Radiation

Hi all,

I have one week of radiation left and cant be more excited. The blisters and sunburn under my arm are very uncomfortable and the cream i have to put on is recking all my clothes. Other than that i am just tired. They say the side effects should dissipate in about one month. I am really looking forward to running again. I miss reading all your blogs as i am sure you miss my updates. Will try to be better.

Happy Thanksgiving,
Laura

surprise!

This is Laura #2 (aka Laura [Stilwell] Studebaker) guestblogging for Laura #1. So the thing I sent her to cheer her up was me! Travis and I coordinated a surprise visit and everyone was able to actually keep it a secret (Bravo, Cathie & Sammy!). Saturday morning Travis and Sam said they were going out to get Laura a surprise and she assumed it was breakfast, but they were really picking me up at the Marta station. When I walked in the house she had this look on her face like "Who the heck did they bring over, I'm not even dressed and the house is a mess!" Then when she figured out it was me, she just looked so confused. But we've been having a ball and I've been able to get her out of the house for kid-free girl time. We've been shopping (several times) and out for margaritas, and a lot of just hanging out, with lots of gabbing and giggling in between. For those who time and distance prevents them from seeing Laura in person, I can happily report that, while she gets tired easily, she looks great, her hair's growing back in (and she has this cute little J-Lo hat that she wears, too) and she's in good spirits. I wish I could stay with her longer, but I have to go back to San Diego today. :( (Besides just seeing and being with Laura, It's been really nice for me to be here because her kids are a LOT quieter than mine and the reprieve has been rejuvenating!)

Radiation

Hi all,

Today i went and had my chest x-rayed for 30 minutes and couldn't move at all. It was rather uncomfortable and when i didn't think i could take another minute they told me i only had 10 more to go. Now that it is over it was way worse than i thought, no just kidding. Plus i went to the Women's Center and got a fake boob to put in a tank top with no support. So now i have two saggy boobs and one looks like a chicken cutlet. It is kind of fun to play with though. Then i got to come home to my little cuties and Gavin decided to give me lots of hugs and got banana all over my jeans, but i will take any hugs he offers since they are few and far between.

I know i haven't been very good about logging on, but i need some great posts to keep me cheered up. So post away and i will do better to keep everyone updated.

Love,
Flem

Post-op

We had an appointment with the Surgeon today and found out that i have no live cancer cells left in my body. There were some pre-cancerous cells, but that is normal. Therefore i start radiation in 2-3 weeks.

My recovery is fine, but i came down with a stomach virus this weekend and it took every ML of Vicadin we had in the house to get me thru it. The pain from my surgical area was unbelievable and the drainage went from 10 ml to 160 ml. I guess the pressure was even greater than we thought.

Thank goodness for Travis again. He not only took great care of me, but slept on the couch last night so i could get some rest in my comfy chair and would not have to be so far away just in case i needed help. What a great husband.

Sammy wants me to also thank her for all her love and support. She did dishes, made salad, gave me lots of hugs and kisses, and even took care of Gavin when i needed to rest. She is the best daughter ever.

Sammy also wants me to say that Gavin is the love of my life when it comes to little blue eyed, blond, bow-legged, toddler baby boys. (Sammy was appalled when i called him just a baby)

On to bigger and better things

Bye Bye Boobie

This is actually Travis, updating for Laura who is all hopped up on morphine and percocet. OK, so we got here this morning at 9 and were supposed to be in surgery by 1030. That didn't happen. Laura finally went in at around 1230. She was out of surgery by around 430. Both the surgical oncologist and the plastic surgeon said the surgery went very well. We had a really good feeling when Mr and Mrs Clause came in the room before the surgery (picture to follow). Anyway, we are pooped. Laura is expected to go home tomorrow sometime. I will play surrogate author to keep everyone in the loop. We cannot express how much everyone's kind thoughts and prayers mean to us. Thanks once again.

Surgery Date

My Surgery date is August 29th at 9:00 AM at Emory University Hospital. I will return home on Thursday evening. Thanks in advance for all your prayers and best wishes.

CHEMO is OVER - YEAH!!!

Long story, but my last chemo ended up being today. I am so glad to be done. Thanks to everyone who had a drink with me. Now I am gearing up for my surgery and radiation, should be a walk in the park after all this. I am still running and plan to not let anything hold me back. My hair started growing back and it feels like a baby ducks down. The kids love to rub it. I am still eating close to nothing. You would think I would weigh close to nothing, but now that i can stop the steroid i can get back to normal.

Any of you DC grads who haven't logged on to Temples blog page, here it is...
http://dcclassof89.blogspot.com