Cancer Support and Caregivers Who Are Trail Blazers!

[LeftWriteFemme]

I'm leaving in a few minutes to go pick up my sponsee, today is her surgery. I didn't think I was nervous, but I couldn't get to sleep last night and 4:30 am came much earlier than you might expect, it was earlier than I expected for sure. Everything will be fine, but I do appreciate all the support here, your prayers and well wishes mean so much. Oh, on the very happy news side of the world, my sponsee's brother breathed on his own for 8 hours yesterday and is surprising all of us with his consistent improvement. Thank you again, Sherrie

[DapperButch]

Originally Posted by LeftWriteFemme

I'm leaving in a few minutes to go pick up my sponsee, today is her surgery. I didn't think I was nervous, but I couldn't get to sleep last night and 4:30 am came much earlier than you might expect, it was earlier than I expected for sure. Everything will be fine, but I do appreciate all the support here, your prayers and well wishes mean so much. Oh, on the very happy news side of the world, my sponsee's brother breathed on his own for 8 hours yesterday and is surprising all of us with his consistent improvement. Thank you again, Sherrie

LWF, I think it is fantastic the way you are staying by your sponsee's side. I know your role in her life is to be available to her for emotional support, but to me (in my limited knowledge of the Sponsor/sponsee relationship based on people I know), this goes beyond the call of duty! People are lucky if their family will be as supportive/involved as you are.

l bet she is grateful to you. I can tell you as one who has had cancer, this is our most vulnerable time and a time we are really clued in as to how much we need others. With this need comes feelings of gratefulness (or it should!)

I am so glad she has you!

[Tommi]

Sharing about Difficult Days and Nights. For today.
One of the joys of survival is when someone special is there, and can just listen. Knowing you are there, and have always been there will be good medicine and a great example of the tools .

Keep us posted.

[LeftWriteFemme]

I am blown away by this whole process. Yesterday, whirled by at a breakneck pace and today is just a blur. My sponsee's 5 and a half hour surgery was a success and she was taped up and sent home at 9:30 pm. The anesthetic was Propofol, which has a very short half life and her incisions were seeded with lidocaine and she was wrapped up tight. She has so little discomfort all she has taken is Tylenol. She has two drains. The oncology surgeon showed me the films and told me the margins look really good. They took two sentinel nodes, but didn't check them in the surgical suite as she had first told me they would. Instead they will take a look and present their findings at the tumor board, which I think meets on Wednesday. So at this point she is delighted to be home and delighted to have had her breast reduction. Having the cancer taken out has been reduced to a footnote. My guess is it will be back in the headlines when the radiation treatments begin in a few weeks. Thank you for your love and support I couldn't have managed this without it. Please keep those thoughts and prayers coming they are doing us a world of good!

[LeftWriteFemme]

It's hard to believe, but my sponsee returned to work today! Both the oncology surgeon and the plastic surgeon think she is doing great. The medical oncologist has sent her tests out to preform some equation that will take three weeks to get the results and from that they will determine if she will need chemo, but no one thinks she will. She will however have radiation and she hasn't visited with the radiologist yet, but she will soon. We are all confident that the radiation will be simpler due to the fact that 9 pounds of breast tissue was removed from each breast so that is 18 pounds less tissue to radiate. Plus, it gives a new meaning to clean margins......all the doctors are impressed with how well her skin is healing, we mainly contribute that to the recommendation of Dr. Henning to eat lots and lots of cucumbers, it seems to have made an impressive improvement in healing which we are all grateful for.
Again, thank you for all your support and encouragement. This has been a team effort and I think that is a major part of why it has all gone so well. Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers we are still working our way though this process and need all the strength we get from all of you!

[Tommi]

Awesome. So glad for the Great news.

Having a Team, helps with the scary times, questions, and aloneness that comes with that diagnosis, which, used to always be so deadly.

Good friends, good care, good doctors, good medicine, and a Higher Power pulling for you keeps the bad juju away.

Tell her she gets to wear a special T-shirt if she does the American Cancer Society RELAY FOR LIFE.

http://www.relayforlife.org/

[LeftWriteFemme]

Originally Posted by Tommi

Awesome. So glad for the Great news.

Having a Team, helps with the scary times, questions, and aloneness that comes with that diagnosis, which, used to always be so deadly.

Good friends, good care, good doctors, good medicine, and a Higher Power pulling for you keeps the bad juju away.

Tell her she gets to wear a special T-shirt if she does the American Cancer Society RELAY FOR LIFE.

http://www.relayforlife.org/

I will let her know about this! She and her sponsee are signed up for a 37 mile walk in NYC: http://www.avonwalk.org/new-york/ I think they are going to get hooked on doing these walks!

Thank you for the encouragement and guidance it has made all the difference as she has had to face the sea of unknown medical choices! You expertise is a godsend! Thank you again.