The last 6 months of my life has definetly thrown me for a loop to say the least. I was a 27 year old that was living the life. I was strong, fit, and what i thought was healthy. Little did I know a monster was hiding inside me. I went through a stressful break up/breakups that past year and I was finally getting into the groove of being on my own despite having to loose my dogs.
I was really happy, my hair was finally to the length I had wanted and I was fit and toned to my liking. P.S. It's a hard thing to make yourself happy but its possible if you are willing to work on it. I learned that you cant make someone else happy if you cant make yourself happy! So long story long everything was great.
My time line:
May 2012: I found a lump in my right breast. Being that I do ultrasound I scanned it the next day. To be honest I was like "ok its a solid area with a little vascularity but i am only 27 I have no family history its probably a fiberadenoma." So I decided to watch it because I had a cervical procedure coming up in july.
July 2012: Part of my cervix was removed because I had signs of cervical cancer it came back neg thank God! So back at the ranch, I had been watching this lump and it didnt get bigger but got a lot more vascular and the borders became irregular looking. My radiologist told me to get it biopsied so off I went, unwillingly might I add, 500 dollars is a lot of money when you are single and just got a bill from your procedure for 4 grand but it was the best 500 i have ever spent!
August 27, 2012: A week after my biopsy I got a phone call at work that I had cancer and it was very aggressive. So after my break down I proceed to tell my boyfriend I had "breast anger." Thanks iphone. I was sitting in the doctors office getting the news that it was recomended I have a bilateral mastectomy. I had triple negative invasive ductal carcinoma.
September 18, 2012: I was in surgery after careful consideration while picking a breast surgeon, plastic surgeon, and oncologist. Not to mention I went through a round of IVF to save some eggs. I haven't had children yet. That was a process in itself but everything went well. They were able to save 7 eggs for when I'm ready.
Going in: It all hit me then!
Recovery begins. The results came back 2.2 cm IDC triple neg with neg BRCA gene results. Stage 2 but it didn't spread to my lymph nodes. I was out of work for 2 weeks after a one night stay in the hospital. My new life consisted of my boyfriend emptying my drian tubes, washing my hair and shaving my legs. We can laugh about it now but wow what an experience. It was a very humbling experience because before this I was always the strong one. I was the one always doing things for others and I would never dare ask for help. Now I had friends and family helping me do the basic tasks in life! Thank you to all of them!
First day I could dress my self (about a week after)
October 18, 2012 I was strong enough to start chemo. The first 4 rounds were hell. That's all I can say about them. Taxiol, my last treatment drug, wasn't so bad. I felt like myself the next day for the most part.
I cut my hair to prepare for it falling out. I wish I hadn't!
A day after the 2nd chemo I walked the breast cancer walk :)
A week later I was shaving it off! OMG
Side Effects: I lost my hair on week 2 of chemo. My stomach was upset the first 2-4 chemo treatments. I was fatigued but that is an understatement. I always had bad acne but it seemed the chemo didnt help make it any better. I had nausea for about 5 days after each chemo on the AC treatments. I stopped having a period after the 3rd AC treatment. I also had pretty bad body aches after the steroid shots I got to boost my wbc's. OH AND CHEMO BRIAN! Watch out it hits fast and hard to be patient with yourself. It sucks!
On the taxiol the body aches continued and the second to last treatment my nails started to really hurt and change color. I had formed a clot in my arm where the port was placed so I was on coumadian on top of it all. I like the port in my arm because of all the reconstruction going on up top but it really limited my working out.
March 1, 2012 Last chemo! Now to get back to a "normal life" I still have my surgery to get through on the 27th and work on losing the 20 plus pounds I put on. I'm thankful to pretty much be done.
I will be continuing this blog to show you my hair growth journey. Wish me luck!
To those going through cancer and are reading this blog, Hold your head up high, speak whats on your mind, fight because you're worth it, and live each day like its your last. If you have any questions fill free to email me :) hd.scanner@gmail.com
Hair updates to come!
Heather
