How Can I Help???

Lots of you are asking how you can help Nikki and her family during this time.  I have set up the Care Calendar and a lot of you signed up during the first surgery to help with the things that we knew she needed help with.  I will be working on updating that to cover the weeks of Chemo.  She will start chemo on June 17th.  Please just remember that she might not be up for visitors that first week as we don't know how she is going to feel.   I am also including some flyers here, that were given to her at the doctor, that give ideas on things that we can all do to "HELP" Nikki.

 

 

 

Thinking of the Future and Not the NOW!

It's been a few tough weeks for me with alot of ups and downs! the test I referred to in an earlier post oncotype   I learned on May the 13th that I would need to start Chemotherapy to lower my risk significantly of this cancer coming back.  Needless to say not the best thing I have heard in a while - I knew that this was a possibly but a girl can only hope  RIGHT?    I will start chemo on the June 17th - I will do 4 treatments of TC chemotherapy (Adriamycin and Cytoxan) every other week then I will have 12 weeks of Taxol this will be weekly.  So yes 20 weeks of chemo is what I will be facing!  So with all this being said and being down - my boss said a phrase to me last week while I was struggling - Nikki you have to think of the future not the now - this is where my title of this post came from, it is so very true - the future is what I will focus on.    I will do my very best to stay positive and fight this to the very end.  The appointments and the doctor visits are very frequent and sometimes its alot to keep up with but I am doing pretty well, not missed anything yet :) .    

I again want to thank you ALL for the well wishes, the cards, the texts, emails, the fundraisers and all your thoughts and PRAYERS!    All of these and my family is what keeps this girl going, I may hit a few bumps in the road, but I will just keep jumping them a move on!  God is great and I know I am a fighter!  I got THIS!!!  I will update soon!!!

On the mend!

Hello everyone!!!  So it's been 3 weeks yesterday since I had my second surgery and lots has happened..so here we go - Dr. Damitz was my surgeon this time, who went in to, take more margins from the area of the cancer spot,  reconstruct and reduce (this needed to be done before treatments started - if you ask why now) however this did not happen according to plans.  Once Dr. Damitz had me in surgery she realized that the lump Dr. Demore had taken out was a pretty good size and the empty cavity had filled completely with fluid.  So her plan at that point changed.   She took more margins to make sure all cancer was gone - she just did the reconstruction.  This surgery was a lot more intense and I was very worried about recovery period, but I wasn't sick after surgery, I stayed to night at the hospital and my recovery time started.   So I am on the mend and doing great!

News and second surgery update!

Hey everyone!!  I have some news to share, that I have waited to share until today - I wasn't really sure and didn't exactly know what to post - definitely alot of emotions these past 10 days.....I had 3 doctor appts last week, one of which was meeting my new medical oncologist Dr. Dees and her resident (loved them both).  I was very impressed by her, she was just what I needed to be the so called "captain of my ship".  I wasn't supposed to meet her until May 13th, but because I am SO inquisitive and had sooooo many questions, she saw me on Tuesday!  She answered alot of my questions and at this point we are still waiting on this test to return to UNC, she says with my numbers and everything she has read clinically, she DOES suggest chemotherapy (pretty bummed about this). But I will do what I have to do to have no chance of these EVER coming back - EVER!!!   There are alot of things to do before this starts and she will make the recommendation of which kind and how many treatments and all the specifics once we see this oncotype test and its results.  This test is fairly new and tells the doctors how much of a chance there is for the cancer to return anywhere in my body.  Tentatively chemo will start sometime around May 27th or first week of June. 

But first at hand is surgery on Monday - May 5th - I have to be at the ACC at 6:30am (thank goodness for early times).  My doctor will take more tissue out around where the lump was - she wants to have more pathology to make sure ALL margins are negative, then she will reconstruct and correct from the first surgery.  Surgery should take about 3-4hrs and I will stay overnight to make sure everything is going like it should. 

I once again want to THANK EVERYONE FOR EVERYTHING!  It is simply amazing the way people in my life have pulled together.