I've Moved Past the Blue Bandana

Please enjoy the picture that I have posted. Me, the girls, and my mom are modeling my new scarf collection. I've moved on to more stylish head coverings these days - to VERA BRADLEY silk scarves to be specific. James' girlfriend, Winnie, got me the 3 best scarves that I have ever had. I love them!!! After one of my students told me that I looked like a "chola", I knew that I needed to wear the bandana a lot less. Then I bought another great scarf last weekend at Ann Taylor and have another Vera Bradley scarf on the way that I ordered online. My greatest trouble I have had lately is getting shirts to match the scarves and hunting for new scarves to expand my small collection. But enough about fashion....

Well, I had my PET scan on the 28th of January and I had been awaiting the results. I finally got them yesterday when I met with my radiation oncologist, Dr. Shirazi. They test showed No Evidence of Disease (N.E.D.). I was sooooo happy. That means the chemo worked and the cancer is gone. So now comes the radiation. This is a precautionary treatment aimed at killing any remaining cells that were not detected by the scans that might still remain. I not only left the appointment yesterday with the great news but also with my first tatoo. YES, they tatooed me. Even though it is a small black dot the size of a freckle right in the middle of my upper chest, it still counts as a tatoo. Its purpose is to permanently mark the spot where the radiation will be directed in case I ever have to go through radiation again.

So, I have 17 days of radiation, starting Feb. 19. The radiation will take place M-F at 7:45 am. This is the only time slot they had that would not interrupt my teaching schedule. I am hopeful that it will go quickly so I can start to put all of this past me and focus on getting my hair to grow back. It is growing back but not as fast as I'd like. Hopefully I will have some length by Monica and Frank's wedding at the end of August.

My next appointment is on Valentine's Day (Thursday) with my regular oncologist. I am not sure what we'll discuss so I hope it will be a short visit. I am bringing my mini-shoebox of medications that were leftover from my chemo and hope that he can dispose of them safely. I am taking the entire day off and spending the rest of the afternoon at school with the girl's. They are excited.

Thanks to all those that continue to visit my blog in hopes that it will someday be updated. Well, today is the day. I have all intentions of posting more often but get caught up in my busy day-to-day life. I am sure that most of you understand. Right now I am doing great. I feel normal (don't look normal) but being as though I don't look in the mirror very often during the day I tend to forget that :-). I really feel as well as I did pre-chemo and pre-cancer. The radiation is probably going to zap a lot of my energy, give me a horrible sore throat (as my esophagus is in the field of radiation), permanently scar portions of my heart and lungs, but most importantly - hopefully make me 100% cancer free.