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January 2008
From diagnosis through treatment
and beyond....I hope my journaling will be
helpful, inspirational, and motivational to you.
It's not been an easy journey, but one that has
enlightened me in many ways.
January
5, 2008
Happy New Year to all!
It's hard to believe that Christmas is
over....the kids have returned to their east and
west coast homes and our home is hauntingly
quiet. We had a marvelous time entertaining and
playing with our granddaughters. There was never
a dull moment.
Only one more day of holiday break and I return
to school. My Family Leave has been approved by
the district and I'll be working about 3.5 hours
a day. My morning reading classes will be the
extent of my teaching for a few months. This
will allow me to come home early enough and
catch a recuperative nap and still be able to
sleep soundly at night. That 5:30 a.m. alarm
clock is going to be a tough wake up on Monday.
But I'm anxious to see my students again. Even
with a reduced work schedule, I need a schedule!
Fortunately, I've been able to sleep 8-10 hours
at night. It's hard to believe that treatment
can take such a wallop out of your strength and
stamina. My OT signed off on me last Wednesday
and explained that radiation effects can linger
for 8-12 months after the treatment ends.
Justin has now been officially trained in the
art of Lymphadema massage! We watch my activity
level daily and see the effects that may or may
not crop up. If swelling occurs, then we spend
about 40 minutes on the massage to alleviate the
swelling and get the fluids moving again.
What we both were surprised to find out was that
once your lymph nodes are removed, the pathways
that they were connected to do not regenerate.
New pathways have to be stimulated to take up
the slack of the lost ones. With massage, they
widen and become stronger.
This massage technique was originated in Germany
in the 1980's according to my OT - Sangeetha at
Edward Hospital. It is a relatively new practice
in the states - I think she said it started over
here in the 1990's. I guess you'd say it's a
fledgling as far as therapies go. But I have to
say quite whole heartedly that it does work!
There is also apparently a great demand for
trained Lymphadema therapists. Edward is looking
to add personnel in this area.
That's it for now :). Thank you to those who
have posted on my Care Page. I really enjoy
reading your thoughts and hear how my journey is
helping you in whatever way.
Please know that I'm here for those who may need
support or just a shoulder to lean on, to bounce
off ideas or need information. Lifelines are so
important and friends provide that willingly and
selflessly as I've learned through my
experience.
God Bless you all!
January 15, 2008
These past two weeks I've
had two follow up visits to my radiologist and
oncologist. It looks like I'm progressing well.
Dr. Hantel, my oncologist, saw me this afternoon
and ordered a bone density test. With the
Arimidex I'm taking, bone density issues could
be a problem down the road. He was interested to
see if I've had any joint pain. Fortunately none
is noticeable, yet. I am sluggish in the morning
when I get out of bed and body gets moving, and
that seems to be a slight side effect.
Hantel also wants me to have a Colonoscopy. I'm
over 50 and due for one. I told him Justin had
to get one, too! So we're both planning them
this summer. Probably in between our trip to
Zion National Park and our family trip up in
Manistee, MI with the kids.
Working part-time at school is really working
out well. I seem to have just enough energy to
get through the morning and then home for lunch
and a nap or at least some relaxation. Last
Friday night I slept 10 hours! I can't tell you
how energized I felt Saturday...at least until
about 2 p.m. It was amazing. I felt like my old
self. If only I could get 10 hours every night,
but that's a difficult task to accomplish.
Next month I'm having my first digital mammogram
since my diagnosis last July. I wish I could say
I'm looking forward to it....but tenderness
persists. Hopefully, by then it will be more
palpable :). Blood work is also coming up on the
19th to especially check out my thyroid to make
sure the radiation treatment didn't put it
askew.
I'm constantly looking to the future....and
wanted to share with you my new goal! I'm
planning on participating in the Y-ME Race to
Empower in Chicago on May 11th! Y-ME has been a
tremendous asset to me and others stricken with
breast cancer. They've been there when I needed
information and support.
It's hard to believe that in just less than a
week's time, I've surpassed my initial personal
goal of $500! So I've decided to increase my
personal goal to $1500 and my Team goal to
$3,000! Currently, I'm #1 in the Individual
Walkers and my team, Cindy's Angels, is #4!
If you'd like to find out more about Y-ME and
the Race to Empower or how to support, please
visit my sites! I'm building a team of walkers
and non-walkers and would love to have you join
us!
Personal site:
http://main.y-me.org/goto/cindy.zamirowski
Team site:
http://main.y-me.org/goto/cindysangels
I pray you all have good
health and happiness in this new year. We all
certainly deserve it!
More soon....
January
24, 2008
I hope you're staying warm
and cozy during this positively frigid streak
we're having here in Illinois. I'm envious of my
sister who lives down in Florida right now :).
This past week has gone by so quickly. My bone
density test went very well yesterday and the
results came back today that everything is
"fine". That's the message that was left on my
answering machine....so I guess there's no
problem. My bones are doing just fine! Yea!
Blood work was done on Monday, but I haven't
heard back from the doctors about those results.
They were checking everything possible, I think.
I plan on following up on that tomorrow after I
get home from school. Dr. Hantel also put me on
more antibiotics to stop a possible infection
under my arm. I've never been on so many
antibiotics in my lifetime! I generally avoid
them, which is probably a good thing because
they're working well. But the Lymphadema is well
under control thanks to my husband! He's the
best Lymph masseuse I've ever had ;)
My reduced work schedule is going very well. I'm
finding my naptimes to be quite a luxury when I
can let my body unwind enough. I feel like I'm
getting stronger every day.
And I'm thrilled because my goal to walk in the
upcoming "Y-ME Race to Empower" on May 11th will
become a reality very soon. I'm grateful for
those who have contributed to my campaign and
hope that others will join! For more information
on this worthy organization and how you can
support me and my team, please visit
http://main.y-me.org/goto/cindy.zamirowski.
Today I received my first two custom designed
t-shirts from
www.zazzle.com/cindysangels
Sales of my logo wear and accessories benefit
Y-ME! It's a great partnership. I hope you'll
take a look and consider supporting "Cindy's
Angels"! A huge thanks to my sister-in-law,
Jody, for designing my Angel logo!
That's it for now! Thank you for your continued
support and wonderful positive posts. I love
hearing from you and your connections you may be
having with me. We are truly a sisterhood....and
brotherhood :).
Stay warm....and God Bless....
July/August 2007
September 2007
October 2007
November 2007
December 2007
January 2008
February/April 2008
May 2008
June 2008
July 2008
August 2008
September 2008
December 2008/January
2009
February 2009/April 2009
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