Treatment continues

I am about halfway through radiation treatment and as the Dr. predicted the fatigue has returned. It is not quite as bad as it was during chemo but it is back. Mornings are pretty good but by early evening I am pretty tired. My skin looks good...a little red but overall it is fine. I have 2 Dr.'s appointment this week and another round of herceptin in addition to radiation daily. I am getting tired of the daily trips to the cancer center. School is going well for the kids. Alex and Regan have had homework daily, not a huge amount but enough to keep them busy. This week will include the first round of tests and quizzes. Noah hasn't had a lot of homework yet but I am sure that will change this week. Football is in full swing with 3 practices a week. Games should begin in September. Alex has her first varsity cheer event Friday with the Blue/Gold season Kick-Off. Not sure yet when Regan will begin cheering. James is starting to get hunting fever. He bought a couple of deer feeders this weekend and spent some time putting them together. We love fall between football and hunting it is our favorite time of year! Have a great week everyone!

Everyone is in school!

Noah started school this morning so now everyone is back in school! YEAH!!!! I love getting back into the routine. I saw the Dr. yesterday and all is going well. I am starting to get pink and a little sore around the area where my original tumor was. My energy level has been pretty good but the Dr. warned me that should begin to change around the halfway point of the treatment, Friday. Although it won't be anything like the fatigue from the chemo, it will get worse as the treatment progresses. The way I look at it, I just have to get through mid-Sept. then all will be good! Noah is busy with football right now and so is James. James helps coach. Alex starts soccer season this weekend and Regan still has gym 4 days a week. Cheerleading will probably start within the next 2 weeks for Alex and Regan so I am sure things will get busy. Curious fact....Regan has 3 other classmates named Regan and they are all guys! We thought her name was so original! That means there are 6 Regan's her exact age in our area!

Regan starts High School!

This morning I dropped Regan off at Aquinas for her orientation. The upperclassman greeted the freshman in Hawaiian attire and announced each freshman as they entered the school to cheers! Hard to believe I have 2 in high school. Alex went through orientation yesterday and received her schedule. No surprises but I have already requested a teacher change for both Alex & Regan. I also had to write a lot of checks. August is almost as bad as December with the additional expenses. The good part about high school is the school supply list, they don't have any! Each teacher gives a syllabus on the first day of class with a list of supplies. But for the most part it is just notebooks and paper. Noah starts school next week. Yeah!!!! I am feeling pretty good these days. My hair is growing back and my feet are feeling a little better. However, the daily trip to the Cancer Center for radiation treatment is getting old already! Only 4.5 more weeks to go. My skin is doing pretty good. It is starting to get red but hopefully it won't blister during treatment. Mom & Dad were supposed to come visit this week but my 92 year old grandmother fell and broke her hip so their visit is delayed. Have a great weekend!

Melting at a soccer tournament

We spent the day at Alex' soccer tournament in Raytown. It was close to 100 degrees and miserable. She and her teammates were just drenched! They played in the U-18 division and they did pretty good. Alex got decked a couple of times by girls that easily weighed 30 lbs more than her if not more. They have one more game tomorrow afternoon. We are heading to the Race for the Cure this morning for an early "run" to raise money for Breast Cancer research. I finished with my first few treatments of radiation. It goes pretty quickly and is just like a long x-ray. So far no skin changes but the radiation oncologist said this would start to happen at about the 10th treatment. So far no side effects to report. I did have another herceptin infusion Thursday and all went well. The pre-meds still make me sleepy during the treatment so I usually take a little nap. My feet are still very painful but wearing tennis shoes helps. Have a wonderful weekend everyone and stay cool!

Home at last!

We got back from vacation this weekend! It was so nice to have time together as a family. 2009 has been a difficult year so far but we all were able to relax and enjoy ourselves. Noah caught a bad cold so he doesn't feel the greatest but other than that we all came home fine...no swine flu aka H1N1! The girls enjoyed the cruise and made some good friends. They especially enjoyed the beach in Mexico. Our trip home was long with flight delays and misplaced luggage but all turned out well. Regan went to the ortho today and got her braces off. She has a beautiful smile now and commented "it was so worth it!" I had a Dr. appointment today and will start radiation tomorrow. Interesting to see how they shield the different parts of the body and target with lasers. The treatment will be everyday for 6.5 weeks. I should be done the week of Sept. 14th. My feet have been very painful lately. I was hoping they would start to feel better but so far they feel worse. Hopefully that will turn around. James is having shoe inserts made and I might try that to relieve some of the pain if it works for him. I do have more energy lately. Instead of one good day followed by a bad day I can usually make it almost 2 full days before the exhaustion wins out. I did great on the cruise until the last day. You would think all you could do on a cruise is relax, but not with an active 9 year old. We played ping pong, shuffle board, mini golf and rode the water slides with rarely a break in between. The lady in charge of checking out equipment knew Noah by name and didn't even make him check it out! Oh well I think he has helped me overcome a lot because he wants to play and doesn't understand mom is tired! Have a great week everyone!