Surgery Tomorrow

I'm in Philadelphia right now sitting poolside at a hotel. Just a few hours ago I had an x-ray on my arm. The radiologist thought there was a little bit of growth, but my doctor doesn't believe there was any at all. There was a chance that I wouldn't have surgery, but at the last appointment I was told that it would take a miracle for this procedure to not be necessary. Whether there was any growth or not, I need to have this surgery because the longer that this isn't fused the more of a risk I will run for the hardware failing. With school coming up soon, this is the best thing for me to do.

The surgery is going to happen tomorrow. The procedure is pretty much a toned down surgery from December. I will have my left hip opened up in which they will scrape my hip for bone cells, open up my arm, and put those bone scrapings in the gaps between the cadaver and my humerus bone fragments. The procedure can take anywhere from a little over an hour to over two hours depending on how easy it is to get in my arm. The incision is going to be longer than I expected. She believes that most of the previous incision will be opened again. My surgery will be at 11:00 am and I'll be staying the night. Most of the same risks apply to this surgery as the last one, and the recovery time will be similar as well. She said that if there is anything questionable in my arm; it will be sent to pathology for study(Lets hope there is none of that tomorrow). If this doesn't work there are other options so this is not the end. I was happy to hear that since I was putting a lot of pressure on this surgery's success. There's not really much more to say. Keep me in your prayers tomorrow for the surgery to go as planned. Please pray for no nerve damage from the procedure(I was very fortunate to not have any last time), and no sickness from the anesthesia, or at least minimal sickness please!(I was very sick last time from it).

Cancerversary

Exactly one year ago my journey began. In early June I had an appointment with my local orthopedic surgeon to get my shoulder/arm checked out. The x-ray that day showed nothing so he scheduled an MRI and a follow up appointment for July 22nd, 2013. I walked into my appointment hoping that I didn't tear my shoulder.... the worst case scenario, or so I thought. That day there was no closure on what was wrong with my arm. There was a mass found in my arm, but he didn't know what it was. He said it was probably a hematoma, but could be a torn tricep, or....cancer. I was absolutely shocked. How could I have cancer? Young, healthy people don't get cancer! I walked out of the appointment hoping for the torn shoulder or hematoma...my old worst case scenario. The world I had known was flipped upside down in a matter of minutes.

For the next grueling five weeks I had numerous tests to figure out what was going on in there. Week after week passed, and never would I return home with good news. The list of possible diagnosis dwindled down only removing the "good" ones, and keeping the bad. Finally on August 29th as I walked into my appointment for my second opinion I received the phone call telling me that I have Ewing's Sarcoma.

The first week of September I received my first dose of chemotherapy. That same week I decided to start this blog, and well...the rest is history. I fought a very had battle with my toughest opponent, and today I'm three months cancer free. When I had my first day of treatment I wondered how I would ever be able to reach the end. Thirty-six days of very harsh chemo drugs, and a surgery to have a pretty good chance of beating this cancer was very daunting. I went through most of the year really sick, and tired, but when the time finally came it was all worth it. I was declared cancer free!

I am still not where I want to be physically, but I have grown so much in the past year mentally and emotionally. For as difficult this past year was I gained so much more than I ever could have imagined. I have learned a lot from my own struggles with my diagnosis as well as all of the support you have all given me from the beginning. This experience has helped me become a more complete person.

Next Tuesday, (July 29th) I will have my second surgery for my arm. I have an appointment on the 28th where I'll find out more about the procedure. If I have time I'll update between then and surgery.

(By The Way) It's sarcoma awareness month, and it would be great if you supported Miles2Give. They're running around the perimeter of the country for sarcoma. You can donate by clicking here.

Three Month Scans

On Friday I had my three-month post treatment scans. And they were.....clean! The final report isn't available yet, but my oncologist was pretty convinced that they were clean from his examination during the appointment. (I had my chest cat scan a few hours before the appointment so that's why they weren't looked at by the radiologist at that point). My oncologist said that he would call if anything was caught on the scan. It's monday so I think I'm safe now which is why I waited to post anything on my blog until now.

This was my first follow up appointment to check for signs of recurrence. It was also my first time at Radnor since my final day of treatment. The last time I was in that building I was exhausted and sick. On Friday I was a completely different person than I was on March 21st. It was great to see my nurses. They were so glad to see me so healthy. It was the healthiest they have ever seen me. 

The appointment went well. He answered my questions about some of the side effects I'm still experiencing. I'll sum it up below along with an update of how I am healing from my treatment.

The neuropathy in my fingers will take a very long time to get better if it ever does. He warned me that there's a good chance that this will be permanent. That was tough for me to hear considering I will be using my fingers a lot every day in my computer related job someday, but I can manage. It's noticeable in the morning, but gets better in the day. It's the same every morning though and not getting any better from day to day. Its really bad when there is a change in temperature. For example, when I go swimming. What scares me is that's only a minor reduction in temperature. What's it going to be like in the winter?

My lack of energy will improve with time. I have improved a lot since the summer began, but I still have those days where I'm exhausted, but have really no reason to be so tired. The one-a-day vitamins have helped since I started taking them a few weeks ago. He did warn me that my return to school this fall will not be easy. Especially because I have my surgery less than a month before I go back. I'm getting a handicap parking permit to help make my return to school easier.

And that's it. My three main side effects are my arm, fingers, and energy. My hair is coming in well. Though its really thin still. It looks exactly like it did when I was a baby according to my mom. My weak fingernails have almost worked their way out. My oncologist is happy with where I am now at this point and considers my treatment a success apart from my arm at this point.

So what is it like to have the three month scans? I've only had one checkup so far, and have so many more to go, but here is what it felt like for this first one. For the most part I haven't dwelled on the upcoming scan. Of course there were times that I would really think about it and stress out. Time went so fast for me over the course of the last three months until last Monday. Time just slowed down. The reality of the scan; the seemingly harmless five minute scan of my chest; the scan that could turn my world upside-down again. Time continued to move slower throughout the week, and finally stopped as I entered the office on Friday. There aren't words to describe the fear pulsing through my body as I waited for my oncologist to enter the room and share the results of the scan. It was especially difficult as he looked at the images of the scan on the computer. It was completely silent in the room as he was analyzing the images. I wasn't sure what to think as he's pointing at the screen, and looked extremely deep in thought. It seemed to take hours. And then he looked at me and said that it looks clean from his analysis. I was so happy. Time went back to normal for me. The 90 days to enjoy before time comes to a stop again.

On a lighter note I have really been enjoying what I used to do when I was healthy. (the stuff I can do). Last week I played soccer and kickball in the yard with my cousins on the 4th of July. I've been enjoying the summer heat by swimming in the pool. I just played bocci ball the other day and its really fun. When I'm inside I'm getting ready for the fall semester by taking an online computer science class. These are all milestones for me. Having energy helps so much! I felt like my brain was mush for the duration of my treatment from the fatigue I had. Even though I feel that its so much easier to think now, I still don't have any common sense. (If you know me you know that I don't have any common sense). I just call that "chemo-brain" now lol.

Last thing. This month is sarcoma awareness month as you should all know now. Please spread awareness for this cancer. Also keep all of the people battling sarcoma in your prayers.