The Final Countdown

Today I went to my final check-up with my fabulous surgeon Dr. Judy Jones. She is fantastic. She did a breast exam (really who hasn't in this little town) and didn't find anything suspicious!! She wanted me to go
ahead and schedule a baseline mammogram next month after the swelling had gone down from the radiation. The baseline mammogram is so the doctors can monitor for any changes in the breast to watch for a reoccurrence. I was glad to hear that. I am the type of person that wants to follow my healthcare very vigilantly. It actually helps me to relax to have the tests done and know there aren't any tumors lurking out there.

Dr. Jones' recommendations today were to continue to lose the weight and she was adamant I exercise 3-4 a week aerobically. She wants me to start off easy with walking for 20 minutes and slowly working up to a full workout. That I can do. I just read an article tonight-about exercise and its effects on women's health that have had breast cancer. It was a motivating article. She also recommended an antioxidant called Selenium with my daily vitamins and an Aspirin everyday as part of my medication regiment.

I felt very motivated to take better care of my body when I left her office. I felt I could follow her recommendations and take care of my health and myself. She really is a fantastic surgeon. If it weren't for her persistence, I may not be here!

Another thing I wanted to write about was this past weekend my stepdaughter who goes to school in Rigby had her school principal die from breast cancer. She was staying with us this weekend and her stepsister called to tell Faith the news. I was looking at the caller ID and asked Faith why her sister had called her. She said, "Because Mrs. Powell died yesterday". I felt sick. Mrs. Powell went through treatment last year for Breast CA and was doing very well. She was there for back to school night in September and had hair. Apparently it came back and she went down hill quickly. My heart goes out to her family and her students who loved her. I asked Faith if it scared her. She said yes and I told her it scared me to. I wish I could have told her not to worry and everything would be okay, but I couldn't...I just couldn't. I was scared to death.

I went in my bedroom and locked the door and bawled. Brent, who wasn't home at the time came home and asked me what was wrong. I told him I knew about Mrs. Powell and expressed my terror that, that could happen to me too. I had him give me a blessing of comfort. It's scary.

I made him talk to Faith about it and process some of those feelings with her. I just knew she needed to talk about it, but I couldn't do it. Brent is a good dad! Faith's mom is also a social worker and I hope they can talk more about it. Her mom has been very supportive through all of this...which had makes my relationship with Faith a lot easier. Infact, a few months ago, her Mom did a fundraiser for me to help us with medical bills and Christmas. Pretty amazing huh!

Anyway, I am tired as sin tonight...so off to bed I go