Sex Saved My Life

When I was first diagnosed, friends suggested that I blog about it.  It was too much for me to think about at that time.  I was pregnant, I had a 1-year-old, and I was trying to process the fact that I had cancer.  I did start emailing friends and family to keep them abreast (pun intended) of everything.  But once the bad treatment was over, blogging seemed right.  But I never blogged about my diagnosis because there was too much stuff going on right then and my diagnosis days seemed so long ago.

Recently, though, it seems that I am asked more and more how I found out I had cancer, and what kind did I have, and what treatment did I do, and how many rounds, and when did I lose my hair, etc, etc, etc.  So here it goes:

One day, we were having sex.....LOL.  I laugh, but Jason is the one who found my lump.  He mentioned it casually that he had felt something under my right breast.  I felt it too, but I was pregnant.  My breasts were changing.  I did call my OB and, since I had an appointment the next week, they said they would check it out then.  My OB said it was pregnancy related.  Women's breast become lumpy during pregnancy and to not worry about it.  And I didn't, BUT it was there in the back of my mind.  I would feel it in the shower.  So 2 weeks later, I asked her to look at it again.  She said she would send me to a breast specialist so they could tell me it was nothing and ease my mind.

We went and saw Dr. Corgan.  She is one of the most wonderful, caring, compassionate, and funny women I know.  She checked me out and immediately sent me for a mammogram.  I think we chose to believe that this was routine.  So we weren't freaking out.  Two days later,  I went back to see Dr. Corgan for a biopsy.  We scheduled an appointment in 7 days to go over the results.  We still weren't freaking out, but started to worry.  We went to the lake and tried to have fun, but every night, we stayed awake talking about it.  There is no cancer on either side of my family.  My grandmother, mother, and sister have all had lumps biopsied and they were all benign.  That is what was going to happen to us.

Well, as you know, that didn't happen to us.  We went back for our results (May 31, 2012) and we started a journey we never imagined we would be taking.  I was 25-weeks pregnant at this time and that was all I could think about.  Why was this happening now?

Murphy's Law - my hair was the longest it had been since high school.  Jack and I surprised Jason with pictures for Father's Day.  This was 3 days after I was diagnosed.  I cut it short and donated 8 inches to Pantene pretty soon after this was taken.

On June 7, I had a lumpectomy and sentinel lymph node surgery.  I wasn't scared of the surgery itself, but I was scared for my baby and scared for the results.  This is where we find out if it had spread or not.  They removed the tumor (6 cm) and we got great news - it had not spread!  That meant I would not have to do chemo, only radiation!  I think I asked Jason 6 times to repeat it.  I also asked him if he was just telling me that so I wouldn't be upset.  I guess it just seemed too good to be true.

My final diagnosis was Hormonally Fueled Invasive Ductal Carcinoma, Stage II.  On July 11, I went and had genetic testing done.  The results - it was not genetic, but I was HER2 positive.  What does that mean?  I had the marker that meant it was more likely to come back and now I had to do chemo.  We would start chemo 3 weeks after the baby came.

We met with Dr. Houck who would be putting in my port on August 8.  That was all the cancer stuff until after the baby was born.

My sweet baby boy was born on August 27, 2013, and we tried very hard to just enjoy his yumminess and not think about what was going to happen soon.

On September 13, my port was put in and I had to stop breast feeding.  I think I was most mad about that.  You can have my hair and put me down for the count, but don't take that away from my baby.

I had my first out of 6 rounds of chemo on September 17, 2012.  I received 3 different drugs (Herceptin, Carboplatin, and Taxotere) and it took 6 hours.  I won't go into how those drugs made me feel.  My friend came to stay with the boys all the way from CT and helped keep my spirits up.

On October 5, I had a Clip and Sip.  I woke up and my hair was really coming out so I emailed friends very last minute to come drink and shave my head!  Friends showed up in crazy wigs, brought cheese and wine, we ordered pizza, had some drinks, put the boys down, and we shaved my head....except for a mohawk.  When in life can you sport a mohawk?

My best friend came for my 2nd round of chemo on October 8 and shaved off the hawk.  It was almost a relief to just have it done.  I was fine for a couple of days.  Then as I was getting in the shower, I really looked at myself and had a good cry in the shower.

I had my third round on October 29th, and my sister came to help out that week.  I ended up back at the hospital with dehydration and weight loss of 9 pounds in 4 days.  Thank goodness she was there to take care of my boys for me.

I had a mammogram on November 14th and they found spots.  Really?!  Worried for a week. Worried because if it was cancer, it was a different kind since I was getting chemo already.  Biopsy scheduled for the 20th.  Couldn't even find the spots to biopsy it.  They dug around and made me cry out in pain, but I wanted them to find it and take it out!  The spots were gone by my next mammogram.

Fourth round on November 19th and fifth on Dec. 10.

I had my last round on Monday, December 31, 2012.  I was done!  It didn't come out as clear or as cute as I wanted it to, but here we are after my last round was administered.

On January 22, 2013, I started just going in for Herceptin.  Herceptin is the drug that targets my exact cancer.  It only takes an hour and no bad side effects.  I will continue that every 3 weeks until September.  I have to get an ECHO every 4 months because one of the side effects of Herceptin is heart problems.  Fun times.

Radiation started on February 4, 2013.  I did 33 days in a row minus weekends.  That brought redness, itching, raised bumps, soreness, and EXHAUSTION.  My last one was on March 20 - the first day of spring.  Here I am ringing the bell that all survivors ring when they finish radiation.

On Easter Eve at midnight, we went to the ER because I was having chest pains.  They kept me overnight and did multiple tests, but they could find no reason for the extra heartbeats.  More fun times.

I started taking Tamoxifen in April.  I will take that every night for at least 5 years.  The fun fact about Tamoxifen - one of the side effects (albeit small) is uterine cancer.  Really?!?

I should get my last dose of Herceptin on September 9 (9/9).  Every last treatment has had a significant date:

     -last round of chemo - New Year's Eve
     -last radiation treatment - first day of spring
     -last round of Herceptin - 9/9 (9 is my favorite number)

Not sure what that means, but for some reason it makes me feel good.

My hair is growing and I have my first hair appointment post chemo on July 11.

It has been a crazy year. Early detection was key as was wonderful doctors, friends, and family.  It has been a roller coaster of a ride- fear, excitement, laughing, crying, and physical changes.  And to think it all started with a roll in the hay.

So go tell your spouse you love them and have lots of sex!  It just might save your life.