Whoa! It's been over a month since my last post. Sorry about that!
You are probably wondering how my bronchoscopy and lavage went. It was outpatient surgery. I came out of surgery with just a sore throat for a few days. I have a lesion deep in my top lobe, possibly into the middle lobe. In case you aren't familiar with the anatomy of a lung, the right lung has three lobes, or chambers. The left lung is smaller and only has two. My left lung has taken on 75% of breathing. Normally the left would do 45% of the work. The right would do 55%. I also have some irritation in the lower lobe. I still have pain in my lung. That's probably because cancer jacked it up.
I'm still a little torn about them not removing my lung. I mean, if the lung is gone the cancer should be too. On the other hand, have I mentioned I hate chest tubes and tape? I really do! I am glad to have a team of doctors that have my best interest in mind.
Dr Luketich and
Dr Levy are my surgeons. Here is
Dr Mo, my oncologist. The picture doesn't do him justice. He really has an amazing smile. If you press the links you can see how legit they are. They are just three of the awesome people I am proud to have on my medical team. My nurses are all amazing too. They have always taken great care of me. I'm blessed that they have all been brought into my life. I am blessed!
My Nashville workplace walked in my honor at the Lungevity Breathe Deep Walk on November 5th. Over 20 people walked in my honor. I can't even begin to tell you how loved I felt to see the pictures of the event. I haven't seen them in over six months and they still took time out of their lives. Time to help raise money for research of the disease I will be fighting the rest of my life. I appreciate them so much. They also did a jean week in my honor. Awesome! Big thanks to my coworkers! I'm getting teary just thinking about it.
My birthday came and went. I had a nice day with my family! We went to the Texas Roadhouse for dinner! YEE-haw! If you noticed above, I'm now a 35 year old that has lung cancer. It's hard to believe I'm that old!! I still have lots of balloons flying around here!! Heck, yeah! Here are some pictures my lovely sister took from the evening!
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| Oh No! The old empty card trick! |
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| No worries! I got a gift card |
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| Yee Haw! |
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| My nephew Lukas, bro-in-law, Drew, Taylor, Morgan and me |
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| My Mom, my sister, Kim and I |
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| Lukas, Taylor, Morgan and me! |
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| Kim and I |
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| Lukas, Charlie, Taylor, Morgan and I |
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| This is the necklace Taylor made! |
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| Let's go Mohigans! from the ReVeals! |
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| Taylor made this card! |
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| Lukas, Dad, Taylor, Morgan and I |
My parents, my brother and I spent Thanksgiving with what I refer to as the Greek side of the family. I am really referring to the neighbors that live behind my parents house. I wonder if this will become our new tradition! Their youngest son, Chris, and I grew up together. We are a little more than two months apart in age. I used to understand Greek as a child thanks to Yia Yia Effie and Yia Yia Maria. I have so many childhood memories that include them. No wonder I've always considered them family.
Tuesday I went in for a CT Scan. I'm not sure when I will hear the results from that. This week, I begin maintenance chemotherapy. I will be receiving that every three weeks from now on. My surgeons want to see me every 3-6 months.
Having to be dependent on others is so frustrating at this point. Heck, I haven't driven since APRIL! I'm working on this now. Hoping to take the wheel this week. I'm pretty sure it's like riding a bike.
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| Everyday its harder and harder to be away from these lil gals. |
It's amazing how much time has passed. I'm still on oxygen and waiting to see where this adventure will take me next. I'm hoping to make a trip to Nashville soon.
Meanwhile, I saw "The Muppets" yesterday. Loved it! I'll probably be seeing it more than once. I was pretty apprehensive about it at first. However, they stayed true to Jim Henson's vision for those lovely Muppets. Did I mention I loved it?
I've started Christmas shopping, have you?
