CHEMO COMPLETE !!

I am pretty sure, the last day of chemo excitement is something I will never forget! I finished my last chemo on June 11th. Today marks exactly three weeks out and I am feeling relatively “myself” - or at least the current version of me!

I wanted to share some photos as well as how I feel overall post chemo and next treatment steps.

- Directly After Ringing the Bell !

Mentally, it was a little easier the last round to force my body physically to move on than the other rounds. The mind is so powerful and just knowing that was it, I was free was so motivating ! As you know if you have been following my blog, I worked full time through chemo and also continued to regularly workout, walk, and do yoga. I also went to physical therapy at least weekly to work on my heart rate and left arm mobility to get prepared for radiation.

Since my last chemo I have resumed my “normal” workouts. Currently due to COVID that is all at home HIIT workouts with light weights high reps. I highly recommend Heather Robertson free 12 week program via youtube if you are looking for something effective in 30ish minutes a day :)

Lot and lots of other things have happened as the rest of treatment plans have come together and I resumed “normal life”. I pray that as you read through this you see the underlying message is LIFE GOES ON. The World keeps turning, the sun keeps shining, and with a positive attitude I was able to jump two feet right back in to having the stamina and ability to spend more time doing the things I love. I am so excited I feel so much more like “me“ in just these three weeks and look forward to see where it goes from here!

The day after last chemo we drove to Cedar Key to talk a walk (tired of our neighborhood walks) and get some ice cream before heading home for me to rest :)

Three days after chemo we found a trail very close to our house and hiked 3 miles. I was pretty spent by the end of that and happy to see the car. But I truly believe continuing to move and be active helped me so much throughout treatments thus far!

I graduated from checkups from my March surgery 4 days after chemo. He told me I was good to do whatever I wanted (within reason - which included going into all bodies of water including rivers etc.) .... which lead me to the following activity 2 days later on my day off!

My husband, best friend and I kayaked 6 miles in 2 hours. My whole upper body was sore for days !!!! I guess we kind of forgot I wasn’t even a week post chemo - totally worth the memory and can’t wait to do it again!

After a week of working I was able to lay poolside (About 12 days post chemo) for the first time in a long while with two of my best friends and two of my favorite little girls in the World :)

By weekend three we bought a BMW 😍 I absolutely loved my 4Runner we bought last year - but they are expensive, and this used BMW was half the cost. So, my awesome sister helped me out with a trade in deal and now I am driving fast with a cool sun roof and we are saving up some money to recoup from all the medical bills the past two years! We are so blessed !!

This past weekend we went home and had an awesome time with family at my parents house celebrating the end of chemo!! It was so amazing seeing family after being separated since the beginning of all this cancer stuff! I had not seen most of them since Christmas !! My aunt, also took post chemo photos of me in her studio and I have never felt so beautiful!

I skipped a radiation therapy appointment, a medical oncology appointment, 3 PT appointments, and 294792479274 calls with insurance within this 3 weeks 🤪

And finally, today - 3 weeks post chemo I

returned to work AT THE HOSPITAL instead of working from home. It was AMAZING being back! Special thanks to all my friends that decorated my office and bought me gifts, I felt so loved when I walked in today!

So where does this leave me moving forward ?

Theres a lot going on! I will summarize in a billeted list here. The treatment train is continue to roll and I’m about to be right back on it!

• I started letrazole 2.5 mg daily today. This is an aromatase Inhibitor - it does basically the same thing as tamoxifen but since I have been in menopause for almost a year (due to Zoladex monthly shots) I can use this medication. Especially since I failed tamoxifen (a hormone positive tumor was able to recur while taking the Med)

• July 8 I start Proton Radiation in Jacksonville. I could use your prayers as tomorrow (hopefully?) we finally here the final decision from the insurance company. If they do not give a pre-certification then we will pay $35,000 out of pocket on July 8 for me to receive treatment. After speaking to two radiation oncologists we full heartedly believe this is the best option for my health moving forward. Due to location of my tumor regular radiation or IMRT (using a straw/snorkel to separate lungs and heart from where radiation is) I would likely end up with Acute coronary syndrome and/or congestive heart failure. Also proton therapy while will make my skin hurt more and have more issues cosmetically does treat the skin better with radiation which is important since I mostly only have skin left on my chest.

• I am deciding about IV bisphosphonates every 6 months for 3 years. It’s a newer thing but shows some promise in decreasing recurrence as well as helps with bone support while I am on letrazole.

• Continue getting stabbed with Zoladex every 28 days - start getting estrogen levels every quarter to make sure it is close to 0.

Ongoing side effects from Chemo that I am living with?

• IDK if I blame surgery and chemo or COVID but def a little bit of weight gain - working on that!

• Bilateral edema in my legs - sleeping with my feet up, and wearing compression socks often which I hate cause they are hot. Without both of those things I don’t really have ankles and my thighs are puffy.

• I am definitely having memory issues post chemo. It is not like I forgot names of loved ones or how to be a pharmacist or anything crazy - BUT it is VERY frustrating to me. I have to write sticky notes a lot more often to take care of my patients - and when put on the spot it’s hard to recall words I am certain I said easily before. I am praying this wears off but trying to be patient with myself.

I will keep you all updated on what happens with radiation treatment and a whole post on details of what to expect for that consult and treatment type etc. for anyone going through this! I also have done research in different creams to try to use so I will share those as well. Thank you as always for the continued support.

love,

Sami