Update 12/06 doctor visits

Hi everyone!
On Monday I woke up and I just had the scripture from Philippians 4:19 on my mind. It kept coming over and over again "and my god will supply all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus." ALL of my needs: physical, emotional, mental, spiritual, friendship, opportunities to serve etc. I just had such peace and freedom as I really took in the ALL truth of this verse. After all, God is the lord of heaven and earth and he is the lord of ALL of me and has a plan, so if something is ending then another thing will begin at some point in time and it's just a matter of trusting that and being patient and persevering. It was so great just to realize this and embrace it. I'm okay with this being an ambiguous time, a time of healing and that each day will not be the same. I'm not going to be tough on myself for not exercising every day, but to be patient, to listen, to persevere. I'm so grateful for Christ speaking to me the way He did through this scripture. It just gave me such peace and freedom and joy and it continues to becuase HE can see all of the pieces. I can't. Besides, he knows what's best for me, and I just get to watch it unfold as I am patient and perservere in the rehab process. Than you so much for pryaing for me in this regard. Wow.

Radiation Doctor #3....
I saw Dr. Masek today, who is a wonderful radiation oncologist who is out here off Washington and he was really wonderful. He alos said that radiation would not be advisable for my situation so that seals the deal - NO radiation!! Wahoo!!! In fact, he also said that if I were to do it then there would likely be lymphedema brought about in a significant way and it would only be 10-15% impreovement in the realtive risk of recurrence (relative risk means of the risk that exists, there would only be a 10-15% reduction in that risk, so the overall risk, would be only marginally impacted). So that's that. I see Dr. Luke Dreisback this Friday for another infusion of Herceptin and to talk about where we go from here: Tamoxifen and also how best to do follow up on me. How often, via what means (mammo MRI Pet, etc). So we'll see what he suggests. Each doctor I've spoken with up until this point has suggested something different. Dr. Masek handed me a copy of an article just published in the journal of oncology about follow up specifically for breast cancer patients so I'm looking forward to reading it. Good timing so that I can discuss it with Dr. Luke on Friday.
I also went to see Linda, who is the occupational therapist at Eisenhower that works with me on lymphedema management. Today she taught me how to do the special massage for that condition since I do have some swelling in the right arm. So it will be good to work on that. It basically makes it painful to straighten my arm completely in some positions and to bend back my wrist. The bummer is that there is no guarantee that the fluid will dissipate. I just have to try to drain it manually and hope for the best. Oh well still when you weigh that versus having cancer well, duh how amazing is it that I'm cancer free ?!!

The latest on plastic surgery...
Tuesday I made my weekly trek to USC for the visit with Dr. Sherman. At this point, I'm at 420 ml on each side and that's as far as I'm going to go. I'll have one more fill just to stretch the skin enough for the subsequent surgery in January but as far as size goes, that's it. In the afternoon I went to see my physical therapists, Jennifer who is so fantastic. i really like working with her. Not only do I manage to gain range of motion and flexibility after working with her but she provides me exercises for strengthening the weak rotator muscles as well as the other muscles body-wise that are difficult at the moment. It was so great to see her. Even though I don't have to see Dr. Sherman next week, it might be worth it just to drive out to pasadena just for physical therapy and then stay over at the remys to visit with them. I had a great time visiting with them and catching up. We had a nice dinner and watched the Clippers game . It was really fun though I didn't make it passed the third qurter before I had to go to bed. On the silicone versus saline issue, if anyone has input on this, I'm open to it. I've heard concerns about silicone leakage in the long run, though they tend to have a better shape, but silicone causes allergic reactions should it leak into the body, so that makes sme concerned, while saline does not though the consistency is obviously different. Anyway, I'm open to input from anyone.

Acupuncture...
Tomorrow I'm going to an acupuncturist who is working on the swelling in my right side as well as the difficulty I have sleeping, chemo aftermath systemically, muscle tweakage etc. I saw her on Monday and she confirmed several things that other health professionals I had already seen had recommended. That was really cool to have another voice confirm those things, such as taking digestive enzymes since my digestion is weak, eating veggies cooked rather than raw (easier to digest) and taking a green food supplement and even some precautions about lymphedema. Her name is Julli and she is really knowledgeable. I am so grateful to have the help of each speicalist since each person seems to be focusing on something different and I feel like it's helping. One breath at a time, one moment at a time, one foot in front of the other....

Love to you all!
Julie