Anna's Book of Days

Ten days out, today is the first day that I really feel myself again - strong and energetic - since my surgery. I didn't expect it to take anywhere close to this long to bounce back as everyone had told me what a minor procedure the exchange was. And it was, compared to the mastectomy - I haven't had any real pain in over a week and my incisions are completely healed. But it really took a big toll on my energy. It may have been the anesthetics or simply the trauma to my body (Dr. Trott says it's like getting in a car accident) - but one way or another, I've been tired . I went back to work on Tuesday but I felt so exhausted and miserable that I decided to take the rest of the week off, and I'm so glad that I did - I feel like I'm going to be in a much better place this Monday after getting fully rested this week. Seth and I just took a long walk, which was restorative, and I can't wait to spend the weekend playing with Ike.

I got out of surgery around 3:00 this afternoon and was home by 5:15. The surgery took longer than expected  because Dr. Trott had to do more pocket work than she anticipated - but she called the results "spectacular", so presumably it's worth it. I plan to live with these implants for a very long time, so I definitely wanted her to take all the time she needed. I woke up woozy but otherwise unaffected by the long anesthesia - the nurses were very impressed. Seth brought me home and settled me comfortably in bed with the cat and two Percocets, and now I'm just waiting for them to kick in and put me to sleep. The pain is very tolerable - the greatest discomfort was actually in my arms (from being in crucifix position for seven hours), but that's wearing off. I can feel my internal sutures, but they're not bad - and I can't feel my incisions at all, which I guess is the silver lining of the loss of sensation in my breasts from the mastectomy. My chest is com...

I'm getting my Perjeta as I write - 11 treatments down, 7 to go! Treatment has become so routine for me - it's funny to think back on my first treatment, when I packed my chemo bag as carefully as if I was going into battle. Now I hardly give it a second thought - we're in, we're out, and life goes on. I got my favorite chair today, and it's crystal clear out, so the view is perfect (that's the ocean in the distance): When I saw Dr. Hurvitz this morning, I asked her about a study that was published recently out of Sweden that found  that increased coffee consumption is associated with significantly smaller invasive breast tumor sizes, a lower proportion of ER +  tumors, and improved disease-free survival among tamoxifen-treated women with ER +  breast cancer. Specifically, the study showed that caffeine (as well as caffeic acid) mimics the actions of antiestrogens and modifies major growth regulatory pathways, resulting in impaired cell-cycle ...

I've been so busy with work and Ike, this is the first chance I've had to post in weeks. It's nice to be so fully occupied with living my life that my health and my treatments and my disease don't even cross my mind. My infusions are starting to seem more and more like just a blip on my radar screen, and I pop my tamoxifen each night without really noticing it. My skin is still irritated from the Herceptin and Perjeta, but I seem to have found a way to at least manage it (by cleansing with coconut oil only and then moisturizing the hell out of it). Dr. Hurvitz gave me a referral to a dermatologist, but I haven't called her - to be honest I just don't want to see another doctor. Ever. For the rest of my life. But for now, that's not realistic. I saw Dr. Trott today for my pre-op appointment in advance of my exchange surgery, which is scheduled for May 19. I'm excited to get my new boobs, and I'm even more excited to get done with reconstructi...