Waiting for the Next Adventure......

It has been over three weeks since my last and final chemo treatment which was June 28^th and boy does it feel great!  To know I have completed the most difficult part of my cancer treatment gives me such a feeling of freedom, relief and joy.  I am so thankful to my Jesus for carrying me through such a difficult part of my cancer journey.  I don’t know how I would have made it through chemo and did as well as I did without Him.  It feels wonderful to have my energy back and to feel like my old self again.  I am having such a blast with our girls – filling our days with activities such as going to the park, beach, pool, movies, spending time with friends & family.  I look forward to our much needed family vacation the first part of August.  My hair has even started to grow.  It is still very short (less than ½ inch) and I still look bald since the hair growing is very light blonde (I will be wearing wigs for awhile) but it sure is wonderful to see my hair growing!  I am getting back into my exercise routine of going to the gym a few times a week as well as jogging on our treadmill the days I can’t make it to the gym.  I didn’t have the energy or stamina to run while going through chemo and it sure feels exhilarating to be able to run again which in turn gives me more energy. J  I have been told it can take up to six months for my body to recover from chemo – once the healthy cells have had time to grow normally.  It can take up to ten years for the residual side effects to go away (such as chemo brain) so please have patience with me if I come across more scatterbrained than I was before J 

Me and my lovely hubby hangin' out during chemo.  He has taken work off to come to all my chemo appts - so awesome!

Me and my wonderful chemo nurse Celina who took such good care of me

I know a lot of you are wondering if I had surgery on Wed the 20^th as I stated in my last update.  Unfortunately there have been some hiccups along the way and I will now be having surgery on Wed August 17^th at 7:30 AM at Tri City Hospital.  If all goes well I should be able to go home the next day.  It’s always challenging trying to find a date where all parties involved (my breast surgeon, my plastic surgeon, the hospital) are available.  My plastic surgeon will now be Dr. Camberos since Dr. Batra would not be available until September.  I was informed that if I wanted Dr. Batra to do the reconstructive part of the surgery I would have to have an additional surgery six weeks after my mastectomy to have him put in my tissue expanders.  I really did not want to have to go through an additional surgery to run the additional and unnecessary risk of infection and/or complications.  Fortunately Dr. Batra’s colleague Dr. Camberos is available on the 17^th so he will be putting in my tissue expanders once Dr. Toosie has completed the mastectomy part of the surgery.  At first I was frustrated with the new surgery date because I was anxious (and impatientJ) to get the surgery done.  Again the Lord was teaching me patience and to put my complete trust and faith in Him.  After thinking and praying about it I realized it was actually a much better date for a number of reasons.  My body will have had more time to heal and become stronger from chemo, I can enjoy our vacation and the rest of summer without dealing with recovery, and the girls will be in school so it will be easier to recover.J  Their first day of school is actually the 17^th so I am pretty bummed that I will miss taking them to school – thank goodness for Grandma who will be taking them instead.  It is only one year out of many more to come.

The girls having fun at the Del Mar Fair

We watched the Doggie Wild West Show and the girls got to take pictures with the doggies afterwards - so fun!

Tuesday we met with Dr. Camberos for a consult/pre-op appt and we really liked him.  I had done some research on him and after meeting with him Tuesday it just confirmed what I had read about him.  Not only were his credentials impressive (double board certified, 11 years of experience, advanced training) but his bedside manner was great which I had read about in his patients’ reviews.  He was very easy to talk with, comfortable, easy going, spent plenty of time meeting with us and didn’t make us feel rushed at all.  I left his office feeling at peace knowing I was in good hands.  Dr. Camberos explained to us that his part of the surgery will take approx two hours (one hour for each side).  He will be putting in tissue expanders which are filled with saline over time to stretch the skin to allow breast implants to be put in at a later date.  Since some skin is taken at the time of the mastectomy, the remaining skin on my chest needs to be stretched, to make up for the skin lost during surgery.  At the time of the surgery Dr. Camberos will fill the expanders with some saline to start the expansion process.  I will see Dr. Camberos approx every other week 2 to 4 times for him to expand the tissue expanders.  He will fill the expanders by inserting a needle into my skin to inject saline into the port under my skin near my breast which is connected to the expander.  This port is very similar to the port-a-cath that was used to administer my chemo.  Thank goodness that port will be taken out during surgery – yeah!!  If all goes smoothly with the tissue expansion then I should have breast implant surgery six weeks after my last tissue expansion.  I would say late October or early November is when I can anticipate surgery.

The girls and their cousins getting ready for the annual 4th of July parade at Grandma and Grandpa's

Kyle and Samantha hangin' out in Auntie Lisa's jacuzzi on the 4th of July

As I anxiously (and patientlyJ) wait for the next adventure in my cancer journey, I marvel at God’s constant faithfulness and goodness in taking care of me these past 7 months and I know He will continue to do so.  I am so thankful that I have the Lord Jesus Christ to put my hope and faith in.  I wanted to share this interesting and encouraging footnote in my bible I read in regards to the verse Hebrews 11:1 “Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see”.

“Two words describe faith: sure and certain.  These two qualities need a secure beginning and an ending point.  The beginning point of faith is believing in God’s character – He is who He says.  The end point is believing in God’s promises – He will do what He says.  When we believe that God will fulfill Him promises even though we don’t see those promises materializing yet, we demonstrate true faith.”

When I was first diagnosed with breast cancer I was in ultimate shock and disbelief.  I felt like I was in a bad dream that I could not wake up from.  I was scared and worried about what the coming months, years would bring.  I was concerned on how this was going to affect my family especially our precious little girls.  The moment I went to my Jesus to express how I was feeling, a wave of peace, calmness and certainty came over me.  I knew my Jesus was cradling me in His arms saying “Hush my daughter, I will take care of you and protect your family, your daughters.  There is no need to worry or be frightened for I am with you every moment of every day”.  I knew from that moment that if I continue to put my faith and trust in the Lord and believe what He told me that day, that I was going to be okay.  Don’t get me wrong, there have been times throughout my cancer journey so far that I have been scared or worried but when I have turned to my Jesus, He has taken those burdens off my back and replaced them with hope, peace and comfort.  I remember the time when Shawn and I were waiting for my oncologist to bring in the results of my scans.  I was nervous and worried on what the results may show.  I was asking God what if there is cancer somewhere else in my body, what if we didn’t catch it early enough.  I looked over in the corner of the room and could see Him standing there reassuring me that all will be just fine, He was there with us.  At that moment I felt a feeling of warmth and tranquility, like He had put a warm blanket on me that had just been taken out of the dryer.  Dr. Subramanian came moments later to share the good news!

Thank you all for your faithful prayers and support.  I am so blessed to have you all to share my cancer journey with.  Thank you for taking the time to read my updates and to lift me and my family up in prayer.  Please share with me any prayer requests you have, I would love to pray for you.  Until next time………

Resting in Him,

Kelly~