Joan on the Road

I hardly know how to start writing again. But I'll give it a shot because I can share good news. Finally, I'm done with all treatments for breast cancer!! That was surgery, three months of chemotherapy and six weeks of radiation treatment.

My friend, Vickie, says I came through the whole thing very well. She's right! Comparing my reactions and side effects with other gals...I had it pretty easy. What I'm left with now is hair about 1/4 inch long, one missing toenail, icky looking fingernails. very low energy and a red boob :) All those things will fix themselves over time. Most important to me right now is getting back my energy. The doc says a couple of weeks.

To top all this off both Jim and I got bad cases of bronchitis (our immune systems were pretty shot) so that zaps our energy also. Yesterday I finally began to feel like a cloud was lifting from my brain and maybe I could string a few words together. I swear I have a bit of chemo brain....trouble remembering things. Like how to upload pictures. Simple stuff that I have to let gel in my brain to get it back. I guess that will go away too....I hope!!

Jim had his last (hopefully) chemo treatment today and in the next few week will have a CAT scan to determine if the tumors in his lungs have shrunk enough to have the RFA treatment. Jim had 3 tumors. One is now GONE, the other two have decreased substantially. The RFA (Radia Frequency Ablation) treatment consists of inserting a "needle" into the tumor and then using a radio frequency to blast it away. The doctor is very encouraging that this will be successful.

That's the health updates for now. We feel lucky to have been in a place with such great health care. It's been a real drag going to the hospital almost every day but the staff has made the experience pretty pleasant.