Uncle Fester and Me

Hi Everyone,

Well its official, I look like Uncle Fester. My eye brows have not totally fallen out but they are close. My eyelashes are making a run for the border too. Of course each eye is doing something different than the other one so it’s a challenge putting on makeup. My left eye is the most cooperative; the lashes are just thinner every where. The right eye is my problem child and the lashes are thinner but there is a big chunk missing from the middle, and why wouldn’t there be? However, without makeup I look like Uncle Fester. (me on the left)

Also I have recently started drawing on my eyebrows. One benefit of being bald when you draw on eyebrows is that you can’t buy the wrong color of eyebrow pencil. There is no hair to match or compare the color to, so I have that going for me. I was a little afraid about drawing on eyebrows. We’ve all seen the late night diner waitresses with the fake eyebrows who look like surprised raccoons. I didn’t want to look like that. Also I was certain that when I did draw on my eyebrows that I would look like someone whacked me in the face with a stick and some bark got stuck above my eye. Fortunately the make up companies have a product that goes on lightly and it’s pretty hard to mess up now. So when I do draw them on they look pretty good. Maybe I should try and color in some hair. Ha!

My treatment has been going really well. I have finished my physical therapy and have great mobility back in my right arm. I can’t tell you how happy I am about that. It’s still not 100% but probably never will be. And unless I am flipping around the parallel bars and doing the iron cross on the rings, you would never know that I have any mobility issues.

I’ve also paired back on my lymphedema physical therapy sessions. I have not had any more swelling on my right side since I have started this new chemo drug. Hopefully this will be the norm for me in the future. Luckily I can go back any time I need to and J.R. knows how to help clear out any swelling if it happens.

I’ve also gotten my compression sleeve and glove so I can fly. For those of you who do not know this, flying can cause swelling in the arm when you do not have lymph nodes. By using a compression sleeve when I fly, it reduces the chance for swelling. It’s like when you wear a ring for a long time and then take it off; your finger is still shaped like the ring for a few days before it goes back to normal. The compression sleeve does the same thing to the arm. It looks like a sleeve made out of ace bandage material. It’s really tight and to put it on I have to use this special glove. It looks like one of those green kitchen rubber gloves except it has this texture on the fingers and palm to help grip the fabric so that I get it on correctly. And then I wear a glove too, same material and color. I know I’ve talked about how expensive treatment has been but you will never guess how much compression sleeves and gloves cost. The sleeve is around $200 and the glove is around $300, for a glove. Not a pair of gloves, just one glove. And these do not last a life time just in case you were wondering if this was a one time deal, it’s not.

I’ve got my 7th chemo session coming up this week; I am very excited to get yet another one under my belt. This last session I did not take the Neulasta shot, that’s the shot that helps boost my white blood cell count. As I said in my last update, the new chemo gives me terrible bone pain, and the Neulasta shot adds to that bone pain, so in an effort to reduce the pain I didn’t get the additional shot. It did help reduce the bone pain but I still had plenty. It’s bad enough that I’m couch bound for two days and achy for another two. But I will take the pain over nausea and fatigue any day of the week. I only have to take anti nausea pills for two days instead of seven to nine. Yeah!

On Thursday I had some gene testing done. What is that? Well they can now test your DNA to see if you carry the cancer gene. Some would think it’s obvious that I do carry the cancer gene since I have cancer but that’s not exactly true. Why is that important? Well just because I have breast cancer does not mean that I actually carry the gene. It could be a fluke that my cells mutated into cancer or I could have done something to cause cancer. Like smoking, drinking, lots of chest x-rays, some environmental factor, it’s on my Dad’s side of the family, I never had children, anything could have caused it. I am the poster child for breast cancer. So I am being tested to see if I do carry it. There are two main reasons why people are tested for the cancer gene. One, if I do carry the gene then I could get another kind of cancer like ovarian cancer, which is very common for breast cancer patients who carry the gene. I can prevent ovarian cancer by having my ovaries removed instead. Two, if I carry the gene then it’s likely that my sister and niece carry it too. Once I am tested and know, they can be tested and be proactive in their healthcare. So results should be back in about 3-4 weeks. Talk about an expensive test, $3,500 for this one. This just in, breast cancer is expensive.

And the last update is regarding my reconstruction. I am mostly expanded; I have probably two more expansions to go. Once I am fully expanded, I have to wait at least two months before I can get my permanent implants. I’ve got to say, these things are really uncomfortable. And they are huge, it looks as if I had on football shoulder pads and they slipped down into my bra. They are really high, hard and squarish. I look like a transformer. An Uncle Fester Transformer. Nice huh? Sleeping with these things is a real treat. I sleep on my side and since they are so hard, they don’t move. When I’m on my side I wish I had a kick stand on my back to keep me in one spot. I keep falling back. Oddly enough you do get used to them though. But I will not miss them when they are gone.

Well that’s about it, I can see the light at the end of the tunnel and I am looking forward to having this part of the battle over with. I really am ready to get back to life as I know it. Thank you all once again for your love and support. I am so lucky to have you all in my life. I am truly blessed. I hope this e-mail finds you all well and I hope you’re having a fabulous day!

Love to you all,

Jen