Surgery one of three complete!
The first of three surgeries was on Sept. 15th and it went very well. This surgery was the ovary, tubes, and uterus removal and there were no obvious signs of cancer at the time of the operation. I'll know more in the coming weeks when my pathology report is completed. Fingers crossed that I have dodged a bullet on this one!
This surgery was the most intimidating of the three for me because of the lasting negative impacts that it will have on my health. I am a stubborn person, and I am still feeling angry and frustrated about the lifestyle changes I need to make to protect myself from osteoporosis, neurodegenerative disease, and heart disease - but in the end it is better than battling cancer again. At least there are things that I can do to counteract most of the things that come with surgical menopause. So, despite my heart's desire to cancel the surgery and wait it out a while longer I made myself do this hard thing. Logically I knew that in the end my life is better when I am not at high risk of ovarian or uterine cancer. Now that this surgery is complete, my overall risk of ovarian cancer has been reduced to 3-4% for my lifetime.
You might be thinking "Wait Nicole, you no longer have ovaries or fallopian tubes, so shouldn't your risk be 0%?" Well... unfortunately no. There's a layer of tissue that surrounds all of our major organs in our abdomen as well as the abdominal wall. Those cells are the same kind of cells that make up ovaries and fallopian tubes. These cells could still go rogue on me and turn cancerous - but this is pretty rare and at least I know I am susceptible to it. For more information about Primary Peritoneal Cancer you can follow this link.
For the past week or so I have been having an easy recovery at home. Lots of taking it slow, asking for Tim's help, and not lifting anything over 10 lbs. This includes my cat TK because he's overfed and squishy. I think I'll be back to driving this week (had to take a 2 week break) and will start to get more and more mobile as the weeks go by.
My next big surgery is Nov. 4th, and that one will be the double mastectomy with reconstruction. That's going to be another surgery that will reduce my mobility for a bit - mainly because I'll have Tyrannosaurus Rex arms for a while and will once again have lifting restrictions. Between now and then I am going to try to do all the fun things I can ahead of locking myself down about two weeks ahead of my next surgery.
While in Montana we also go to see cousins, aunts, and uncles. It was great to reconnect with everyone, spend quality time together, and to get in so many hugs. My cousin also gifted us a getaway to a cabin in the Paradise Valley just north of Yellowstone Park. We mostly lounged around in hot springs and ate delicious food while enjoying the cool summer days and nights. It was glorious not having great phone reception for an extended period of time too! A little disconnect from phone calls from my medical team felt like a nice change of pace ahead of the fall full of surgeries.
Beyond my surgery update, we were able to make the trek to Montana to see my grandfather in late August. It was so good to see him! He turned 99 this summer and had suffered a heart blockage in the early spring when I was in the throws of my chemo treatment. I worried that I wouldn't be able to see him again, but he's thriving in his senior living community and we were able to spend a lot of time with him during our visit. We lucked out and were there for his flight with the non-profit organization Dream Flights. This summer the organization used their 7 Stearman biplanes to give World War 2 veterans flights around their local area. My cousin Jen learned about this opportunity and signed our grandfather, Bob, up for a flight. Dream Flights sent a crew to Great Falls and my grandfather and his friend HT were able to participate in the program. The flight even made the local news - my grandfather is Montana Famous! :) Here's the link to the news story: https://www.krtv.com/feel-good-friday/wwii-veterans-take-a-dream-flight-in-great-falls
Enjoying a day at Yellowstone Hotsprings
Catching a concert at Emigrant Outpost
Enjoying morning coffee on the cabin's porch
Beyond the excitement of a trip to Montana and my first surgery we have been trying to enjoy each day as it comes. We've celebrated the "donut days" of other friends with cancer, made runs to German grocery stores for yummy food, and been baking lots of bread.
My hair is coming back thick and curly! My hair had some natural curl to it, but these curls are sturdy and stubborn. They're called "chemo curls" because many people experience curly hair after chemo due to the damage that the hair follicle endures during treatment. It's going to be fun to try out a short and curly hairstyle for a while!
I had my first haircut in months right before I went to Montana and it feels great to look like I chose to have short hair. The look is so convincing that I was approached by a woman in Montana who wanted to know where I got my haircut - she wanted to have hers as short as mine! I played it off as if this was intentional and we talked about going to a barber who is skilled at trimming short hair. It was a fun way to start to embrace my new look.
We both hope that you're doing well! If you find yourself in our neck of the woods we'd love to see you. Sending you all the love in the world!
Nicole & Tim
