Race Day!! May 9th

I am so excited for May 9th, Race for the Cure at Gateway!! It also will mean radiation is over. So I can't wait for both. Anyone that wants to can still register
at www.komenslc.org, the group name is "joggin for jugs." It starts at 8:30am, Rick will be at the back of the line with all the strollers. I think I will go with him unless I have to go ahead for some reason. We will see, it should be really fun!
Everything else is going fine. Radiation has made me tired, burned, and even more tired. As of today I have 9 "zaps" left. The onlcologist said it would make me more tired than chemo and I didn't believe him so now he's getting the last laugh. I can easily deal with tired. We have managed to go camping the last 2 weekends so it's not too bad.
At my next chemo (May 7th) I will be starting tamoxifen which I am not happy about. It does have side affects but I will have to get used to them because I will be on it for 5 years. It blocks cancer cell growth especially during the first 5 years to prevent recurrence. Let's all hope anyway!
I hope everyone is well, we are so thankful for all our friends and family helping us to this finish line!!! Much Love- Shauna

I hope everyone had a Happy Easter! We did!
Radiation is going fine, I have figured out it does have sde effects but they aren't terrible...yet. The fatigue isn't too bad yet. I have what they call "chording" down my arm to the wrist and even on top of my hand which feels like scar tissue and it burns, hurts,and stretches when I use my arm. I have to exercise it morning and night to keep it under control and wear a sleeve. The only good thing is once radiation is over it should sibside, or I should be able to manage it. It came on the first few days of radiation and really got bad last week but a trip to the physial therapist has helped a ton. Other than that and the daily drive to McKayDee I am functioning almost normally and I love it! I never thought I would be so thankful to clean my own bathrooms but each time I do it I am thankful that I can. It's been so funny what little things we appreciate after all we have been through. We sat in traffic in front of Lowe's and Rick grumbled, as soon as he did I said," I am just glad to be here, all 5 of us!" He frequently makes the same comments when we do things we haven't been able to do together like go to church after all these months of them going without me. I thought we were thankful people before but we really are now.
Don't forget Race for the Cure is May 9th. The team name is Joggin' for Jugs and you cna sign up online @ www.komenslc.org. My last radiation is May 8th so we are hoping to make the race a party! Love- Shauna

Radiation!

We are finally in radiation and it's so good to get going. I go every day at 9:30am to McKay Dee where I get "zapped!" They are very pleasant people to work with and they make the best out of yet another of the yucky requirements to get back to good health. I have no side effects yet but anticipate by the end of this week having "a sunburn." The area is much larger than I expected. It's about the size of a wash cloth, one corner even goes under my arm and onto my back. It's all pretty interesting. I continue to go to chemo for Herceptin. It's my wonder drug. There are almost no side effects. I especially like this month, I go on the 16th so there is only 1 treatment this month which mentally makes me feel better!!
The rest of the family are doing well, Josh has completely recovered from his appendix removal and Isaac and Megan are doing well. Rick is doing really well now that we are at this point. The kids and I are going to do some fun things together this week while they are out of school for spring break. It's so good to be feeling better! Love- Shauna

What a crazy life....

We thought things were settling down for us but Josh had to get in on the excitement Sunday morning. Rick and I thought he had is weekly "Sunday Flu" coming on so we told him to get ready and get in the truck! He lasted 10 minutes at church (Rick drove him home) and when we called to check on him 45 minutes later we knew it wasn't the flu. I went home and checked on him and he pointed right in the appendix area. I said, "dang it!" and drove him to McKay Dee ER where he continued to get worse and after an ultrasound they confirmed it was his appendix. He was in surgery by 2:00 pm, it was pretty unbelievable to be sitting there for more health issues. Anyway, he did really well and was home in bed by 11:30 pm. It worked out so we could all get some sleep before going back to the hospital for radiation.
This did mean the 4-wheeling trip to Glamis was cancelled for Rick and Josh. They were very sad!
Radiation starts on April 1st, I think I got my hopes up when I talked to them on the phone and I just assumed that they would get me going on my schedule but it didn't work! I did get all the preliminary stuff done so I will just go for 25 minutes each day starting April Fools Day!
We sure hope everyone else is healthy! Much Love- Shauna

Radiation!

Monday starts the radiation. I am actually anxious to get it going because then it will be 6 weeks and it's over. I have been feeling really good with the exception of the colds I keep getting and can't fight off. This one is either a sinus infection or ear infectionm either way my head hurts! My cough is very annoying especially after the surgery. You don't really want details it's just very uncomfortable! Anyway, I have been walking my 30 minutes every day and we have even gone for a family bike ride which was more difficult than I thought it would be but still great! Every day I am feeling closer to who I was before and I am so excited! Shauna

Still doing well!

So, the last 3 weeks has been.... rough. I am feeling better every day. I have finally had the last drain removed (yeah!) but the Dr. filled my expander for the 2nd time, the pressure is unbelieveable. She said I am healing well and all that good stuff so I am glad. This has been one crazy experience along with all the rest. We are somewhat able to breath sighs of relief now that we are at this point, that is especially good for Rick, he was a nervous wreck but is much better now. I am cleared for radiation and we are getting the appointments scheduled but I will be off the schedule that I had set for myself. I wanted to start next week but it will be 2 weeks from today to ensure that everything is completely healed. That's just the way it goes.
Everyone is asking about the hair! The minimal amount of existing hair (and I mean minimal!) has grown a little but not many new sprouts yet. I got some special shampoo/conditioner and intensive hair growth therapy, no one really knows if it will do anything but one of my chemo friends says it has definatley worked for her. If it doesn't work it will get me back in the habit of shampooing my hair. It's been kind of nice to just loofa my whole body including my head, it's very quick too! HA!HA!HA! As soon as I have anything to speak of I will be sporting it! I am very excited to have hair that won't blow away in the wind!
The Race for the Cure is May 9th and we will be there! The team name is Joggin' for Jugs, it should be fun! Love- Shauna

The worst is over & we got the best news!

My surgery was Wednesday, and it was as awful as you can imagine. It took almost the entire night to get ontop of the pain but once I did I felt much better. Within a few hours of that I was ready to go home. I have much more range of motion with my right arm than I had anticiapted so that is good. I have 2 drains which makes me look and feel like an alien. They will be gone Tuesday!!! I feel like I am doing well given the circumstance.
We got the best news possible on Friday for those of you who haven't heard, all 16 nodes were negative! The cancer was not visible to the pathologist eye during surgery but was there under the microscope. They did get clear margins around the cancer cells. The Dr. called and said this should make you so happy! Me and my pain meds were already happy when she called but I was even happier after that news!!
We are all doing better now that the surgery is behind us. Especially Rick! I made fun of him in the last post but I don't think I could have watched him go through this type of thing, it's harder for the care-giver (in my opinion) because you feel so helpless. He and my mom have done great at taking care of me, and so many others caring for our family. The stress has been reduced with so much great support and such good news from pahtology. We are so thankful!
No sprouts of hair yet, I expect something in the next 4 weeks. Who knows???
We love you all so much! Shauna