Sandy for being so awesome!!

PT Team
Ingrid, Me, Sandy, Layla

Sunday 9/18/11

I have finally recovered from the tissue expansion enough to go for a run. So Matt and I hit the loop at memorial for a 3 mile run. I have not totally recovered from my tissue expansion so the run was not very pleasant ... but I honestly think no exercise makes things worse.

Saturday 9/17/11

A little background - I have a leather suit (jacket and pants) that I purchased from Houston SuperBikes last summer and despite the fact that I have worn them for an entire year ... the jacket still looks very new and the leather is very stiff. I have been wearing the jacket at home and while that has helped it hasn’t made a huge difference. So ... today I wore my jacket while we ran our errands around town, including the guitar shop. I am pretty sure that the people at the guitar shop think I am a weirdo, I guess it is best that they know that now. Below is a picture of me wearing my jacket and playing a ukulele ... after I learn to play the guitar I think I will buy a uke ... they are so cute.

Matt and I also went downtown and attended their monthly flea market at discovery green. We didn’t stay too long because the days weather was intermittent rain showers. The day ended with a relaxed evening at home.

Me at the Guitar Shop with a uke (wearing my jacket)

Friday 9/16/11

This evening I went for another haircut. Manny (my stylist) said I have to wait about another month for the cut I want. Manny wants to avoid cutting it until I reach the right length. It is interesting because my hair is growing at different speeds (slower on top) and different textures (thicker and curlier in the back). Manny said this is totally normal ... just that I wouldn’t notice it before since my hair was so much longer before. Until my haircut I am left visiting Manny to clean up my ears and neck ... here is hoping for a cool cut in a month.

This is the cut I want to have once I have enough length :)

Thursday 9/15/11

With only one more physical therapy treatment left today’s session was a little sadder then usual. Overall it is pretty remarkable how much progress I have made in a short period of time. I have full range of motion and have slowly been increasing strength training with weights. I find physical therapy pretty tiring and find myself unable to exercise on the days I do therapy.

Today I also had my final tissue expansion and went from 450 to 570 ccs. This is a full C cup ... My dreams of a D or a Double D are over. Today’s expansion was the most uncomfortable. My tissue is very tight and I left the plastic surgeons’ office feeling very uncomfortable. To date the most discomfort comes in the evening ... well after I leave the surgeons office but today the pain started much earlier (like on the ride home). Per the normal orders I will not be doing any strenuous activity for the next couple of days.

The doctor also gave me a little bit of bad news ... she said I can not mountain bike until after radiation. That means I will not mountain bike until November (at the earliest). She said that we have disturbed my pectoral muscles quite a bit and the pushing and pulling involved in mountain biking could result in a torn muscle. She also said that I may have to return to physical therapy upon conclusion of radiation because radiation sometimes causes constriction of your pectoral muscles.