My Journey with Triple Positive Breast Cancer

  I'm claiming this rainbow as mine. 😊 "I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth." Genesis 9:13. God is speaking of the covenant He made to never flood the entire Earth again, but I can't help but think of all the other covenants He's made - and kept - in my life.   Oh boy. 😳 I didn't think I'd be writing this post at this point in time, but here we   are.  🤷🏻‍♀️  It's been almost 4 weeks since I made the decision to stop treatment and I think I've done an exceptionally good job of compartmentalizing, or in plain English, not thinking about it.   Treatment was supposed to go on until the end of July.  I didn't want to stop. I had decided that I would forge forward...until I met with my oncologist.  On paper, it looks like a minor detail: patient ceased treatment due to cardiomyopathy. In reality, I'm still trying to wrap my head around being finished treatment. Yes, one part ...

  Time flies when you're having fun! Isn't that how the cliché goes? It certainly goes faster when you're not constantly holding down the couch. 😊 Yes, I am doing well, perhaps even better than I should be. I'm a walking, talking example of answered prayer! I haven't quite returned to "full strength Heather" yet, fatigue continues to be an issue, but I'm grateful for how far I've come.  So, fatigue. 🥱 I've discussed this a bit in past blog posts, and both my oncologist and my radiation oncologist warned me about its tendency to linger, but, of course, I was hoping it would only be a dim memory at this point. Not so. I continue to be amazed at how disruptive it can be to my to-do list!  It's actually a rather curious feeling, almost as if someone has replaced my bone marrow with lead.  The usual things like caffeine, naps, or copious amounts of sugar, preferably in the form of chocolate, are not effective in the battle against fatigue; whe...

  Slowly, but surely I am turning into my paternal grandfather. He loved gardening and birds. However, I love corn and lemon anything,  so maybe we're not so similar. (He had an aversion to yellow food!) In the past couple of weeks, this Pileated Woodpecker has been making regular appearances, much to my delight! (Sorry about the quality. Dirty phone lens!) I went back to work as planned last Monday (March 13) and had a wonderful day! Yes, I was tired, but I think I was flying high on adrenalin, caffeine, and prayers. No, I didn't need to lie down on the banquette, though perhaps I should have. 🤷🏻‍♀️ I was amazed at how much I remembered...and how much I had forgotten. Thankfully, my passwords appear to be lodged in my muscle memory, so I was able to get into my computer and the necessary programs, something I was unable to do during chemo. As a matter of fact, back then I couldn't even remember how I was supposed to access my computer, let alone the passwords necessary t...

  A wonderful friend gifted me a wonderful book called "Breath as Prayer." Google it. 😊 It's fantastic!  Is there life after cancer? Well, yes...obviously; I'm still here. 😊 But if I thought I could just go back to living as I was BC (before cancer), I was mistaken. So how is life different? Let me count the ways!  I still have Herceptin infusions every three weeks. This isn't chemo, it's called targeted therapy, and the side effects are certainly not on par with chemo. Thankfully! However, I do usually have a day or two of feeling "off." I might be nauseated, headachy, or more fatigued than usual, but that's a small price to pay for the benefits of these infusions. Unfortunately, the last two infusions have required two intravenous attempts, as my veins have probably been affected by chemo and I am no longer "an easy stick." (Term used to describe someone on whom an intravenous is easy to start and nurses' favorite patients. 💉)...

  This random blossom thinks it's summer.  Obviously, I need to turn the plant so it can see outside! 😁 I thought I'd provide a quick update regarding my recovery from radiation therapy and other pertinent news...like hair growth! After my last radiation appointment, I started using the Mepitel on the area my radiation oncologist considered of greatest concern. I'm so glad I did; I should have slapped it on everywhere! 😖 I ended up getting radiation dermatitis on other parts of the radiated area, specifically, where skin rubs against skin. I did use Mepitel on most of the radiated area once I realized how much it was helping.  Thankfully, the pain was easily controlled; I think I only took Tylenol twice, and that was just for the night.  What I did experience and am still experiencing is itchiness. This is a good thing, as it means that I'm healing, right?  Unfortunately, I do look a bit like a flea-ridden dog as I scratch away! 😊 Radiation dermatitis is grad...

  It's funny how celebrations so often mean a trip to the Duchess Bakery. 😋 Having completed the worst of my treatments, my mind is now a jumble of thoughts. Rather than trying to make sense of them all (Ha...good luck!) I thought I would just lay them out here, Q&A style. So you're done! That's so exciting. How do you feel and what are you going to do with your time now? Well, I'm not entirely done, but I'm certainly through the worst of things. I had an echocardiogram yesterday and have my usual Herceptin infusion on Monday. The echo is because the Herceptin (and chemo) can damage the heart. It's just a precaution; my last echo was normal. According to the people in the know, the next two weeks will be spent giving myself saline soaks and creaming my skin, since apparently, radiation continues to work, damaging cells for at least 10 days post-treatment. 😳  At my last visit with my radiation oncologist, she warned me, "Things will get worse over the ...