with complete Dear Michaela blog
I had my regular check-up with my oncologist yesterday. I have these every three months, and they basically consist of blood tests, a chat and a physical exam, checking lymph nodes, etc. It is now a year and a half since I finished treatment, and at every checkup I get a reassuring, "everything looks good,"... Continue Reading →
I have chosen the word to set my intention for 2019. FEARLESS. Now just give me a moment to pop an Ativan and I'll tell you all about it. I chose this word because I have started out this year a great big giant bundle of fear, and I'm done with it. I thought about... Continue Reading →
What is needed right here is a big eyes-crossed emoticon. But I'm too tired to find one, so you will have to make it up in your head. This has been one crazy week. On the bad side, my neck/shoulder pain has continued. I finally was able to figure out that it happens whenever pressure... Continue Reading →
I can't believe I have completed six days of radiation therapy already. That means only 19 days to go. Last treatment is scheduled for September 12th. And I have done nothing that I wanted to do, like take my laptop and go to a coffee shop to write for awhile after therapy. There have been... Continue Reading →
In nine days I will have finished chemotherapy. It has not been nearly what I'd feared it would be. The side effects were subtle. The nausea was fairly easily controlled with medication. I got one mouth sore, and my fingertips cracked and peeled. I have a tiny bit of nerve damage in three fingertips on... Continue Reading →
One of my blogs is about to disappear, and in the interest of saving it I am coping some of my previous posts into this blog. This post was from July 6, 2015. It is 6:30 in the morning on my day off work, and I am here, awake. I have a lot of feelings... Continue Reading →
The title of this blog was taken from a Facebook status posted by the associate pastor of our church. He and his wife are currently experiencing a heartbreaking situation, as she is pregnant with a baby who is not expected to survive more than a few hours after birth. What is in their minds and... Continue Reading →
I had a second surgery this past week. Some of the skin they left after my mastectomy had died and had to be removed. After the surgery was over I posted on Facebook, "I had a great time." The sad thing is, that was true. It says something about your life when surgery is the highlight... Continue Reading →
It is eight days now since my mastectomy. It was a modified radical mastectomy, unilateral, according to what my doctor told me at my one week checkup yesterday. That means that in addition to the breast they took a bunch of lymph glands. They biopsied one during surgery and found cancer in it, so they... Continue Reading →
