Post by Cindy Lee on Feb 8, 2008 23:02:57 GMT -6
Hello Everyone, I didn't want to post again until I had some news to share.
Results came back on the two lesions removed from my breast ...two different types of cancer. They cannot be sure 100% that they got all of it so I will be doing radiation every day of the week for seven weeks starting in the first week of March. In two weeks I go and have a CT scan and get my "tatoo" so they know where to shoot the radiation. A few weeks after the radiation ends, I will start taking a pill each day for the next five years. They have told me the prognosis is good. They have also done some bloodwork testing for the BRCA gene as I had so many close family members who had breast and ovarian cancer. They tell me I will work the first two weeks of radiation and then I will be too fatigued to continue in my current job. So I will go on short term disability for awhile.
In the meantime, I am going to have some dental work done next week because they tell me the chances of getting an infection will increase as time goes by during radiation, and my teeth are very bad. I hurried up and made arrangements with a dental group...Aspen dental. Very pleased with them. But my insurance does not cover everthing. So I had an out of pocket $1,500 amount to come up with. School has provided a loan for me and as a last resort I asked our local Hospice group if they could steer me to someplace that would help me financially. Well they did better than that. Today I received a check in the mail from the community fund of a local religious order, a group of nuns. They will let me pay this loan back whenever I can afford to. I am speechless at this. And full of gratitude.
As far as my back goes, we are planning on doing the yearly MRI at the end of March. We may wait until I am finished with radiation. The oncologist at the cancer center told me that even though it has been two years since my surgery, I can still plan on doing some healing. He said it sometimes takes up to five years for the spinal cord to do the initial healing and sometimes years beyond that to expect changes to occur and deficits to lessen. So for all of you who are thinking you've gone as far as you could after surgery, think again. Progress can still be made years after the surgery. This made me feel better as I still struggle with balance issues. I swear some days people would think I was "nippin' the bottle". And I am COLD more than ever in this winter weather.
I will keep everyone posted on my latest adventure. May God bless you all in yours. Cindy
Results came back on the two lesions removed from my breast ...two different types of cancer. They cannot be sure 100% that they got all of it so I will be doing radiation every day of the week for seven weeks starting in the first week of March. In two weeks I go and have a CT scan and get my "tatoo" so they know where to shoot the radiation. A few weeks after the radiation ends, I will start taking a pill each day for the next five years. They have told me the prognosis is good. They have also done some bloodwork testing for the BRCA gene as I had so many close family members who had breast and ovarian cancer. They tell me I will work the first two weeks of radiation and then I will be too fatigued to continue in my current job. So I will go on short term disability for awhile.
In the meantime, I am going to have some dental work done next week because they tell me the chances of getting an infection will increase as time goes by during radiation, and my teeth are very bad. I hurried up and made arrangements with a dental group...Aspen dental. Very pleased with them. But my insurance does not cover everthing. So I had an out of pocket $1,500 amount to come up with. School has provided a loan for me and as a last resort I asked our local Hospice group if they could steer me to someplace that would help me financially. Well they did better than that. Today I received a check in the mail from the community fund of a local religious order, a group of nuns. They will let me pay this loan back whenever I can afford to. I am speechless at this. And full of gratitude.
As far as my back goes, we are planning on doing the yearly MRI at the end of March. We may wait until I am finished with radiation. The oncologist at the cancer center told me that even though it has been two years since my surgery, I can still plan on doing some healing. He said it sometimes takes up to five years for the spinal cord to do the initial healing and sometimes years beyond that to expect changes to occur and deficits to lessen. So for all of you who are thinking you've gone as far as you could after surgery, think again. Progress can still be made years after the surgery. This made me feel better as I still struggle with balance issues. I swear some days people would think I was "nippin' the bottle". And I am COLD more than ever in this winter weather.
I will keep everyone posted on my latest adventure. May God bless you all in yours. Cindy
