Wednesday, August 25, 2010

Keep on Truckin'.....

Today I had round 5 of chemotherapy. I have to say, I don't know if I was so distracted by such great company, or if I am that immune to this stuff, but I didn't feel a thing. Usually my stomach gets full and heavy towards the end of treatment, and I get hot insides and chilly bumps on the outside. I normally get so loopy that I can't focus.

This time, I felt like she gave me water in my IV. Seriously....that's it. I got a little warm on the ride home, but hello....we are in TX.... We were thrilled that it was only 93 outside! That's out of the ordinary for us here.


I also got to meet Deana today. One of my "pink sisters" from this journey....

She was down at MDA for an appt and stopped by and gave me some info that was interesting and very helpful. (I got to see her "rack" too...haha) I got to see what a fresh mastectomy looks like. She has been off Chemo for a little over 8 weeks and you can see how much hair she has back already. She is about 6 months ahead of me and is friends with Moni, my other "pink sister" who has almost an identical cancer to mine. Deana has the exact opposite cancer as me. She is triple positive, where Moni and I are triple negative. We all have a common friend between us and are all 3 on the same journey, at different stages, all under 40, and all strong fighters! We've all emailed, but this was our first face to face meeting. (Moni and I are supposed to meet next week when she's down there for radiation)


So, Megin and I (my friend that took me today) stopped at WhichWich for a late lunch on the way home and as we were leaving, another customer came up to me and was just going on and on about "OMG, you look so beautiful, I don't know what kind of cancer you have, but you are just radiating and shining...yadda...yadda....Keep up the fight, you are gorgeous". (She races in the Susan G Komen race and does all kinds of research participation...mentioned some pink party, and some other foundation, but she talked kind of fast, so I didn't catch them all....but basically...she supports the boobs!) So, of course, it made my day to have a complete stranger tell me that. It was the first stranger who "knew" I was a cancer patient and acknowledged it so beautifully. We get a little self conscious. Is the wig crooked? Can you tell it's a wig? Is my baldness showing? Does this scarf look OK? Are my dark eye circles showing? Does my port button look like a third boob in this shirt? You know....stuff other people don't have to worry about on a daily basis. Not to mention, we usually carry a little extra weight from chemo, and we can't remember anything so we feel fat, lost and jumbled most of the time, so to have someone address the issue in such a positive light was refreshing. I hope everyone else along my journey continues that way.....

So, yet another great day at MDA, good friends, good laughs, and great times....
(Thanks Megin for the ride, and thanks Eva for watching Grayson and for dinner!)

Ta-Ta for now....

7 comments:

  1. I am so incredibly happy you met Deana!!! Isn't God so amazing to bring people together?? She is such a wonderful person that I adore & will be such an encouragement for you. I felt so privileged to be with her on one of her "pump up" days and to see how she's tackling this demon head on! You both are such beautiful women to me!

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  2. Denise and I both were discussing how beautiful you are, even with no hair. YOu are a really beautiful woman Tiffany! And beautiful kids to boot...Eva

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  3. You are beautiful, and I love the color of your scarf! Stunning! The power of encouraging and loving words - amazing - it makes me feel lighter and grateful to be part of the human race - what a great thing the woman did - for you/us.

    Also - thanks so much for educating on breast cancer treatment - I appreciate your vulnerability, honesty, and willingness. My mom went through cancer but didn't want to talk about it - so I never really knew what she was going through. And - that is ok too - if you are going through cancer treatment - you can do whatever you want! :) However, I do appreciate your blog and letting me be a part of your journey.

    Love,

    Terri David

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  4. I'm glad you had a good day. I thought I'd let you know that I got my first mammogram yesterday ~ partly b/c of my age (it's like a 35-year-old's rite of passage!), but mostly b/c of you! ;)

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  5. I can see why a complete stranger came up to you. You looked amazing! You really rocked out that blue headscarf. Keep up all that positive energy!

    ~Sue Fleitman

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  6. You look absolutely amazing in that scarf. The color looks great on you! We continue to pray for you everyday. Hadley says hi and she wants you to feel better soon. Continue to fight and stay strong.

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