An Unbelievable Show of Love and Appreciation

This week I had the most incredible experience. My school "family" welcomed me back to work by holding a flash mob in my honor.

It all started during my medical leave. One day I checked my work email from home and came across an email a dear friend in my department, Chris, sent out to all of the faculty at my school. Well, being one of the faculty, the email came to me, too. It said that she was planning a surprise for me upon my return and wanted to get as many faculty and students involved as possible. I told Beni about it, but otherwise, pretended I knew nothing.

On Monday, March 5th I returned to work and got many "Welcome back"s and hugs from both colleagues and students. I really felt I had been missed. I began to suspect something was going to happen on Wednesday, when Chris asked me on Tuesday if I'd be around Wednesday after school. Sure enough, Wednesday during the last period of the day, Chris was walking around with her camera. My team teacher for the last class of the day, Kathy, who usually leaves right after work, stuck around the classroom much longer than usual making excuses for having to look for student work in the class folder. When she offered to rearrange books in my classroom library, I knew something was going on for sure!

So, I kind of braced myself. I thought maybe a small group of students and staff would come into my room and do a cute song and dance number. Little did I know . . .

A couple of girls with pink hats walked by my classroom and started to sing Bette Midler's "Wing Beneath My Wings". I went into the hallway to see what was going on. Chris met me at my door and told me she'd just come from the office and that there was a delivery for me and I should go and see what it was. I played along and she said she'd come with me. We headed down the stairs and a small group of students were putting on a skit on the first landing. One was dressed in black and was being beaten by three brightly colored, masked "good guys". I didn't realize it at the time, but they were the "good guys" beating the "bad guy" (cancer). In fact, I thought they were fighting at first.

We continued down the stairs and at the bottom was the school's GSA club, which I helped start years ago but just stepped down from this year, cheering for me and holding up signs. I started to cry at that point, but there were far more tears to come. Outside of the stair well was my fellow teacher, dressed in Renaissance regalia. He crowned me with a tiara and escorted me down the hallway. Other teachers and students began to follow us down the hall, all singing "Wind Beneath My Wings".

When we got to the school's main hallway, I was blown away. The hall was lined with students, teachers, counselors, and secretaries all cheering for me and holding signs of support and welcome. More tears. I had to keep telling myself not to "ugly cry". I was handed a beautiful bouquet of roses. Members of the school's Operation Snowball club hung a gigantic "warm fuzzy", which is a big pom pom made of yarn, around my neck. (You use your strands of yarn to tie on others' "warm fuzzies" when you pay them a compliment and vice versa.) Then we walked into the auditorium lobby where the dance team and cheerleaders - along with anyone who wanted to join them, danced to "Survivor" by Destiny's Child. Then they did a cheer in my honor, holding up the letters of my name.

Needless to say, I was moved beyond words. Never in my wildest imaginings did I think so many people would turn up to welcome me back. I felt like a celebrity. There were many hugs and photos taken and I went home that night feeling high on love. Actually, I think I'm going to be on this high for quite a long time.

Here's a four minute, edited, highlight clip from the 20+ minute experience:

And now, like a celebrity, there are many people that I need to thank.

Heartfelt thanks go out to:

Christina Boyles, for organizing this amazing event and being the sweetest soul I know

Stacey Welton, for leading the students in song

Kyle Welton for his choreography and his darling girlfriend, whose name I forget, for videotaping

Jake Stewart, for holding me up when my legs were weak

Heather Curry and GSA

Operation Snowball

Sheila Conrad, the best principal I've ever worked with

Clayton Muhammad, EA's very own paparazzi

The Dance Team

The Cheerleaders

All of the teachers and staff who attended, especially those in my department and those who participated in the flashmob

All of the students who came to show their support - many of whom I don't even know

This was an experience I will NEVER EVER forget! I love my EA Family!

Back by Popular Demand

I can't tell you how flattering it is to hear that people out there are waiting for the lastest update to my blog. (K.M. this one is dedicated to you!) It has been a long time and I have no excuse since I have been sitting at home relaxing. The good news is that I have A LOT to write about this time!

I want to say a big thank you to everyone who sent cards and gifts to us as I recovered. Your thoughtfulness is so appreciated. We enjoyed four Edible Arrangements, a Harry & David fruit and nut basket, roses, a plant, Shari's Berries, a yummy casserole, and many generous gift cards.

It seems like it took forever, but I am finally drain-free. I started off after surgery with four drains coming out of my sides - two on each side right under my armpit. On my one week post-op visit, two drains came out. After two weeks, the doctor gave me the go ahead to take showers again. I was so thankful to be able to shower that the nuisance of having to string my drains around my neck on a shoestring to do so was welcomed! It wasn't until three weeks after that the third was removed and four weeks after that the last one came out. That was this past Monday and I cannot tell you what a difference it has made! Not having that unsightly lump under my clothes has been liberating and I feel like I can go out in public again and, in fact, have.

This week was kind of up-in-the-air as far as work went. I felt ready enough to go back to work but couldn't go until the drain came out. The doctor was concerned about exposing the drain entrance to germs. Also, my long-term sub was wrapping up the lessons he had begun with my students, Thursday was a half day, and Friday was an in-service day, so I opted to take the week off and dedicate it to preparing myself for my return to work on Monday, March 5th. On Tuesday, I went out and did a little long-awaited shopping and got the new-growth around my eyebrows waxed. That's right! There is enough to get waxed! Hooray! On Wednesday, I got my hair colored. I guess now I can safely say that my natural color is gray, but I am not ready at 42 to be totally gray. I went back to my pre-cancer brown. It came out reddish at first, but my fabulous colorist did something to it to darken it and luckily it worked. Unfortunately, the darker color made the lack of hair above my forehead more obvious, which I am a little self-conscious about, but I am getting used to it and refusing to put my wig on again! That ship has sailed!

Thursday was a big day because in the evening I attended Parent Teacher Conferences. It seems absolutely ridiculous, but I was more nervous about going to conferences and seeing all of my colleagues - and more importantly them seeing me with my super-short hair - for the first time since taking leave. I literally felt nauseous as I dressed and then drove to school. I knew this was crazy since I had not even felt this anxious before my double mastectomy. Once there, everyone was so nice and complemented me, which made me feel so much better. I saw many of my students and they were all happy to see me and asked how I was doing and many gave me hugs. By the end of the night, I felt much less self-conscious. I'm sure there will be a couple of smart-ass students who will have something dumb to say when I return to work on Monday (most of which I expect to come from my 9th period), but the support I got Thursday night will help me brush off their immature comments.

Sleeping has also gotten so much better with the last drain out. I am now able to sleep on my sides again which has been fantastic. When I still had two drains in, I was sleeping on the living room couch, which gave me enough support to lay somewhat on my side without smashing the drains and collections bulbs. Now I am back in my bed and so glad to be there!

If you are hoping to see a picture of my new darker do, here it comes. As I uploaded the picture I was looking at some older ones and it is amazing how much my hair has grown in just the last month! Take a look:

This is soon after coming home from the hospital after surgery, sometime in the first week of February. I can tell because I can see the cumbersome surgi-bra under my shirt:

Here I am on Wednesday, February 29th before getting my hair colored:

And this is me, today, March 3rd, about one month later with dark hair again. I call it The Uber-Pixie:

Notice the eyebrows, too! Once those puppies started showing up, they grew super-fast. My eyelashes are also long enough to use a little mascara! Yay!

On Monday I will be back to work full-time and can't wait. I have missed my colleagues and my students so much and can't wait to get off my butt and back into the swing of things.

I still have a few more appointments in March with the plastic surgeon to get my expanders filled. Right now, I'd say I'm probably at about a B cup. I'd like to get up to a C at minimum and maybe even a small D if possible, but we'll see how it feels. The weird thing about expanders is that your new breasts feel like solid rocks. I am getting used to the feeling but in the beginning it is strange. You don't have the movement you'd have with real breasts or even implants. I suppose it's convenient for exercising, so there isn't a lot of flopping going on, but sleeping is strange. As I've said before, I'm a side sleeper, and was used to my breasts kind of sloping down when I turned. Not anymore. There's one rock against the mattress and another under my arm. The surgeon said this will not be the case when the permanent implants are put in later, but for now it is just a matter of getting used to them. I explained it to Beni like this: Imagine going to bed with shoulder pads on. It would be heavy and uncomfortable. Now imagine that feeling in your chest. The great thing is that since I got the last drain out I have been going bra-less! It is AWESOME! I usually wear a tank top because I find it a little naughty not to have anything between me and my shirt, but I am loving it! Don't know if I'll be able to get away with this when the implants are in, so I'm enjoying it while I can!

Once the expanders are filled I will start radiation. I met with the radiologist and she said that if we were one year in the future, I probably wouldn't have to have radiation at all since the cancer is gone, but since studies are still in progress and there is not yet a definitive study that says radiation is totally unnecessary in my case, we are going to play it safe. I am fine with that. Better safe than sorry, I say, and it seems the process will be nothing compared to chemo. The way I see it, the hard part is over. Chemo and major surgery are behind me. I'm over the hump and it will be all downhill from here!

Prayers Answered with a Small Miracle

Yesterday we went to the breast surgeon for a follow-up appointment. She checked my surgery site and said everything looked good but mostly wanted to discuss the pathology report. She said she had already told me this information, but perhaps I had misunderstood her or maybe I was still drowsy from the anesthesia, but she said that when she opened me up to remove the tumor there was nothing there. NOTHING THERE! My 16 chemo treatments and especially my 12 doses of Herceptin had completely eradicated my cancer! She said she had never seen that before with Invasive Lobular Cancer. I was lucky because my type was HER+ which made me a candidate for Herceptin and that made all the difference. So, so exciting to hear! My lymph nodes were, obviously, also cancer-free.

I can't help but think back to telling my mom that my oncologist was recommending Herceptin as part of my treatment. My mom, whose cancer was also HER+ over 10 years ago, was so excited because she was part of the trial for the drug and told me that even back then, they were calling Herceptin a "miracle drug". Well, I can vouch for that!

I assume, for the sake of insuring that the cancer is gone and will stay away that I will still undergo radiation and continued Herceptin treatment through August, but I will post an update regarding that after talking to my oncologist. My next appointment is the 16th and at that time I will also make an introductory visit to the radiologist as well.

Again, I want to say a heartfelt thank you to everyone who has prayed for me and my family and thought positive thoughts on my behalf. You are all part of the miracle. Never before in my life have I felt as loved as I do now. I seriously feel I am being virtually hugged by all of you, all day, every day. That love and support has been a HUGE part of my journey. Love to you all!

Recuperation Update

On Monday, Beni took me to the plastic surgeon's office for a follow-up. I was hoping to have all four drains removed, but the physician's assistant said that she could only remove two, seeing as the two remaining ones were still collecting a substantial amount of fluid. Hopefully this will slow down enough to get them removed next Monday. She also said that she hopes to be able to insert some more fluid into the expanders next week, too. Maybe then I'll be an A cup. This also means that taking a real shower is still out of the question for another week. Ew. In the mean time I will make the most of damp washcloth baths.

Now that I have only two drains to clean twice daily, and less soreness in my arms, I am cleaning them myself. Beni still has to help change the dressings on my incisions and around the drains. Sleeping is better than in the hospital, yet not comfortable. As a side sleeper, it is hard to get comfortable on my back, especially when I am sitting up all day and then laying flat all night. My back and butt are getting tired of always being in the same position.

This morning Beni and I went on a 15 minute walk around our block just to get some exercise and fresh air. It was awesome!

I've been spending a lot of time on Facebook and Pinterest and have found a fun new site called Polyvore where I can create outfits. Lots of time-wasters. I have tried to read Bram Stoker's Dracula for school, but cannot get into it, so I changed over to Dicken's Great Expectations which I am liking a bit better. I wish I didn't have to get those done so I could enjoy something of my own choosing, but I guess I'll have to wait for summer to do that. This time off is definitely relaxing, though.

Tomorrow we go for a follow up visit to the breast surgeon who, I assume, will discuss the pathology report with us. She already called to say that there were no traces of cancer in the lymph node they removed, but we will probably get all the details tomorrow. Stay tuned . . .

Surgery, Recovery, Hair Update and More!

I woke up at 4:30 on Tuesday morning and literally did not feel nervous at all. I really have all of you to thank for that because I really believe that is all the wonderful support and prayers that are being sent my way that is keeping me so positive and even-keeled. There were no tears - at least not on my part. Beni and I got to the hospital at 5:30 as told and I was checked in, changed into a hospital gown and put into a pre-op room. Beni joined me. He began reading The Hunger Games and I chilled and waited. At 7 a.m. I was taken to nuclear medicine where they inject something into my breast that would help the cancer show up for the surgeon as she removed it. This would also help her identify the sentinal lymph node for removal. If that node was clear, we would know the cancer hadn't spread.

After nuclear medicine I went back into pre-op and spent a little more time with Beni. I spoke to the plastic surgeon, the anesthesiologist and his assistant and my breast surgeon. It was almost 8 a.m. and they gave me a sedative and said they were going to wheel me into the O.R. Beni gave me a kiss, he turned to pick up his backpack-o-goodies-to-keep-him-fed-and-busy, and as they started to push my bed, I was out like a light. Forget the anesthesia. The sedative knocked me out for the count.

I woke up hours later in the recovery room with a very nice nurse hovering over me. I literally remember NOTHING. The only other time I have been under anesthesia I remember going into the O.R. and counting backward from 10. I do not remember leaving the pre-op room this time. The nurse told me surgery went well and that I was doing fine. I didn't feel nausea or pain, just a little discomfort in my chest, which was expected. I stayed there until about 3:30 when they took me to my room and we met Beni on the way.

One of the nice things about Central DuPage Hospital is that it has a new wing of patient rooms and no one has to share anymore. I had my own room with a giant t.v. and good nurses and techs watching out for me. I had a clear liquid dinner of chicken broth, green jello and water which stayed down just fine. Beni went home to relieve his dad and sister from babysitting duty and I went to sleep. It was a long night because sleeping for half an hour felt like I'd slept all night.

At lunch the next day, I noticed the inside of my bottom lip had a sore and that it felt funny to eat. Touching my front, top left tooth, I realized it was chipped! I figured it happened when they inserted or removed my breathing tube during surgery. I told the nurse who told me to talk to the surgeon who told me he'd talk to the anesthesiologist, but nothing ever came of that. I was discharged before I ever spoke to anyone about it. Beni came back to the hospital and hung out on Wednesday and with the nurse's help, I walked a lap around the hallway, and sat up in a chair for lunch. Beni went home to pick up the boys from school and then they came to visit in the evening. I did about three more laps in the hallway that day and was disconnected from oxygen and my I.V. drip.

I had, and still have, four tubes sticking out of my sides below my armpits for drainage with collection bulbs at the ends. These are pinned to my surgical bra. We have to drain the bulbs two to three times a day and keep track of how much fluid is coming out. We also have to change the dry dressings on the incisions daily as well. Beni has been a trooper about helping out with this! It's not totally disgusting, but not pleasant either. We are hoping that at our follow up appointment with the plastic surgeon on Monday morning, ALL of these drains will be removed. That will be a huge step in the recovery process.

The pain was never bad. For the first 24 hours I had a pain button, which I pressed as needed every 8 minutes or so, but on Wednesday, that was removed and I was given oral pain medicine every few hours. I was never in pain, but did take the meds when my chest felt sore and tight.

On Thursday morning, I walked some more around the halls and by the time Beni arrived I was ready to be sent home. The nurse showed us how to change the dressings on the incisions and how to empty the drains and we were off! Just being at home has been tremendous in the recovery process! Sitting on my own furniture and laying in my own bed - without constantly being interrupted every few hours is just what the doctor ordered. I feel much better every day.

Beni has been a fantastic nurse and caregiver! All I have to do is ask for something and there it is and he follow's the nurses orders for caring for me perfectly! Unfortunately, on Friday, my first full day home, we got a call from the school nurse that Frankie had thrown up. He came home and was shaking like a leaf. Beni covered him and he was asleep instantly. When he awoke, he complained that his chest hurt. Later, he had the same complaint so we called his pediatrician who instructed Beni to take him to the ER. Poor Beni, going to the hospital, yet again, and I could do nothing to help. After x-rays, it seems Frankie has a slight case of pneumonia. They sent him home with a shot of antibiotics and a prescription and we have to take him the doctor on Monday or Tuesday. When it rains, it pours. On the bright side, we did also get good news that day. My breast surgeon called with the pathology report results and ALL of the cancer was removed. No residual cancer cells were found in the removed lymph node. Hooray!

My hair is growing on the back and sides, but sadly, the front is still shy. I seriously hope that I did not get a receding hairline during my cancer treatment. I surely didn't have one before this all started. Here are the latest pics:

I think I may see some eyelash stubble growing out, but I may just be overly hopeful. I am hoping that by the time I am ready to head back to work, the hair on the top front will be filled in more so that I can go wig-less and perhaps color it brown again.

I'm sure I am forgetting some funny story, or detail, but I will add more as they come back to me. Here is one to leave off with. As a teacher, my colleagues and I are always laughing about "creatively" spelled names. Well, on the white board in my room was this word - Neondraye. I kept looking at it and thinking it was one of the meds I was on or something, until one of the techs helping me answered her cell phone and said, "This is Neondraye." Ooh! Another one to add to the list!

Goodbye, Girls!

So, I've stayed pretty occupied up until this point, preparing lesson plans for my subs and getting things in order, but this weekend I had time to think about my surgery tomorrow and realized, I don't want to think about it. I spent a little time looking at pictures on Google of mastectomies and reconstructions and did a little research on recovery time. Just enough to satiate my curiousity. I don't want to think about it anymore.

A part of me wanted to have a picture of "my girls" so I could remember them the way they were, but I figured, isn't every picture of me a reminder of what my breasts looked like? Plus, I didn't want a picture of my boobs on my iPhone or my computer to be found someday by someone who had no business seeing them.

So instead, in keeping with my positive and if-you-don't-laugh-you'll-cry attitude, I decided to write an homage. Here it is:

Goodbye, Girls [sung to the tune of Goodbye Earl by the Dixie Chicks]

Fran and her boobs were the best of friends,

From ten until 42,

With Victoria Secret push-up bras,

She was happy with a B, 32,

After getting married they stayed the same,

Beni was a big fan, too,

Life was good for Fran, you see, while she had her girls.

It was almost two years after she got married,

Fran started feelin’ sick,

She was pregnant for the first time,

And her girls were gettin’ big.

Beni was excited to see them grow,

The bigger the better, he’d say,

Fran went from a B to C,

But there’d be more expansion some day.

A second baby came along and the girls went strong,

Another whole cup size they grew.

Then eight years later, after cancer invaded,

It didn’t take long to decide

The girls had to die, goodbye girls!

That carcinoma? Oh yeah, it’s over, girls!

You’re killin’ me? I’m gonna set you free, girls!

It’ll be best, when you’re off my chest, girls!

It was July of 2011,

When Fran got the bad news,

Invasive Lobular Carcinoma,

This was a fight she couldn’t lose.

After lots of bloodwork and lots of tests,

And a couple biopsies,

Eighteen rounds of chemotherapy,

She was fighting this disease.

After one full month of recuperating,

It was time for surgery,

Though the cancer was only on one side,

It didn’t take long to decide,

Both girls had to die! Goodbye, girls!

You tried to kill; your blood’s gonna spill, girls!

I’ll get re-racked, after you’re attacked, girls!

My new set, will be better, I’ll bet, girls!

Latest Obsession

My latest obsession has been watching the daily non-progress of my eyebrows and eyelashes. I have researched it on the web, and they do take longer to grow back than the hair on my head, but I'm ready to have them back!

My other newest obsession is Pinterest and the combination is lethal. I find myself scrolling through pictures in the "Hair and Beauty" section looking for the perfectly-shaped eyebrow to model my own after when they grow in. Below is one of my faves:

When I watch t.v., I find myself looking at every female actress's eyes and admiring their make up, wishing I had eyelashes, too.

Maybe this is just my way of keeping distracted and not thinking about my up-coming surgery in less than a week. Maybe, but maybe not. I just really want my eyebrows and eyelashes back!