aLive @ Stage 4!

As I sit with my coffee this Christmas Eve morning, I can't help but to reflect on last year's Christmas Eve.  Christmas Eve is the day my husband's family gathers; Christmas Day is the day we spend at home with our immediate family.  We rotate houses every year for Christmas Eve festivities.  Last year was not our turn, but I felt the urge to have it here anyway.  I certainly did not feel up to hosting a party, but I felt the urge to have it here anyway.  Last year I had been living with metastatic breast cancer for three and a half years.  The average survival rate is three years.  I was diagnosed in March of 2015, and there's no way of knowing how long I'd had it before diagnosis.  I had graduated from walking unassisted to using a cane to using a walker everywhere I went, except for times when there was a lot of walking and I used a wheelchair.  I was exhausted all of the time.  I came straight home from work and went right to bed every day.  I knew my condition

I'm going to do this month's recap differently than last month's.  I think it was just too tedious to read it all in that format.  I'm not going to update every day; things will be a little more general this month. I had sessions at the gym with Julie on the 2nd and the 4th.  The one on the fourth marks us moving from twice per week sessions to once per week sessions.  Not because I'm doing so fabulously 😉 but because the money is running out.  I've been receiving help with paying for these sessions, and there's a limit.  (On a side note, if you'd like to help out with this, as it is improving my quality of life immeasurably, you can help via paypal at paypal.me/tammycancerhelp.  If you'd like to pay the gym directly, contact Julie at World Gym La Plata).  Once per week costs half what twice per week does, so (ideally) I will be able to work with Julie for a longer period of time.  That's in theory.  In reality, I had a session with Julie on M

8:45am -- I'm not actually in the infusion chair yet.  Before I get there, I have an appointment for an echocardiogram, which is a routine every-three-month thing for me.  After the echo, I'll head downstairs for an appointment with my oncologist.  I see her every six weeks. I left the house with time to spare this morning, and I'm so glad I did.  It was a bad traffic day -- the Freeway was backed up all the way down 295 and halfway down 210.  It wasn't stressful, though, because I knew I'd get there at least on time if not early like I'd hoped.  The ride was very tiring, though.  I worry about that.  I tire so easily, which makes a two hour drive a little dicey. 11:20am -- I've had my echo, then my appointment my oncologist.  By the time I left my oncologist's office, the echo results still hadn't come through.  She okayed treatment today and will keep an eye out for the results.  So now I sit in the infusion center waiting room waiting to be ca

This is the first of my monthly updates.  I had previously done weekly updates, but as I've made lifestyle changes (hopefully permanent), the updates were becoming almost the same every week.  I've fallen into a routine -- I'm working out with Julie twice a week, I'm walking with friends after work twice a week, I'm walking a day or two on my own, and I'm taking yoga classes as I can. September 30 (Monday)  --  I went to the gym after work today.  30 minutes on the recumbent bike followed by 30 minutes on the treadmill. October 1 (Tuesday)  -- I walked for an hour after work today. October 2 (Wednesday)  -- I spent the morning in the emergency room with my husband, who was having severe back pain.  No exercising, unless you want to count walking through CVS twice to drop off/pick up his prescription, and grocery shopping for dinner ingredients. October 3 (Thursday)  --  I'm not gonna lie, this was the first time the "I don't want to go

Monday  --  Still recovering from being out most of the day on Saturday, and having dinner plans with my boys and my sisters-in-law tonight, no exercising happened today. Tuesday  -- I stayed after work today to walk before my scheduled yoga class.  I walked for about 45 minutes.  The yoga instructor, however, forgot about class. Wednesday  -- I walked for 30 minutes after school, then went to the gym for a session with Julie.  She added some things to make the exercises more challenging.  It was tough, but wonderful. Thursday  -- Today was treatment day in addition to a mammogram appointment, so I didn't do any exercising. *Mammogram came out fine. Friday  -- I walked after work for about an hour today. Saturday  -- It's 11:41am, and I'm just back home from the gym.  I had a session with Julie, which was wonderful.  Then I walked on the treadmill for about an hour, and got on the recumbent bike for about ten minutes.  I haven't been on the tre

Monday  -- Feeling a little discombobulated today, and knowing that I have something scheduled for the next four days (and four days at a time is my limit), I decided to take it easy today.  Tomorrow's another day. Tuesday  -- I stayed after work and walked for about thirty minutes, and then took a yoga class that was being held at work.  First time taking a yoga class.  Sooooo relaxing! Wednesday  -- I had intended to walk with my friends after work today, but had unexpected Professional Development to attend, so I was at an alternate work site.  Very tired after the long day yesterday, so it was dinner and bedtime. Thursday  --  Another new workout with Julie.  I continue to be amazed at what she's having me do, and the fact that I can do it! Friday  -- I worked out with Julie again.  I got to use the fun machine again.  It was a little harder this time, but still felt great. Saturday  -- I attended a wedding in the evening, so I rested

Monday  -- Staff meeting after school + still recovering/exhausted/not feeling well from Saturday's treatment = rest day.  My step count for the day was 3589, which is average for a workday. Tuesday  -- I didn't count my steps at work today because I wore a dress (no pockets).  After work, I had a session at the gym with Julie.  Walked out feeling great! Wednesday  -- I got sick at work today and had to leave early, so no exercising.  😌 Thursday  -- Stayed home sick again. Friday  -- Home sick again.  Last Saturday was the loading dose of a medicine I hadn't been on since April.  It's kicking my butt!  Felt well enough in the afternoon to sit up in bed for the rest of the day. Saturday  --  Felt so much better this morning.  I had a session at the gym with Julie, a new workout.  It was fun!  The exercises were hard, but satisfying.  Check out this video!  I've watched people on this machine and no way did I ever thought I'd be able to cl

By "One of Us" I mean people with metastatic breast cancer.  Yes, people, not just women.  Men get it, too. When we hear about a friend/acquaintance/facebook friend death, we're understandably upset.  We grieve.  We're sad for them, their families, and their friends.  We feel the loss.  When that person has the same terminal disease as we do, we're more than devastated.  We're scared.  We might not want to admit it; we certainly don't want to take anything away from our friend, but the truth is -- we're scared out of our minds.  That could be us.  That will be us one day. She was as active as she ever has been on facebook even up to the day before her death. She was vibrant. She was active. She looked fine.  She didn't look sick at all. We didn't know her condition had deteriorated. So, when you say you're sorry for my loss, I have a myriad of emotions about that.  I need you to understand that one day it will be your loss, t

This week's entries look a little sparse.  That's because I'm working out after working a full day, and not necessarily updating immediately after as I have all summer.  Since my diagnosis, I either worked a full day or exercised.  This week I am doing both.  Most days I'm just too tired to sit at the computer and update what I did that day, so some of this is coming from memory.  Thank goodness for Julie's pictures!  Monday  -- Strength training session with Julie at the gym in the morning.  Used muscles I've never used before! Tuesday  --  Helping with the buses on this first day of school for students, I got in 2747 steps.  I stayed after work and walked for an hour.  I ended up with 11,212 steps for the day.  Got home exhausted! Wednesday  --  Walked after work again, for about 50 minutes.  As of 5:45pm, 7234 steps, and climbing into bed. Thursday  -- Strength training session with Julie.  Feeling great! Friday  --  Walked after work a

Monday  -- First day back to work after summer break, so no formal gym time.  I walked quite a bit during the day, and even walked down the stairs four times.  I didn't walk up the stairs; I didn't want to overdo it on my first day. I cleaned the kitchen when I got home from work.  My husband and I went for a walk around the neighborhood in the evening; it felt so good to walk outside, and with him.   We're going to make a habit of this.  When we got home, I made dinner while he did yard work.  Then -- get this -- I cleaned  up the dinner dishes, including (gasp) loading the dishwasher.  All in all, I got in 10,399 steps today, 2582 of which were walking around the neighborhood.  Last year, I averaged between three and four thousand steps per workday.  Today I got way more than that, plus the walk around the neighborhood.  Feeling good! Tuesday  -- Today at work I walked down the stairs three or four times.  No going up the stairs just yet.  Very tired when I got home s

Monday  -- I had an appointment at the hospital this afternoon for port evaluation and possible replacement.  I thought it would be perfect for me to go to the gym and tire myself out so I would be too tired to be anxious about the IV insertion (it's always difficult).  But ... I was not to eat or drink anything, including water, after 8:30am.  Workouts can't happen without water, so no gym for me today.  As it turns out, the IV placement wasn't so bad, and the port did get replaced. Tuesday  --  Today was spent in bed ... all ... day. Wednesday  --  I managed to get down to the gym for my 9:00am appointment with Julie.  We repeated Saturday's new workout, taking it easy when necessary.  Feeling pretty good, I got on the treadmill afterwards.  I managed 15 minutes upping the speed from 2.2 to 2.3 then to 2.4, pumping my arms.  Pumping my arms was a mistake.  The incision area from the procedure the other day started to bother me, so time to get home and take som

Monday  --  Travel day.  In the car all day coming home from vacation. Tuesday  --  Having gotten home from a road trip last night, today was filled with sleeping in, unpacking, laundry, and resting.  Back to reality tomorrow. Wednesday  -- Made it to the gym this afternoon.  I got in 40 minutes on the recumbent bike, at a steady pace (no hill program today), followed by 60 minutes on the treadmill, at a steady 2.2mph, no incline.  Slept the rest of the day. Thursday  --  Today was treatment day, with a few other appointments thrown in.  I set my MapMyWalk app when I left the hospital garage, with the automatic pause setting on.  I turned it back off when I got back to the garage to get my van to go home.  I left my house at 6:45am, returned home at 6pm, and in all that time, only had about 32 minutes of total walking time.  Here's the screenshot.   All of the walking was within the hospital. ...and this is the portion of the program when I start rebelling.  Not in

I left my house at 6:45am.   Traffic was as expected, and I arrived with a little time to spare. My first of four appointments today was with my Cancer Rehab Specialist.  It was a follow-up from a few months ago when I saw her about my sore shoulder.  It wasn't lymphedema as we had expected, but just my rotator cuff.  She gave me an anti-inflammatory, and that did the trick.  I'll go back to see her in another six months, just to check in, and in case my neuropathy kicks back in, as I'll be starting up Perjeta again (see my notes below from my oncology appointment). My next stop was to the Lombardi Cancer Clinic, where I had my usual six week appointment with my oncologist.  Everything looks great, save the blood clot in the tubing of my port.  I have an appointment on Monday afternoon with my Interventional Radiologist, who will decide if it needs to be replaced.  To err on the side of caution, we decided to do an IV for treatment today instead of the