Day #2 on chemo is fantastic so far, plus more medical news

Hi everyone,
I was so excited to wake up this morning and feel as if I hadn't even been to chemo yesterday. Joy went with me and we were there most of the afternoon and, frankly, I was pretty nervous. After the last round of chemo that was yukky, combined with the fact that I was to be taking new drugs and be using the port for the first time, I was physically and mentally bracing myself for what worst this way would come. But...au contraire: Wow! This morning I went for a walk and ran breifly (like 5 min), then came back home and had breakfast and read my daily dose of My Utmost for His Highest. Then, Lou came over to see how I was doing. I'm just going to check in with her tomorrow to see if I'll need her help but if things keep going as they are now, then I won't. Some people say that the taxtere drug hits you a couple of days later so we'll see...I was just so glad to have the day-it was a great gift from God and I was thinking how wonderful to look at like time that I hadn't planned on receiving and there it was! So, after praying a little, I headed out to run a few errands, which felt great to do for myself.
On a side note, today I was kind of cracking up to myself as I walked around the mall, because I guess I hadn't noticed until now that people looked at me like "what's up with the scarf on that chick" and it just makes me smile and walk taller for some reason. It's fun to be not just surviving but thriving and for others to see it.

Okay so here's the additional medical scoop:
1) I have to go see Dr. Schulz on Thursday to take the stitches out that he put in place when he put the port in.
2) I made an appointment wth Dr. Mel Silverstein at USC. He is like the Godfather of breast cancer surgery and has been in practice for some time. I'm quite excited about getting his input on the situation.
3) I shall be meeting with the district this week to talk about the financial options and return options for this year. It's all kind of iffy at this point. Ideally, I'd like to just take the first semester off and come back the second. However, it may depend on how involved the surgery will be. So, at present it's difficult to make a definitive decision. I could always go with the idea that I'm taking the first semester off and if we need to get someone permanent for the rest of the year then we could hire a credentialed teacher to take my place. We'll see what information Maureen has for me on this on Thursday. Jean (my Principal) is going to go with me so we can get all of our questions answered together.
4) I have an appointment on Friday with Dr. Monica Khanna who is a radiation oncologist. Basically she's the specialist in radiation and can talk to me about to what extent I may or may not need radiation depending on my current status or surgical options I may choose. The big unknown at present is whether or not I will have more than 4 positive lymph nodes (actually it may be greater than or equal to four) becuase if I do, then even if I have a double mastectomy Ill still have to have radiation, which would completely rule out immediate reconstruction as an option after the mastectomies are performed in the same surgery. Thus, I'm looking forward to her input as well as Dr. Silverstein's. That same day I'm going to have the special U2 ultrasound of both breasts to check them out. In particular I want them to look at the two "suspicious" areas of microcalcifications. Of course, ultimately they'll have to be biopsied regardless unless Dr. Lanskowsky from the breast center at Eisenhower (who is really great ) says that they're really nothing to worry about. I think I'd still want a biopsy nonetheless.

That's the scoop for today...more news as it becomes available
Blessings,
Julie