What can I say about chemotherapy that you don't already know or suspect? I know people were expecting a post long ago about my progress, but if you don't have anything good to say.... ;) No, actually, I do have good things to say, so here goes:
#1. For me, personally, being pregnant was a more difficult experience than the chemo.
#2. Physical fitness makes dealing with health problems MUCH easier.
#3. Water parks can be fun for the whole family, unless you're recovering from chemo.
Ha ha. No really, I should have known better than traveling 6 hours from home for a family reunion right after my last chemo treatment. I spent the whole reunion in bed, sleeping, and then when it came time for the last day and fun at the water park? I was so sick I made everyone leave early. We drove straight home from the park, and it was NOT a good trip for me. Once we got home, I climbed straight into bed. And puked all over me and the bed and everywhere. And my husband cleaned up everything by himself from both my sick and the trip, and he didn't bat an eye. Yes, he loves me. The next day I had my check up, and they gave me GLORIOUS IV fluids. And scheduled me for more the next day! I felt SO much better after the fluids.
6 weeks later, in the middle of August, I went in for surgery to remove more tissue from where the pathology reports indicated I had some DCIS remaining. Technically, it was "Excision of a deep malignant breast tumor..." which makes it sound way scarier. The procedure wasn't very long or difficult, meaning my recovery period was about two weeks, and I could no longer do push-ups. Again. But the best part was when I went in for my follow-up. "Have you heard?" the Nurse Practitioner asked me as she entered the room. "Your pathology report just came in, it was cancer-free!" She printed off the report for me. It reads "Neither residual invasive carcinoma nor ductal carcinoma in situ is observed." Those crazy poisonous chemo treatments totally did their job and killed my cancer! Then, we pulled more tissue out on top of that, so I feel pretty good about being in remission, and especially about being "done" with treatment! Are you wondering about the quotation marks? Well, I am still taking a daily chemotherapy pill called Tamoxifen.
It's a lovely drug that suppresses my body's ability to make estrogen/progesterone and gives most people unfortunate side-effects. I have yet to notice those. The Nurse Practitioner suspects my lack of side-effects is due to my physical activity. She told me "Exercise, for you, IS your medicine." So at least I can dump some of the guilt I put on myself for spending so much time working out instead of being home! 
#1. For me, personally, being pregnant was a more difficult experience than the chemo.
#2. Physical fitness makes dealing with health problems MUCH easier.
#3. Water parks can be fun for the whole family, unless you're recovering from chemo.
Ha ha. No really, I should have known better than traveling 6 hours from home for a family reunion right after my last chemo treatment. I spent the whole reunion in bed, sleeping, and then when it came time for the last day and fun at the water park? I was so sick I made everyone leave early. We drove straight home from the park, and it was NOT a good trip for me. Once we got home, I climbed straight into bed. And puked all over me and the bed and everywhere. And my husband cleaned up everything by himself from both my sick and the trip, and he didn't bat an eye. Yes, he loves me. The next day I had my check up, and they gave me GLORIOUS IV fluids. And scheduled me for more the next day! I felt SO much better after the fluids.6 weeks later, in the middle of August, I went in for surgery to remove more tissue from where the pathology reports indicated I had some DCIS remaining. Technically, it was "Excision of a deep malignant breast tumor..." which makes it sound way scarier. The procedure wasn't very long or difficult, meaning my recovery period was about two weeks, and I could no longer do push-ups. Again. But the best part was when I went in for my follow-up. "Have you heard?" the Nurse Practitioner asked me as she entered the room. "Your pathology report just came in, it was cancer-free!" She printed off the report for me. It reads "Neither residual invasive carcinoma nor ductal carcinoma in situ is observed." Those crazy poisonous chemo treatments totally did their job and killed my cancer! Then, we pulled more tissue out on top of that, so I feel pretty good about being in remission, and especially about being "done" with treatment! Are you wondering about the quotation marks? Well, I am still taking a daily chemotherapy pill called Tamoxifen.
It's a lovely drug that suppresses my body's ability to make estrogen/progesterone and gives most people unfortunate side-effects. I have yet to notice those. The Nurse Practitioner suspects my lack of side-effects is due to my physical activity. She told me "Exercise, for you, IS your medicine." So at least I can dump some of the guilt I put on myself for spending so much time working out instead of being home! 
