Lots to report today…

I’m happy to report that my appointment yesterday with Dr. Sweatman was a great one.  He “officially” told me that I had clear margins (from the tumor removal) and the sentinel nodes that were removed were negative for cancer!  “Clear margins” (in my unofficial, non-medical explanation) is just another way of saying that enough tissue was removed.  Dr. Sweatman not only removed my tumor, but also surrounding tissue, until he felt it was clear of all cancer cells.  (The tissue is biopsied for an official report.)  Many times, the margins may not be clear, in which case, the surgeon will go back into the body around the tumor site and remove more tissue until clear (i.e. non-cancer) margins (tissue) are found.  Thankfully, all was clear with me!  Yay!  I return to Dr. Sweatman in three weeks, and Dr. Butler, my oncologist, that same week to get the go-ahead for my radiation treatments to begin.  (I’ll be able to have radiation treatments closer to my home since they will be every day for  6 weeks, so I’ll have to have an appointment with another oncologist at my radiation hospital, too.  Hopefully, it will all take place and get going by the end of February.)

I’m feeling better and better every day, and I think my hair is really growing fast.  (Although that makes me even more impatient!) The color is yet to be determined.  It still looks much lighter than it was, but I’m thinking it’s just because it’s still very fuzzy.  Mel thinks it will be blonde.  Maybe he hopes.  I’m just bummed I didn’t get a blonde wig.  That would’ve been fun.  I got the darker wig because I just knew my hair would come back in very dark.  Oh well.  Maybe I’ll still get one for fun while it grows.  We still can’t tell if it will be curly or not.  The color of my skin is losing that yellowy, pale cancer look about it and the dark circles under my eyes are slowing going away.  (Now, it’s just the usual sleep-deprived, tired mommy, wife-of-Mel circles.)  I’m looking forward to a great Spring filled with sunshine, energy and lots of fun…and NO wig or hat or scarves or bald head!

MC finally received her progress report this week.  Her report lists many skills in different areas of development.  Beside each skill, her teacher marks a check (satisfactory) or a minus (improvement needed).  Let’s just say that genetically, both of our girls, are par for the course.  Mary Clare excels in oral Language Development, especially vocabulary.  As far as the Number Development Section, I’ll just add that she had fewer checks than minuses.   And a “skill”  under Social Development most definitely inherited from her father, “Shows Self-Confidence” received a whopping three checks.  She did great on most of her skills and we are so very proud of her.  It’s amazing to see just how far our tiny half-heart, strong spirited little girl has come.  She is creative beyond belief and is so full of life and determination.  We never have a dull moment with her around!  She has an amazing teacher who is filled with spunk, creativity and movement at all times, so I know MC is having a ball in 4K.  If there is anything about our youngest born that we all know, is that she does things her very own way, when and where she chooses.  So who knows?  She may very well know her multiplication facts and is just holding out on us.  (wink)

We have a busy weekend of birthday parties, cheerleading games (maybe) and 100-days-of-school-celebrating!  That leaves only 80 more early mornings!  We are starting the countdown now!  Come on Summer, Prestwood Pool is calling our names!

5 Comments