Wednesday, July 6, 2011

It's been a long year but summer is finally here..

Wow…I see it's been 4 months since last updating Penny's blog.  A bit long I suppose, but the good news is she has been doing quite well.  It's hard to believe it has been a year since the diagnosis.

At the time of the last update, she had just finished chemo and was getting ready to start radiation treatments.  I thought radiation went really well especially compared to the side effects of chemo.  The last week or so of treatment was not fun for her because of the severe skin burning..but after a month or so the burns cleared up and it is barely noticeable today.

She is still on a drug called Herceptin and will continue to have infusions every 3 weeks until this fall.  In fact, she is at the infusion center as I write for a treatment. 

About two months ago, she started on a pill called Arimidex, which she will take for the next 5 years.  It is designed to block estrogen in her body which is essentially what the cancer she “had” fed on.  Even though we believe her to be cancer free, this is a precaution should there be any stray cells floating around somewhere.  Unfortunately, she is noticing some side effects with this drug...severe enough to cause her to re-think whether or not she wants to continue with this treatment.  I suppose that decision will be made in the coming weeks..maybe after a consultation with the oncologist.

Lastly, she has another surgery to undergo in the near future.  The purpose will be to replace the expanders, which were inserted at the same time as the mastectomies, with implants.  She hasn’t decided on a date however I’m sure it will be before year end.

We appreciate all the prayers.

--Ryan

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