Wow, it is hard to believe that it has been 2 months since we last updated this blog. I’ve been getting a bit of grief from several people for not keeping this up to date. But since we have had nothing but positives I guess I was just sitting back and thanking God for all his blessings. I probably should have shared with you. Sorry!
Things have been getting back to normal, with Laurie transitioning back to full-time work during October and November. Thanksgiving this year was very different as she was not recovering from surgery or preparing for the unknown journey of chemo, radiation, etc. We had many things to be thankful for this year!
A question that was asked recently was “What is the point of reference when people talk about “1 year survivor” or “cancer free for 5 years”?”Laurie was surprised to realize that there is no right answer here! Many people use their date of diagnosis if they are talking about survivor time. However, if you use the term cancer free, most people use the period that all visible cancer is removed. In her case, the surgery removed the known cancer, and the PET Scan in December showed no other visible traces of cancer. All additional treatments were to make sure any microscopic cells of cancer that had escaped notice were destroyed, and to reduce the chance of recurrence through radiation and by building up antibodies (biological treatment, Herceptin). So, in that case, she has been cancer free for 1 year effective November 24th! She had the biopsy on Halloween last year, and that is when the diagnosis of breast cancer was confirmed, so if she used that date, it would be about a month earlier.
Laurie is currently working to finish up the notes on her radiation treatment and consolidate a summary of the side effects of all her treatments. We hope to have them posted by the end of this year, and then we will only update this site every 3 months, or so, when she has her ECHO tests or check-ups. Feel free to share this information with anyone that may wish to understand more of what the journey is like, and let them know they can feel free to contact us if they have specific questions. We would like to think we can make their experiences a little lighter by giving them more insights from our experiences.
We pray that you and your family will have a wonderful Christmas season, and a marvelous New Year!
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