What Cancer Cannot Do!!!

It cannot and will not and has not killed my spirit! I have been on one crazy ride for the past 6 months. The thing that has gotten me through it all has been my fighting spirit and the love and support of my family and friends.

Today was the closing of another chapter, and of course, mom and dad were here with me. I had my post-op meeting with Dr. Kennedy. She said that I'm healing wonderfully, that the incision looks great and she also gave me a copy of my pathology report. Which, Dr. Kennedy was very happy with the report and the findings. For those that might not already know, they basically say that I'm now cancer free. We were also able to schedule a consult with the radiation oncologist for the 30th of this month to discuss when we will start radiation. I also have to start physical therapy tomorrow. The doctor wants to have my arm be more flexible than it is now. Apparently my arm has to be able to reach behind my head before I can do radiation, and right now that's not possible! Thank goodness for pain killers, I'm pretty sure I'll be heavily medicated tomorrow after that! I also was able to get fitted for my prosthetic (fake boob) today and I got 2 new bras so that was exciting! I won't be able to wear the prosthetic for awhile now since I'm still healing and it hurts to have anything touch my incision area.

Last week was a bit of a rough week for me. Wednesday was the first day that I had actually gotten dressed and it was quite an experience. To have a t-shirt on and see one side of my body flat and hardly any hair on my head it was hard to feel like a girl. It was like I didn't have time to prepare myself for the after. I was so ready to get the cancer out and get past the surgery that I forgot to take a minute and actually prepare myself for what was going to be, or not be, there after the surgery. But like the title of this blog says it can't kill my spirit, and after going a week without a bra I'm starting to get use to the idea more and more everyday! :) I've said this whole time that my humor would get me through this and that's even more true now. I'm actually thankful (now) that God made me flat chested because you can't really tell that I've had a mastectomy!

I have to thank everyone for going through this journey with me, we've reached the top of the roller coaster and we are downhill from now on. I have a lot to be thankful for this Thanksgiving and I'm very blessed to have all of you there with me on this ride. I'm looking forward to giving my body some much needed relaxation from everything that I have put it through this last 6 months!!

Happy Thanksgiving!!
Peace, Love and Hope
Kaitlyn

Camp Thomas

So I'm 7 days removed from surgery and I'm feeling pretty good. The surgery went well from what they tell me since I was asleep at the time. Although apparently when the hospital attendants wheeled me into my room I asked the one guy if he was participating in No-Shave November and then told him I was also participating but with my hair. I'm pretty sure I'm going to win! I came home Tuesday afternoon and slept for the entire day. Thursday I felt good enough to go out and run some errands that I needed to get done. I think mom and I were gone an hour and when we got back I was pretty tired and proceeded to sleep for the rest of day.

I was able to get my drains out today, last week was no fun having those in. No words can express how nice it was to have my parents here last week taking care of me and draining my drains. I'm sure I was not the easiest patient to care for but the fact that they were here meant a lot to me. I got some other great news today, my pathology report came back and my tumor was .02cm which apparently is really small. Also, when they first did the lymph node biopsy 2 lymph nodes were positive, well when they tested the ones they took out they were all negative. Which means I am CANCER FREE and I have a really good prognosis of it not coming back! I can't begin to put into words what all your prayers have meant to me and this is the result of all of your prayers! So from the bottom of my heart I THANK YOU!! I have waited for this news for 6 months and have gone through a lot but today is a great day!! :)

With that being said, I have just a couple more hurdles to get over and then I can put all of this behind me! We meet with Dr. Kennedy next week for my post-op appointment and to also hopefully start discussing radiation treatment. I'm not gonna lie I haven't actually looked at my non-boob, that is still a little hard for me right now. I know I've been really strong this whole time in dealing with the fact that I have/had cancer but the surgery just made it a little more real for me.

So in closing I thank each and everyone one of you who reads my blog for your continued prayers, you all have helped me get through this journey that me and my family have been on. It hasn't been the easiest or most fun but with your words of encouragement and prayers it has made it more bearable so I thank you!

Peace, Love and Hope
Kaitlyn

The Uniboob Chronicles

This morning finds me reporting to you from Kaitlyn's hospital room. The surgery is over and she is recovering nicely. We arrived right on time yesterday....9:00 a.m. and reported to Admissions. Soon after we were on the second floor in Pre-Op. Surgery was scheduled for 11ish but didn't actually happen until the afternoon. The nursing staff got her prepped and they wheeled her down to the operating room around 12:45. The staff at Clarian is great and they kept us posted thru out the procedure on how things were going. By 3:30 they were telling us she was in recovery and after talking to Dr. Kennedy, Brad and I were able to see her.

She, of course, was still pretty out-of-it but was alert enough to know we were with her and that the procedure was over. Not too long after that they wheeled her upstairs to her room and got her settled in. She has done remarkably well and is, for the most part, in good spirits. Glad to have this part of the process behind her. She's been around the proverbial block this morning for a nice walk thru her ward and even has managed a shower. If everything goes well, she'll be sprung from this place this afternoon.

She'll leave with a couple of drain tubes still in and I will be responsible for maintaing those until they are ready to come out. I'm sure she will be thrilled to be back home in her own bed. Hopefully, at that point she will be able to blog again. Until then, thanks for all the prayers that went up for her yesterday. We continue to be blessed by you all.

Peace, Love and Hope,
Lisa

2 boobs, 1 boob

So today is the day that I lose my boob, if it gets rid of the cancer than take it away! Camp Thomas is here and ready to hold down the fort for the week. So instead of the chemo cave it is Camp Thomas. We might have a bonfire later and roast some marshmallows if we have enough time. Continued prayers for today and the rest of the week are much appreciated, I don't think I will ever be able to express how much all of your support and words of encouragement have meant to me and my family. It has helped us tremendously in getting through every day!

My mom will post an update tonight for you!

Much love to you all

Peace, Love and Hope
Kaitlyn