How I spent my winter vacation

Cancer is so last year.

I really wish I could take credit for this packed-full-of-sass quote. Unfortunately I'm not nearly that clever. Though it does seem to be making its way around the internets, so why not help it on its merry way?

Here on this 3rd day of January, I had very good intentions of blogging a brilliantly reflective post highlighting all of the wacky cancer ass-kicking antics we on Team Cancer Sux have endured in 2012. And perhaps I still will... eventually. But not tonight. Instead...

How I Spent My Winter Vacation

by Katherine Warrick

Being a tireless employee of Uncle Sam (and all of his misguided children) is not without its perks. One of which was eleven uninterrupted days of vacation over the Christmas and New Year's holidays. As if those holidays weren't enough, throw my birthday and our wedding anniversary into the mix... now you've got a par-tay. 

But it wasn't all shiny wrapping paper and popping champagne bottles. How can you have that much time off without squeezing in a few doctors' appointments. Answer: you can't. So I got to spend Friday afternoon with my favorite peeps at the infusion center for my 11th round of Herceptin (only 6 more to go!) The Friday afternoon crew isn't quite the same as the Thursday-day crew, but they're starting to grow on me.

Earlier that day was my last appointment with the PT. That's right, a discharge from physical therapy is a pretty exciting way to end 2012. Range of motion is pretty darn close to normal - 165 degrees out of 180 - so I'll take that for the win! And now I'm rolling into 2013 armed (get it?) with a compression sleeve and lots of should strengthened exercises.

Apparently I'm working backwards here, so that brings us to my Thursday afternoon appointment with the plastic surgeon (Dr. M). Dr. M also had good news to help ring in the New Year. As enough time has passed since the final saline fill of my tissue expanders (he likes them to rest for 3 - 4 weeks) and we're not under-the-gun with starting radiation... he's cleared me for the next phase of reconstruction!

Oh! And I went for a very overdue eye exam to update my contacts. Did you know that cancer can improve your vision prescription? Strange, but true. 

And that's how I spent my winter vacation. 

The End.

So what does 2013 look like? It's starting with three whole weeks uninterrupted by doctors' appointments. I know, I'm beside myself at the thought of all that time I won't be spending sitting in a doctors' office. The next thing I'm in for is my 12th round of Herceptin and another echocardiogram (think I'll make those a double feature). And both Dr. F (medical oncologist) and Dr. B (surgical oncologist) will want to see me sometime next month. Because they miss me. Possibly. Or it could just be for a check-up. But I'm gonna go with they miss me.

What's on the to-do list in the mean time? 1) Make a decision for or against radiation, and stick with it. After a lot of reading, many long talks with radiation oncologists, and many even longer talks with Rob, right now I'm strongly leaning against it. But I'll save my really compelling Pros and Cons list for another post. 2) Schedule exchange surgery. It will be outpatient and, supposedly, a cake-walk compared to the mastectomy. Sounds like the perfect Spring Break activity, right? And speaking of spring break, 3) get back to grad school this spring after two long semesters off.

Have a great Thursday evening and - at the rate I've been posting lately - an awesome weekend!