People Are Talking

Sometimes it is good amazing when people talk about you behind your back, because THIS happens:

On your last day of your first round of treatment, your friends, most of whom you have never met, FLOOD your facebook page with messages of strength and HOPE! They form a secret group, they conspire, they come up with an uber cool team name, THEY DESIGN T-SHIRTS, and then they give you one of the greatest gifts ever on a day you needed it most.

And in case that wasn't enough, in case that didn't already move you from "I don't want to celebrate, I am too worried about what comes next" to "HELL YES I want to celebrate how far we have come!" these same friends decide to bring your husband into the mix and then THIS happens:

Two friends you have never even met {and one that you have!} show up on your doorstep bringing IN PERSON FOR THE FIRST TIME love and support. On a weekend where you thought you would spend most of your time worrying, you end up showing friends around town, swimming at a hotel pool and having a "dreams are coming true" BBQ at your house. These friends {and that husband of yours} they know what you need, even when YOU don't.

However, just in case that STILL wasn't enough, another friend drives FOUR HOURS to meet the rest of you and all of the sudden 5 friends, most of whom have only shared virtual hugs, are now sharing stories over brunch while sipping green juice.

So, yes, sometimes EXTRAORDINARY things happen when people talk about you behind your back.

Thank you ladies {and husband}, I love you all so.darn.much. XO

***********************************************************************************************************************************************************************************
This Friday, I begin my 1st round of Adriamycin/ Cytoxan. These chemo drugs are known to be a little bit harder to handle than the last ones. Thankfully I have talked to several women who have been through it and they have all been sure to let me know that it is "doable" HARD, but doable. I hope and pray that I will tolerate the new meds well and that I will be able to enjoy at least some of my favorite season in Missouri. I am holding a lot of fear over what I will feel like come Saturday morning. I hope that knowing what to expect helps a little bit. On Thursday, I will have a heart echo to make sure that the herceptin did not do any damage to my heart. Adriamycin is also cardio toxic, so it's important that my heart is in good working order prior to the beginning of treatment. In addition to the heart echo, on Friday, I will be having an ultrasound of the primary tumor/ nodes to check response to therapy. Friday will be a long, hard, day. I am praying that there are no bad surprises and that things continue to move in the right direction. 

So if you could send some healthy, healing thoughts and prayers about the followig my way, that would be great.

1.  That the cancer is being eradicated from my body NEVER to return again. {obviously}
2. That my labs will look good so that I can begin the next leg of treatment.
3. That my heart is still functioning well and the drugs did not do any damage.
4. That the neuropathy {tingling in my toes/ fingers} that I have as a side effect from the last treatment protocol starts to fade and does not cause me any more stress.
5. That the ultrasound shows that the primary tumor AND the lymph nodes are still responding to treatment.
6. That I can learn to let go of some anxiety over the things I cannot control. Oh how I wish I could control this.

Thank you friends for your continued love and support.