Now to getting on with life.

(me and my dear nurses: Susan, Susan, Me & Christine)

Who knew you could have a good day the same day you had chemo, but guess what? It can be done. I showed up to my last chemo all decked out in my pink breast cancer shirt, socks and sweater. I came bearing soap gifts for the nurses and coffee gifts for my doc. Complete with two bottles of sparkling cider for me and Barb (my chemo buddy) since it was the last day of chemo for both of us. The chemo itself was routine (though I never wanted to find such an awful thing as "routine" the reality is, routine is a welcome thing because it means I had no problems) I have a huge praise that my counts have not dipped down once during my entire chemo run and I have since learned that is is quite unusual. Some of my friends have been delayed or incompacitated by low counts and I have not really experienced either. A big praise and thanks for prayers on that one. My recovery from this last chemo will likely be longer because I could not have the $6,000 Neulasta shot I normally get to force my white blood cell count to rebound, because it would interfere with my surgery to have my arm port removed. Since my port is actually coming through my arm, getting it out as soon as possible was important.

So here is the really cool things about my last chemo. My parents brought me lunch and sat with me until the end. There is no substitute for having your Mommy and Daddy around, even at 31 years old. My chemo buddy, Barb, gave me a beautiful hand crocheted pink scarf. My doc and nurses had tears in their eyes as they said, "goodbye" to me and this made me feel so warm and fuzzy. I got to ring the "done with chemo" bell they have in the treatment room. (see picture) It has a poem on it that reads, "To celebrate this day, As I go on my Way, I ring this bell, for I am well, My treatment is done, and I can say I have won."

My last chemo fell on the same day as my sister's birthday and even though all the focus should have been on her, she did something very cool for me. She had 24 pink balloons when I got back to her house. She gave some to each member of the family (small & big people) and everyone who could read a verse about hope and prosperity, read them aloud. She had them on index cards. Then we all released our pink balloons into the air as a sign of victory, new beginnings and a bright future. I thought I would cry, but I was so excited about how bright my future looks (combined with pure exhaustion from the chemo) that I didn't cry. I had coincidentally dressed in pink that day and noticed that Bethany, Lydia, Mom and Lara had intentionally dressed in pink for me. It was a moment I will never forget.

It has been 5 days since my last chemo and I am now getting around to updating you all on my last day of chemo. I have been busy making over 1,000 soaps, and this week I got to shrink wrap and price them all. We will be in NoVA for the whole week of Thanksgiving and I hope to see as many dear friends as possible.

My port removal was fine. Once I saw the actual port when they removed it, I was a little creeped out to see how big it really was. The port itself (the part that started coming through my skin) was pretty small, but it had an 18 inch long tube on the end that was threaded all the way through my vein into my heart. (I am glad I didn't know that while it was inside me, the idea is a little unsettling) I have been tired from my last chemo and the site where they removed the port is a little sore, but really not too bad.

People have asked me how I would rate chemo as a whole. I have to say that I faired much better than I was expecting and really did not experience any of the horror stories people had reported or warned me of. I did not throw up once, I was never hospitalized, my chemo was never delayed and my counts were always in normal range. I do not attribute this to luck or good genes (we have already learned my genes are not so good), I attribute it as a whole to YOUR prayers and the Lord's strength. I would wake up some days and feel the prayers shooting through my body, laying on me like a warm blanket, and it felt good. Thank you for that. Thank you for each of you that said a quick or long prayer, sent a note or email and just lifted me up and carried me through this time.

I will continue to update you as I heal, get hair back, and have my "new boobie" surgery on December 19th. Also, we will hopefully be in our new home in the next 3 weeks or so. (keep praying for that). On a side note, you may have noticed I changed the colors on my blog, this is not a light decision. I decided this blog is not about Breast Cancer anymore, but about moving on, breathing new life and being greatful for every regular day that cancer is not a part of.

Love to you all

Kat

No Mo' Chemo'

I'M DONE WITH CHEMO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I couldn't be more thrilled. Today was my last chemo. This morning I woke up with a little butterfly in my stomach, like I used to get on Christmas morning as a kid. I thought I would cry at some point today, but I didn't, I was so excited all day.

I have a lot to report about the last chemo, but I am totally exhausted now, so I will post my pictures and the details of all the cool stuff in the next couple of days.

Also, on a side note, please pray for a friend "G", (If you are reading this "G", I loved the letter) she is having a biopsy for a "suspicious area" found on her 1st mammogram, on November 29th. She is a family friend and a great personality and their family is in a big transition period. Please pray God's grace on her and their family during this time.

I will give more details later, off to watch "Dancing with the Stars", GO EMMITT! and then off to bed.

Love
Kat

No Mo' Chemo'

I'M DONE WITH CHEMO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I couldn't be more thrilled. Today was my last chemo. This morning I woke up with a little butterfly in my stomach, like I used to get on Christmas morning as a kid. I thought I would cry at some point today, but I didn't, I was so excited all day.

I have a lot to report about the last chemo, but I am totally exhausted now, so I will post my pictures and the details of all the cool stuff in the next couple of days.

Also, on a side note, please pray for a friend "G", (If you are reading this "G", I loved the letter) she is having a biopsy for a "suspicious area" found on her 1st mammogram, on November 29th. She is a family friend and a great personality and their family is in a big transition period. Please pray God's grace on her and their family during this time.

I will give more details later, off to watch "Dancing with the Stars", GO EMMITT! and then off to bed.

Love
Kat

Look at me!

I am sure this doesn't make me famous, but I am featured on the Lifetime TV website now. I submitted a profile a couple of weeks ago, and here I am....

http://www.lifetimetv.com/breastcancer/photos/gallery10/index.php?currPhoto=36#photo

check it out!

Kat

November has arrived.

Well here I am in November. This may seem like just another month for many of you, but it is a month I have anxiously awaited since June 9th (my diagnosis day). November represents the end of my chemo. November 14th should be my last chemo. November represents when our house should be done. (If not November, very soon after, still hoping). November is when I get to do my one and only soap craft show, which I am so excited about. November is when we get to take our first trip out of this area since I started chemo. November is when I get to go to Northern Virginia and see some of my dear friends.

I am feeling pretty good since Taxol #3. I have had the same aches and pains starting the second day after chemo, but they are mostly tolerable with the right combination of pain meds. I imagine it is very similar to how some of you arthritis sufferers must feel. It is worse when I go outside in the cold (it has been in the 30's and 40's most of this week). So I stay inside as much as I can.

I also started anti-depressants this week. Zoloft, is my drug of choice. It is the same drug I took for post-partum depression after the birth of Bethany, and since I had little side effects (and it is avaliable in generic) my oncologist and I decided to try again. He described how patients often get depressed more as they enter the final phase of treatment. They become scared of the ticking time bomb they feel like the cancer is in their bodies. Especially women like me that are "triple negative" (in other words I have hormone negative and HER neg cancer) which means that I am not eligible for any other treatments (hormone or herceptin, a newer drug) so when I walk out of my last chemo I will just have follow up appointments for the rest of my life. I don't feel bad about having to take the anti-depressants as much as annoyed that I can't just have a normal life again, free from worry. I know they will not cure these worries, but if they can take the edge off of my terror sometimes, I will take it.

As for great news in our lives...Jeff's dad had a follow-up PSA test as a "baseline" before he was to begin radiation treatment this week. He has had two hormone treatments. At the time of his surgery his PSA was 20 and had risen from 17 of just a few weeks before. When they did his test this week it was .17! Not 17, point 1-7! That is a huge praise and a great indication that his cancer is responding to hormone treatment and lots of prayers. They are now deciding if they will have to do radiation at all! For now they will put markers in to monitor any movement of his cancer. This is wonderful news, and if he continues on this trend, he could be on treatments that are quite managable for many years to come!!!

Jeff has been working furiously at his contract work. He has had a flood gate of new work come in. So much so, that he is now having to find sub-contractors to do some of the programming work. He is still programming almost every waking hour, but we are thrilled that God is providing for us and he is still able to be home with the family. We hope to eventually get to a point where he can have more of a routine and less hours behind the computer once we have gotten back on our feet financially and we can built a nest egg for inconsistency of contract work. We are none the less grateful for such a wonderful response from his clients for ongoing work.

Our house is plugging along. Drywall is done. Kitchen cabinets installed. We went to the house yesterday to paint squares in each room to direct the painters on our color choices. We are hoping to have the electrical and plumbing work started by the end of the week. We have chosen and ordered our flooring. The siding is 3/4 of the way done. We are hoping to be in the home by the first week in December, if all the contractors can stay on their schedules. I have taken on the house stuff as a daily job and have spent probably 15-20 hours in the last week dealing with this. We knew this would have to happen, so it is just something that needs to get done at this point. The builder is trying hard to work with us, but only we are the ones overseeing smaller issues that would get overlooked. For example this week I noticed the hinges on all our doors were brass instead of silver tone. I also noticed our garage doors into the house opened into the garage instead of into the house. Small items that a good foreman would have noticed, but now take time to change.

I pray that all of you are enjoying the fall. Please keep praying, I don't need them any less now that I am on the home stretch. I almost need them more.

Kat

Oct/Nov pics...

Liam cutie pie.

















Bethany cutie pie.
Here is a picture of Jeff, Liam and my brother, Matt at the pumpkin patch.
Here is our house about 2 weeks ago.













Here is a picture of me just this week. As much as I hate the bald head, I knew I would want to show pics to the kids one day, so here I am. You can see a little hair fuzz on my head.