Great Food=New Gym

From the moment that I was diagnosed, our house has been flooded with amazing meals from family and friends.  Sarah set up the Meal Train and we received over 60 meals delivered to our house.  People were amazing and the meals were incredible.   Everyone went above and beyond.  They came with homemade dressings, warm bread, tortillas, and.......... dessert.  They kept us nourished.  They kept us going.  They are one of the reasons we moved so easily through this trying time.

Fast forward to present day.  I have had to tell Jack that he doesn't get a visitor every evening at 5 and dessert DOES not come with every meal.  

We were spoiled.  

We indulged.  

We rejoined the gym (ha ha ha).

I have always enjoyed working out (it compliments loving good food).  I had just completed a half marathon when I was diagnosed, but starting treatment left me void of energy and working out was the first thing go.  So once I had the green light from the surgeon, I investigated the gyms in my area.  I was intrigued with the new $10/month gyms and joined Planet Fitness on Sunrise. I was gung-hu that 4 weeks after surgery I would be able to be back in the gym.

Enter in new problem...... dressing for the gym.

In my day to day life, I have hats, sweatshirts, and a new prosthesis.  At the gym, it's just me.  No hair, no boob, nowhere to hide.  The first few days I wore my hat, but it was just too hot.  So I had to get brave!

Brian asked, "Do you think people are looking at you?"

I said, "Of course, everyone looks at everyone at the gym."

So, I now have a newfound admiration of those that get to the gym when it's not easy.  The 80 year old woman completing the circuit class.  The very overweight teenager who got dressed and came to the gym even though it may have been easier to stay at home.  The man in a wheelchair lifting arm weights.

So I go, I am sure people wonder and if they are brave enough to ask I will tell them!  For now, it's lots of cardio and a few weights to get back at it :-)

One Month Post Surgery

When we first met with the surgeon, my mom asked what we should prepare for in regards to recovery.  He said that recovery would be, "a whole lot easier than what I had been through with chemo".  We were skeptical.  How could you remove a piece of my body and just bounce back?  I had surgery on March 15 and on April 15th we were finally able to celebrate Brian's birthday at the Tomales Bay Oyster Company.  On this gorgeous April day, I sat surrounded by family and our closest friends reflecting on the fact that one month prior I was sitting in a hospital bed. I never expected that I would be here.

Brian and I discovered the Tomales Bay Oyster company on our 10th anniversary trip last June.  The TBOC offers oysters, clams and mussels for sale along with about 5 other items (briquets, lemons, and sauce).  There are picnic tables with BBQs for you to bring a picnic and enjoy your day.  We knew from the first time we visited here that we needed to bring a group of family and friends.  We had to reschedule once for rain, but it ended up being a PERFECT day.  Everyone brought a salad or snack to share and Brian brought 3 sauces to dress the oysters.  We had BBQ oysters, sweet chili oysters and a mignonette for raw oyster shooters.  

Along with the 18 adults, we had 8 children under the age of 10 which you know can be disastrous at a party.  These kids played so well together.  They made sand castles, collected shells and played in the water.  Of course, Chase was the first to take a full body dive into the water and have to change into dry clothes.  The tide went out quite a bit from the time we got there so the children began to explore further and further down the beach.  Our second minor casualty came when Jack went face first into the mud about 50 yards out.  After much encouragement, it was obvious that he wasn't getting up on his own.  I started to walk out into the mud to help him when I quickly realized the mud was very sticky and my shoes were getting stuck.  We were all laughing at the point and Jack still hadn't moved from face first in the mud.  Brian came to the rescue, sacrificing his sandals and saved the day.  When he reached Jack, we heard a round of applause, not just from our group but the entire crowd was watching this ordeal.  Quite embarrassing, but a great memory!!

Everyone agreed that this was definitely the First Annual Tomales Bay Oyster day, it was quite a success!!!

  

One Less Battle To Fight

When I was first diagnosed, I was immediately referred to the genetics department to be tested for any mutations on the two known Breast Cancer genes-BRCA1 and BRCA2. These two genes belong to a class of tumor suppressor genes. A mutation on either gene has been linked to both hereditary breast cancer and ovarian cancer. The genetics counselor explained to me (early on) that when a woman is diagnosed at a young age there is a high likelihood that the mutation may be present. Most woman diagnosed with breast cancer are in late adulthood. The thought is that when a person is diagnosed early the suppressor genes may have had mutations and weren't able to do their job to stop the tumor growth. So, in a person without mutations they may have been able to fight off tumor growth in their 30's, 40's etc. without ever knowing it. The next step in the process was to send my blood samples off to Utah. There is one lab in the entire United States testing for these mutations (can we say monopoly?). If I was found to havethese mutations, the breast cancer would be considered hereditary and would put me at an extremely high risk of also getting ovarian cancer. The doctor described that most woman who test positive for the mutation will also get a hysterectomy.

I was given all of this information just after diagnosis and right before starting my chemo battle. Hearing that at 32 not only was I facing breast cancer, but also a possible hysterectomy was a little too much for me at the time. I put it on the back burner because the results would not influence the oncologist's plan for treatment. Once I finished chemo, I went ahead and followed through and sent my blood to Utah. With my medical luck the last year part of me thought the results would come back positive and this would be another battle to fight.

On the morning of surgery I received a call and email that the results had come back........

I tested negative for both gene mutations.

This doesn't give us an answer to "WHY" I got breast cancer so young, but it does eliminate the need for a hysterectomy. Although, we don't know if we are done having children it doesn't close that door completely. It also doesn't put the woman in my family tree (cousins, aunts, grandparents) in the position where they have to decide whether to get tested. If I was positive, the woman in my family would have the ability to be tested to see if they carried the gene mutation as well. This is an issue you may have seen in the media lately the quandary of whether or not you would want to know if you are more likely to get cancer.

Regardless, it is NEGATIVE. This is one battle that stops here! Woo Hoo!