Life After Cancer

Today is September 2, 2022. 3 months from my last chemotherapy treatment and 1 month after my last radiation treatment. It has definitely been a weird month physically, mentally and emotionally.

I had my port removed at my breast surgeon’s office on August 15. I was nervous about getting it removed in her office rather than the hospital but the procedure itself was not a big deal. She numbed the area and it took about 30 minutes total. She also did my 6 month follow up appointment from my lumpectomy. Overall she was pleased with the healing and how radiation had effected it. It took about 10 days for the incision to heal from having the port removed.

About 2 weeks after the last radiation treatment I started peeling under my arm and it was very painful. I had to go by the radiation oncologists office for the nurse to check it. She called in a cream for me to apply. I am still having some pain today but it is much better and the peeling has stopped. I continued to wear my sun shirts when I got in the pool to reduce any additional sun exposure. I have some additional areas that are painful more than likely due to lymphedema or cording which gets worse during and after radiation. I have been continuing yoga and stretching most mornings and this will hopefully help that.

I also started walking more this past month. The neuropathy pain has gotten much better. I stopped taking that medications for neuropathy about a week ago. I hated the way they made me feel. I kept feeling like I was going to cry at any moment but I couldn’t actually cry. It was a very frustrating feeling. I wasn’t sure if it was the medication or my actual emotions. I am still dealing with some tingling and tiredness in my feet and legs in the evening but it’s not keeping me awake any more.

I have also started going to the office more often. I went 4 days last week and 5 days this week. Since the new house is further from the office I am spending about 2 hours in the car each day. That part is definitely not fun. Tim has started to travel more with his business also.

We are still enjoying the new house and the pool. Grayson moved back to college for his final semester a few weeks ago. We have entered wedding season also! We attended a wedding on August 19 (See photo below). It was Emily’s best friend from school. I actually ran into a good friend of mine from high school (and my roommate first semester freshman year) at the wedding. She was a friend of the groom’s family and it was great to see her. Congratulations to Ryan and Emily! My best friend’s daughter is getting married in October and my niece is getting married in November so each weekend seems to be busy with showers and other fun wedding activities. I am so happy that I feel well enough to go to them. I wore my wig to the wedding in August but I hope to rock the short pixie look for the other 2 weddings. My hair has grown a lot and as of this week you can no longer see my scalp.

It feels weird just going back to “normal” life after going through this journey. For the past 8 months I have focused on the next treatment or appointment. Now that I am past that part I am looking back to see everything that I have accomplished and overcome. I have learned so much about myself through this and am still trying to process a lot of it. I have a lot of conflicting thoughts and feelings about what I should do now especially with respect to my health. The information available is very overwhelming. I also want to focus more on my relationships. My family and friends have been so supportive during this journey and I don’t know what I would have done without their support. I will continue to post as I navigate this life after cancer.