2 Years

Well, today marks 2 years post-mastectomy, therefore 2 years "cancer-free", so I thought I'd check in again. It's been a beautiful day. I got up, spent a little time with the hubby, went for my morning run, meditated, spent some time talking with the kid, ran a few errands, and now I'm sitting on our balcony with the breeze blowing through my hair trying to remember everything that's been happening over the past year. Here we go...

Updates:

• The lack of weight loss is still a biggie. I've started running a couple of miles 6 mornings a week before work and hit the gym twice a week. I've also cut my portion sizes waaay down, so I'm now very slowly starting to lose weight. So frustrating, but I'm not giving up because I'm not happy at this weight. 

• I was finally able to listen to Happy a couple of weeks ago without feeling the need to vomit. Hey - Progress!
• My last doctor's appointments went extremely well. I'm at the point now where I am cutting back on doctor's visits. Where I used to see them every three months, I'm now seeing them every 6. Yay! Plus, instead of seeing my surgeon I'll be seeing a nurse practitioner because I'm doing so well. 
• The hot flashes are still there, but I'm basically so used to them now I hardly notice. What a great thing to be used to. 

• I still get odd pains here and there where for a second, my mind goes to bad places, but I'm pretty sure they're either phantom pains or nerves healing. The fear passes quickly.
• I was finally able to put everything I went through to some good use. One of my co-workers was diagnosed this year and I was able to help her understand the steps and the tests that they'd have to do. Fortunately, she didn't have to go through chemo, but she did have a double mastectomy. I'm glad I could be there for her - I hope it helped.
• Chemo brain - still there. I talked to my oncologist about it and he felt so bad for me that the only effects I still seem to be having are the ones that they can't seem to figure out. He said that they're pretty sure chemo brain is actually caused by hormones because even those who were on tamoxifen and never had chemo still feel the absent-mindedness of chemo brain. It's frustrating having to make lists all the time so I don't forget things, or having to search for words while I'm speaking. I sound completely stupid sometimes, but there's nothing I can really do about it. It supposedly goes away in time, but I'm on this stuff for at least 3 more years.

That's all I can think of for now. I'm sure there's more, but I'm just so content...  If you have any questions for me, feel free to leave them in the comments and I'll be more than happy to answer. Thanks to you all for being there - you're an amazing group of people.

Two years ago, today.

Current status.