A Pink Carpet Affair

Wednesday night was the long awaited premiere of my support group's calendar. Beyond Boobs! has been my lifeline through all of this mess and I am so blessed to have been connected with them. As a fund raiser and a way of educating women, we put out a calendar with pictures and stories of survivors and tons of information on breast health. It is really a great calendar! I was so happy to have my family and friends with me that night. Chris was there looking HOT in his suit and pink tie! Katie and Rob were there (he was in a pink tie, too!). They both looked HOT, too! My mom and her friend, Karlene, drove up from Alabama to attend. My friend and neighbor, Sarah, and her aunt, also a survivor were there. The ride in the Humvee limo was great fun! It was pretty surreal being there and celebrating such a great thing. I even got to sign autographs!



Here is a link to the calendar: www.beyondboobsinc.org/calendar.htm


You can't see the whole thing, but you can see the cover and a few other images. You can purchase these online if you choose or let me know and I can get an autographed copy for you. This is a great gift, especially to young women or anyone touched by breast cancer. As I said, it is also a fundraiser for our group. It's also beautiful!

As for me, I am going great. Radiation is tedious, as predicted. Basically, I drive 20 minutes to my appointment, check in, change into a gown and wait. I usually wait anywhere from 10 to 50 minutes! Then the radiation itself takes about 2 minutes. It is basically a glorified x-ray. I haven't had any side effects yet except a few mild, intermittent shooting pains. They said to expect some skin irritation and possibly fatigue as the treatment progresses. Mary has gone with me to my appointment and the whole staff looks forward to her visit. They keep her entertained during my treatment and "eat her up"! She likes to prance around in there like she works there.

My hair is finally growing in nicely. The top is still a little patchy looking, but is filling in. It is red! I actually had a man tell me he liked the "style" and to keep it this way forever. I think not. My eyelashes are growing in, too! They are VERY short, like a day or two of leg stubble, but there. I can't wait for them to get long enough for mascara. You don't realize how much you need eyebrows and eyelashes until they are gone. I will say that I have become pretty good at disguising my lack of eyebrows and eyelashes with liners.

Radiation

Well, it's been 3 weeks since my surgery and 7 weeks since my last chemo, but who's counting? I am feeling great and have started trying to get back in shape after gaining weight (yes, that happens on chemo!) and losing all of my hard earned muscle. I have noticed that on the days I workout (and some days that I don't) I often fall straight to sleep on the couch after the kids are in bed. Could be the fact that Chris has the remote and makes me watch The Colbert Report. Anyway, I am feeling really good.

Yesterday, I met with the Radiation Oncologist. He was very nice and informative. I will start next week. They did a scan of my breast and chest to map out how and where the "therapy" will be done. It should be great fun. Mostly, I guess it will be tedious as I have to go 5 days a week. But it only takes 10-15 minutes! The side effects include fatigue and skin irritation. I am not looking forward to either one of those, but it has to be better than chemo. I have black magic marker all over my chest now so they can position me properly.

The Beyond Boobs! Calendar premiere is October 15th. I am excited. It should be a really fun night. I get to go in a pink stretch Hummer. Did I say that already? Well, anyway if anyone wants to go, let me know :) Also, if you want a calendar, let me know.

So, I signed up to walk in the Avon 2-day walk for Breast Cancer in Washington DC next May. I am very excited (and scared to death). Two of my friends are also on my team and are big time enthusiastic about fund raising. We are having a gigantic yard sale tomorrow to raise money. Please wish us luck! BTW, the other team member is MY MAMA! Isn't she gutsy?! I haven't started "training" yet, but have started working out regularly.