Current Standings

I'm pretty excited about the coming 6 weeks of blogging. I've thought of some new features and I've been storing up some topics over the weeks of my web silence.

But first, the medical details.

1. I feel great. I don't remember if this is how great I felt physically before I was diagnosed. But now. Man. I feel like I am flying. I have energy that seems boundless. I am functioning fully on a mere 8 hours of sleep, with no thought of wanting a nap. (For months there, I was getting a good 10-11 hours at night and could have napped at any given moment.)

It's just terrific to be well.

2. My skin has healed beautifully following the radiation. There's actually not much of a scar left from the breast removal because they burned it off. So I got that going for me.

I do have a deep tan, and the radiation field made a rectangle on my upper right torso. So certain evening wear would be ill-advised for a while. Dang. Just when I was thinking about showing some cleavage.

Heh heh heh. . . Breast cancer humor. . .

3. The lymphedema has reversed a great deal. Thank you for your prayers for this. More lymphedema details to come, as I've been promising. . . But it's not a problem that will ever go away completely, so I feel like I have time to get around to it.

"And you've sure been usin' it!" said the hippo.

4. As for my remaining treatment, I will still get Herceptin every 3rd week until August.

I started taking Tomaxicin this week. More on that drug later. I will take it every day for 5 years.

I'll have an EKG every 3 months until I'm done with Herceptin.

I'll see Dr. Science every 6 weeks or so. In a few months, if he hasn't had reason to do so by then, he'll run a scan to check for glowing masses of cancer.

But I'm utterly confident there won't be any to find. It's not that I'm just hopeful. Or wishful. I'm really convinced that this cancer is gone, or will be by the time my treatment is completed. I might be wrong. If I am, I will be the most shocked of all.

After the Herceptin is finished in August, I'll go 4 more years with the Tomaxicin and sparse visits to Dr. Science. And at the 5 year mark, he'll pronounce me "cured."

But I'm living like that pronouncement has already been made.

5. I'll tell you what could much all this up: if my remaining breast cells turned cancerous. If even just one of them mutated, that'd be it. I would be right back at the starting line again.

There's only one way to be certain it doesn't happen. That surgery is scheduled for 25 March. With Mayfield, of course. Plenty more to write about relating to this point.

6. Bryan is doing so well, too. It's transition time for him in terms of his career, but he has some pretty good prospects for jobs to transition into. More on that later.

7. And the children! I have lots of B, G and J stories to share.

It's great to be back, and it's great to know you all are with me.