March Madness in Cancer

The sun is shining on the Gulf Coast and I am getting some energy back and taking longer walks through the week. I don’t need a few hour long naps to get through the day anymore, just short catnaps or moments of rest. We are enjoying boating time with our family and just feeling the sunshine every day.

My hair is coming in thick and soft. Gavin keeps me laughing through all of this. He said he married a blonde, but chemo is turning me into a darker brunette… with a little silver fox mixed in. 😂 Chemo can actually change the color of your hair, so we’ll see what it ends up being on the other side of this!

Overall, we are doing pretty well, but the past three weeks have had a few setbacks. My chest cavity started filling with fluid, and the left capsule they built to hold the tissue expander collapsed. That has meant going in four times now to have the fluid drained with a very large and scary looking needle and syringe, but is is placed in an area that has no feeling so it is just weird not painful.

I’m currently on two strong antibiotics to fight off infection since my white blood cell count still isn’t where it needs to be. I’ll see the surgeon again in April to make sure everything is cleared up, and then we’ll move forward with scheduling another surgery to rebuild and replace what was lost.

It does mean starting the expansion process all over again—and yes, that also means the “boobie grenades” (aka drains) are making a comeback. They were awful the first time, but at least now I know how to deal with them… and I won’t accidentally drop them like last time. Ouch!!

It’s not exactly what I hoped for, but I’m holding onto perspective. I’ve already walked this road once with my double mastectomy, so at least now I know what to expect.

Through it all, God has been so good. Even in the setbacks, I can see His hand guiding me forward. We have been blessed with so many prayer warriors and are grateful for every single one of them.

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