It's been a year...

It's been a year since I found out I had breast cancer, it's my cancerversary. Looking back on the year I sometimes can't believe how much I've done and been through; diagnosis, surgery, chemotherapy and radiation.

I thought I might have a lot to say today, but what I really want to say is "thank you." Thank you to each and every one of you for being here for me. Thank you for all of your love, kind words, cards, e-mails, flowers, gifts, wigs, hats, soup and visits this past year. I have received so much love and support from everyone and it has meant so much to me. Thank you!

I especially want to say "thank you" to my mom. She has been here with me through each and every step of this journey. It was mom who insisted she go with me to my follow-up mammogram; the one I thought was just going to be extra photos. I had no idea I was really going to need her there that day. Mom went to every appointment with me, held my hand through all my biopsies, waited for me to get out of surgery and sat through every chemotherapy with me. Thank you mom, I love you.

I also want to say "thank you" to Henry. This year has been difficult for him, seeing his mom go through this every day, but he did much better than I expected he would. He didn't especially like that I lost my hair, but he learned to understand it and would rub my head for luck before going to bed. He was so helpful when I wasn't feeling good, he would tuck me in on the sofa making sure I was warm enough, it really was the sweetest thing. I love you Henry.

This past year has taught me so much and I'm glad to have had it. I wouldn't say it was a good year, but it was my year and one I will never forget.

I hope all is well with each and every one of you.

Much love and Peace,
~K

All healed up

It took about a week, maybe a little more, but all of the redness from my radiation is completely gone. My skin is still quite dry, but even that is getting better. I'm feeling more and more like my old self every day too. It's nice not to feel so tired all the time.

We've had a busy couple of weeks since our summer started. I went to Las Vegas with my girlfriends for Laura's 40th birthday. I had a great time. While I was gone Henry went to skateboard camp. He said it was really fun.

We didn't do quite as much last week. We went to Shari's for a night, went swimming and for a bike ride. And Friday was the 4th of July...we watched the parade and fireworks.

I think I mentioned a post or two ago that Henry and I were going to have Lynette take some more photos of us. We just got them and I really like them. I thought I'd share a couple.



I hope all is well with everyone.

Much Love, K

Race for the Cure

Our little team (me, Henry, Shari, Jadelyn, Kurt, Kohl, Stacey and Kate) participated in the Race for the Cure yesterday. It meant so much for me to be there and I am grateful to have been able to share it with people I love.

I hope everyone has a great week.

Love and Peace

~K

Done...

It's been 11 months since I was diagnosed, it feels like a life time and it feels like it was just yesterday. I think I needed a few days for it to really sink in that I'm done with treatment. It occurred to me last night that I didn't have to get up and go to radiation today, it was almost surprising.

My skin is healing up quickly although I'm still a little red underneath my breast and my arm, it's not hurting like it was just a few days ago. It's gotten REALLY itchy and started peeling in a couple places. I'm happy to have my aloe and hydrocortisone. I'm still so grateful that I only had a relatively mild reaction to the radiation; I know it was much worse for so many people.

I have my next Herceptin treatment tomorrow and will continue to have them every three weeks for the rest of this year. Even though I'm still doing that it really does feel like my treatment is over. Herceptin is so easy and there aren't any side effects from it, it hardly feels like cancer treatment.

Henry went to Camp Hamilton for three days with his class last week. I went up too, but didn't stay the night because I needed to be back to finish radiation. We got the good half of the week, the sun came out and it was beautiful.

Wednesday is the last day of school. I think Henry is looking forward to being done and having some time off. He's going to skateboard camp next week and is really looking forward to that, it should be fun.

On Wednesday we're also going to see out friend Lynette for another photo shoot. I love that we've been able to do this with her and that we've gotten some really great photos to capture this past year.

Saturday is The Race for The Cure. I'm really looking forward to it, I have a feeling it will be very emotional for all of us. So far our team has raised $1,485 ($985 on-line and a $500 check) for breast cancer research. I'm really proud of us and I'm grateful to everyone who has donated. I will post a group photo of us after the race on Saturday. http://www.pugetsoundraceforthecure.org/site/TR/Race/General?team_id=10900&pg=team&fr_id=1110&et=yowcefBxYwizooJIiSi4lw..&s_tafId=9620

I hope eveyone is doing well

Much love and Peace
~K

Almost done

I'm almost done with my radiation treatments! I have only 6 left, 2 more full breast and 4 directly to my lumpectomy site. My skin is very pink (like a bad sunburn) but it doesn't really hurt that much, mostly it's just achy. I really thought that given my fair skin my burn would be pretty bad and I suppose when you look at it it does look like a bad burn, but it's not nearly as bad as I thought it might be or it could have been. I feel very lucky.

I went and had my first "hair cut" today. It was getting pretty scraggly looking. Sian, my hair stylist, shaped it up very nicely. I could tell that it was starting to come in darker than it was originally, with the cut it looks much darker to me. It had also gone from being very soft, to really fuzzy. Anyway, I like it I think I'll keep it short for a while.

It's getting to be the end of the school year and very busy. Henry has 2 field trips this week and a 3-day camp trip next week. I think he's looking forward to being done with school and ready for summer.

I hope all is well with everyone.

Much Love and Peace
~K

39 for the first time...

It's my birthday today. Someone asked me how it felt to be 39. Quite honestly it feels great. I'm grateful I'm still here to be 39 years old and I will be grateful for each and every year I get to have after this one.

Things are going pretty well. Radiation isn't so bad, it's a bit of a pain in the butt to go every day, but most days I don't mind it (they all sang "happy birthday" to me today). My skin is getting a little red and itchy and my breast feels a little like it's bruised on the inside, very achy. The thing that has surprised me the most is how tired I feel in the late afternoon. My doctor told me I would probably feel fatigued I just wasn't expecting it to be this intense. Most days I just try to push past it.

My hair is getting long (it's all relative!) and curly. It doesn't have that downy soft texture any more. I can see that the red is getting darker too. It's pretty cool to watch the changes it's going through. My eyebrows have pretty much grown back and my eyelashes are getting longer everyday too. I really like my eyelashes; they're much fuller than before.

This past weekend Henry participated in the Tour de Cure to raise money for diabetes research. He rode 45 miles in 90 degree heat. It took him nearly eight hours to complete the whole thing. He could have chosen to do a shorter ride or pulled off the course at any time, but he said he wanted to do the 45 miles because that's what he said he was going to do and his Tae Kwon Do instructor told him you should finish what you start. I can't tell you how proud I am of him.

I hope all is well with everyone.

Much love and many blessings.
~K

Just a quick update

Radiation has been going well. I've completed two weeks and I'm into my third now. I still don't like it, but it's tolerable since it's such a short time out of my day. I can see a small change in my skin color. It's slightly pink and it's starting to feel uncomfortable in places. I was really hoping I would be one of those women who didn't have any skin irritation. I know it's silly, but a girl can hope, can't she?

I had my third Herceptin infusion and saw my oncologist last week. My chemo side effects seem to be pretty much gone. I hardly have any numbness or pain in my feet any more which is great. I'm still not as fast as I used to be, but hopefully now that I'm not hurting so much any more I'll be able to move more and start to feel even better.

Henry and I are going to be doing the Komen Race for the Cure on June 21. Our goal is to each raise $150. I know it seems like a very small amount, but that is the amount that will make it possible for an uninsured or underserved woman to receive a mammogram. It is very important to me because without a mammogram my cancer wouldn't have been found as early as it was, and early detection is so important. Please visit our "Team Red" website if you'd like to donate. http://www.pugetsoundraceforthecure.org/site/TR?JServSessionIdr007=rwcwwf9qj5.app8a&pg=team&fr_id=1110&team_id=10900

I hope all is well with everyone.

Peace
K