Feeling Like a Sur-thriver!

CLICK to hear Michael singing it!!!

Yes, I'm feeling pretty darn good :tup

I have to share (re-share for my FB friends) this, even though it just scratches the surface:

For those of you who don't know, I had an iron infusion on Tuesday, February 4th and I feel like a new woman!!!

Besides the renewed coloring above, I've got more energy than I've had in YEARS!  And, for better or worse, I've got that jittery tension (best way to describe it) feeling again:

Like the "old days", I've got a thousand things going on at once, my mind's running 90-to-nothing, I'm flitting from one thing to the other... and it's oddly comforting ;)

Also, my hands and feet don't seem to be quite as cold all the time :)  Yes, my oncologist was correct when he said, "You'll feel SO much better."  Gotta love that guy!

I got some test results since my last post to share:

1. GOOD and BAD news from my thyroid ultrasound -- no nodules or lesions (Yay!!!) but I do have some inflammation.  Off to see another new doctor next week, an endocrinologist, to further assess.  Still on the Synthroid.
2. BAD and GOOD? news from my bone density test -- osteoporosis in my left hip and lumbar spine (but I knew this), and osteopenia in the other hip and several other parts of my spine.  My gyn/major angel called me Tuesday to explain why he's no longer recommending I take Prolia.  He said the jury's still out on long-term effects of this relatively new drug and, as I was already aware from researching after an adverse reaction early last year, commonly used treatments like Fosomax and Boniva have been shown to grow bone but not STRONG bone, actually exacerbating the risk of fractures after 5 years of use!!!  He said that even though my fracture risk is elevated, because I'm still ONLY 50 (he actually said, "... because you're still so young," and I thanked him ;) ) we're better off adding extra calcium and D3 than taking any of these products - even WITH the bone-depleting anti-cancer aromatase inhibitor I'm taking!  So we wait and retest in 2 years :)

It's a good thing I didn't bust it on the sled yesterday!!!  Cooper knew better than to hang with me on this one :r

Oh, and I have to share THIS with you!  Remember my CRAP shirt???  (Link if you don't)  Well here's what the author of I Have to Get Some Things Off My Chest and creator of the shirts posted on her FB page yesterday:

Isn't it AWESOME???

I still feel so blessed to be where I am today.  I think often about where I might be if my lump hadn't screamed out, "I'M HERE" early last May.  And if my gyn/angel had believed the mammo and ultrasound that followed!

Life is still a journey of recovery - and discovery, of resilience, of miracles.  I treasure each day for its opportunities - and time.  Because we just never know. 

And one more thing:

SO tired of seeing Doctors!

Yes, I know how fortunate I am to have a great team of physicians, but I'd really like a break from them - at least for a while!!!

I actually added one to the team last week, a gastroenterologist who thoroughly impressed me at my first appointment, but let me back up...

I was already scheduled to see my internist/PCP on January 10, just to touch base after my December surgeries and take care of some testing she'd wanted to do when I first went to her last June.

Well, the visit included taking 5 vials of blood that revealed continued anemia (not a surprise), high cholesterol (big surprise???), and a TSH reading that was through the roof (WTH???).  We also discussed my irritating neuropathy, and she recommended Gabapentin, suggesting I double-check with my oncologist since I'm now on that fun ZERO HORMONE anti-cancer regimen :)

Since I already had an appointment scheduled with my oncologist (my first 3-month follow up), he and I discussed both the neuropathy treatment (the G drug it is - better than nothing, but...) and what to do about my iron issues!  

I've had trouble with low hemoglobin and ferritin levels since I was 12...

and have tried countless times to remedy the situation with iron supplements to no avail.  

A funny segue... 

When I was completing my initial paperwork at the cancer center (hematology-oncology center actually, and this DOES matter to the story), the office person asked if I'd ever been a patient there before.  "No!" I insisted, "This is my first time with cancer." :/

"That's odd," she said, "because you're already in our system, from quite some time ago it seems."

I'm sure I scrunched up my face in a questioning gesture, then I assured her, again, that I'd never been in that office before in my life!

Long story short, it seems I DID see one of the physicians, as a hematology patient some 15 years ago when they were housed in an adjacent facility.  AND, I vividly recall - now - how scared I was when I read the door sign that said "Hematology-ONCOLOGY". Did they think I had cancer of the blood or something???  

I also recall being asked into this physician's office where I sat across from his large desk, he with his hands clasped, leaning forward on rested elbows to declare matter of factly - not ASK - "You either chew ice or eat dirt."  Period. He just stared at me, not in an unkind manner, but I was totally taken aback!  "Well, I certainly don't eat dirt!" I insisted.  We went on to have a rather informative conversation about anemic symptoms and their concomitant cravings (yes, an ice chewer I'd been for years), and he put me on a strong iron supplement that I took for less than a month before the accompanying gastric issues prompted me to quit.  THIS doctor, by the way, is best bud/golfing partner of my most amazing surgeon, and the oncologist I'd likely have seen had my internist/PCP not recommended the one I have!  

Another segue...

The cancer center administrator just happens to be a former next door neighbor of ours (something I didn't know before my BC dx), and SHE thinks my oncologist is an A-hole - I gather because he, according to her, walks into the center in the morning in deep thought and doesn't speak (or laugh and joke in the halls as I've seen the others do).  She chalked it up to his preoccupation with his job - something I PREFER in a physician - and that he's newer to the practice.  Consequently, she had another oncologist, the doctor I happened to have seen years earlier for my anemia and the center's supposed BC go-to guy, serepticiously follow my oncologist's plan for my treatment, just to be sure.  I guess I should be grateful, and glad/relieved since he approved, but I trusted my own onco from the beginning!

...where was I???

Oh, the iron issue.  So I'm going in this Tuesday for a 6 to 7 hour long iron infusion.  My onco - the guy I trust - suggested this might be a better solution than trying oral supplements, yet again, in the hope they'll bring my levels up in 4-6 months.  My iron levels will be NORMAL on Tuesday afternoon :e

Also, the aromatase inhibitor I'm taking - and will be for "...at least 5, more likely 10, years," according to my onco - causes bone loss :o  Well, I already have osteoporosis (not -penia) in my left hip, both ankles, and lumbar spine, probably from the long undiagnosed celiac, so my gyn has suggested I take Prolia (already tried and had a bad reaction to Fosomax).  BUT, in order to start he needs a new baseline bone density.  That's tomorrow morning, SIGH.

Oh, and I started taking Synthroid/levothyroxine last week for my thyroid, likely Hashimoto's since my mom has it and I have all these other fun autoimmune issues :i
Had an ultrasound on Friday - just to check for other possible things going on...
Worst thing about THIS med is having to get up and take it on an empty stomach, then refrain from eating or drinking anything for 30 minutes to an hour.  Last week I tried to put this time to good use and spent 30 minutes on my treadmill.  This morning I went back to sleep ;)

Now, for my NEWEST doctor:  

I waited over an hour from my appointment time to see her, but after our "visit" I'd wait TWO!!!  She was friendly, receptive, thorough, and caring; and though my internist/PCP recommended her (along with several other non- medical people), it turns out she's good friends with my gyn and they were actually neighbors for 10 years!!!  Coincidence or serendipity?  Nonetheless, she's doing a colonoscopy on me later this month :~

I guess it's better to get all this out of the way, and maybe March and April will be MINE!!!

On a HAPPY note, especially for those of you who don't follow the blog on Facebook, my hairses are growing back!!!  A bit more pepper than salt, and I went out today for the first time sans head covering ;)
I also have thicker eyelashes than I've had in YEARS!!!  You know how, especially as a teenager, you used to "forget" to remove your mascara, then sort of picked it off, and accidentally pulled out a few lashes once in a while???
Well I got a shot at a brand new set :)

And, Mini Cooper enjoyed the snow!

Hugs to you all, and if you're wondering why in writing this now, no, I'm NOT watching the Super Bowl - much prefer college football and will catch the commercials on YouTube ;)