The Anchor 💗⚓️💗 – Edition 31

12/21/17

Dear Friends and Family,

I hope that everyone is doing well and having a nice holiday season.  I have not written in awhile and feel out of practice.  I have two weeks off of work which is great.  Last week, we held a Holiday Pop-Up Shop at my campus for our students since they lost many of their toys due to Hurricane Harvey.  The Holiday Pop-Up Shop was a success and will bring smiles to many students’ faces.  

As for me, I have had a lot more “free” time and I am not going to MD Anderson as frequently as before.  I met with my oncologist a few weeks ago and she said that I am doing well.  She also prescribed Tamoxifen for me to take every day for the next 10 years.  The drug is an estrogen blocker.  I was estrogen positive, which means that excess estrogen played a factor in my breast cancer diagnosis.  The medication will block estrogen that I produce.  Just like any medication, it comes with a list of side-effects.  To be honest, the side-effects haven’t been bad or I guess I haven’t really noticed them.  I did have a dull headache the first few weeks, but I don’t seem to have one anymore.  

I also went to the plastic surgeon.  He said that my radiated skin is looking really good and I will have reconstruction surgery in June.

TW and I also went to a fertility doctor that works with women that have had cancer.  I must remain cancer free for 2 years before trying anything to get pregnant.  A lot more was discussed at the meeting, I may save that for another post…  My main focus is myself and staying cancer free.  

It is hard to believe that my treatments have come to an end, but there is not a day that goes by that I do not “think” about cancer.  I feel like I was given a second chance at LIFE and I view things totally different than I did before.  I am a different person than I was on February 2, 2017, the day I was diagnosed.  With that being said, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Anchored in HOPE, 

JW