4th Chemo down... 2 to go!

Hello all,

Sorry I haven't posted a blog in a while. To be honest, the past few weeks have been pretty busy with Jewish High Holidays, Race for the Cure and work... and sometimes I can't face opening up my computer at night when I have been working on a computer all day.

The Race for the Cure in Orange County was last weekend and it was a real blast. I think that we had about 45 people on the team and I am so happy that my friends and coworkers came out to support me and the cause. The support at work has been phenomenal and my coworkers in the office have been wearing Pinky Mo and the Livestrong shirts for two Fridays in a row now.

My older sister Michelle arrived last Tuesday and has been cooking up a storm for me. She has taken almost all of the bananas that have been hibernating in my freezer (15!) and has baked squares and muffins for me. She has also made a few great meals that are of course, high in fiber!, but tasty too. It is so nice to have her here and have someone really close to me to talk to.

We went to see my breast surgeon this week and he did an ultrasound on my breast. He said that the hard part of the tumor has dissipated but that there is still a soft tumor there and the way the chemo works, it breaks up the tumor into pieces as it kills the cancer cells. We talked about options and mastectomy is pretty much the only option for me because of the spread of cancer in my breast. I am fine with this... have been for a while. I don't want anything left on me that might be cancerous! The bigger issue is around having a bilateral mastectomy. He also mentioned that I may need radiation and they won't know until my get tissues samples back from the surgery.

To help make the one vs two decision, I am going to go for Genetic Counseling/Testing to see if I have the BRCA gene mutation that will predict my lifetime risk of breast cancer. Because I have Ashekenazi jewish ancestry, got cancer at an early age and have breast cancer in the family (cousins and great aunts), my breast surgeon thought it was a good idea.

I am also going to see a plastic surgeon on Monday. He will also help me make my decision about the mastectomy and what kind of reconstruction I will get. I really hope that there are NOT too many options for me to choose from because these decisions are really hard. I am also really hoping that through my recovery is quick enough that I can salvage some part of the snowboarding season. This may seem juvenile but well.... it's what I think about.

I had my fourth chemo on Thursday which went relatively well after the third attempt at putting an IV in my arm. My veins just don't cooperate really well, so I continue to look like a junky on my inner arms :-( The good news is that I feel ok today and I have no GI tract issues, the plumbing is working great! Thank you again Miralax.

I am off to the beach with my sister for some relaxation. Hope all of you are well and I thank you for your ongoing support and wonderful comments.

Love,

Mo