It is with all the emotions; ALL. THE. EMOTIONS. That I announce, “I am done with the aggressive Breast Cancer Treatment!” Today marked yet another milestone. Today I completed 28 rounds of radiation. All of my radiation nurses have been amazing. They were so happy to be there for my final treatment and beyond willing to take a picture with me and walk me over to the bell. And I rang that fucker! I repurposed my ‘end of chemo’ shirt for today’s occasion. But first, let’s recap Thanksgiving.
Over the Thanksgiving holiday we took a much needed trip to Tomah to be with the Sherman side of the family. We had so much fun; playing cards, talking, ‘cheersing’ and even went to the Tomah holiday parade. It’s something we’ve been doing almost every year for probably the last 10 years. This year the boys, and by ‘boys’ I mean kids and dads, built an amazing fort! Check it out!
Probably the most memorable event of the weekend was what my mother-in-law said at the dinner table as she went down the well thought out list of everything we are thankful for. As she navigated her way to say we are all thankful for me beating cancer she pulled out a candle from behind her back, stuck it in my mashed potatoes and lit it. It was mashed-potatoey perfect. It was my first (early) celebration to beating breast cancer. When this all started and the doctors talk to you about ‘survival rate’ you really don’t know how to let that sink in. At 44 years old, how can someone talk to me about a survival rate of a disease that isn’t 100%? I don’t know. In my mind I just couldn’t ever wrap my brain around that possibility. There was just no way I would let this win. It didn’t. Katie 1, Cancer 0.
So, where have I been and where am I going…
THE PAST (April – December):
3 Surgeries (Double Mastectomy, Nipple Removal, Port “installed”)
16 rounds of aggressive chemo (4 of those being “The Red Devil”)
28 rounds of radiation
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UP NEXT:
Surgery to replace expanders with silicon boobies. Peace out uncomfortable expanders!
Surgery to remove port. Peace out port!
Ovarian Ablation – monthly hormonal shots to basically kill my ovaries and force me into menopause. Lovely
Tamoxifen – Daily pill (5-10 years) to block estrogen, which is what fed my breast cancer. Lovely.
In the wise words of my brother, Jeff, he texted this to me this morning:
“Time to give the deuces to radiation today! Throw those fingers in the air and let the middle one linger a bit!”
Sure, I’m saying I’m done, but there are still obstacles ahead of me, and my family. We’ll tackle those with the same grace. Throw some dirt on it and kick its ass! For now though, I’m celebrating this HUGE milestone!
Thank you to everyone that has reached out or thought about me throughout this shit show. I couldn’t walk this winding path by myself. In fact, my husband had to carry me through parts of it.
My goal with this blog started with the thought that I want to remember what I went through, what my family went through. Then it became a way to update friends and family instead of texting and calling everyone individually. Then it hit me. This was my platform to not only share my experiences, my raw emotions, but to remind everyone to get your mammogram! Had I not gotten mine, I’m not sure where I would be today. I was originally diagnosed in March as stage 0, non-invasive. After final pathology of my double mastectomy I was diagnosed stage 2, invasive. That is how important it is to get checked.
I plan on continuing this blog, it might not be as frequent, but know that this isn’t the last you’ll hear from Katie Sherman!
