The Second Time is a Charm

I know, I know. I've been super lazy about keeping up with this blogging stuff. It's been a ridiculously long time since I last wrote an entry. But hey, no news is good news, right?! Since some of my readers are not on Facebook, let me catch you all up to speed with the "Life of Allyson".  Let me begin by saying, WE ARE FINALLY MARRIED! Yep, April 4, 2014 was the magical day. I can honestly say, married life has been wonderful. I feel as if Trevor and I fell in love all over again. It's the best feeling. I don't have all the photos from the wedding, but I have included a little "sneak peak" from our photographer Heidi. Ok, now to the "other stuff" (blah!)....

So yeah, I found another lump. In the exact same spot as the invasive tumor. Almost the exact day 2 years later. Found the exact same way as the first time around. Crazy? Yes. Coincidence? No. Yes, the same thoughts swirled my head as I'm sure are swirling yours right about now. How the heck can this be possible?! I have no breast tissue. Had lymph nodes removed. Have been on medication (Fareston) for 2 years. How?! Well, we will never 100% know exactly why or how it reoccurred. There is a theory that I'm just gonna stick to, because it's the only logical theory. All it takes is 1 teeny tiny microscopic cell to be left behind. Just one! Scar tissue formed around it, preventing blood to get to the cell, which prevents the medication from attacking it. Yes, all this developed the first week in January, so not only did we have to deal with this, BUT we had a wedding to plan. You can imagine the amount of stress I was under.

I had another core-needle biopsy in February that revealed cancerous cells. March 10, I had a lumpectomy (which is kinda funny sounding to some one who has already had a bi-lateral mastectomy) to remove more tissue. I don't know what tissue they removed, because all I had in that area was muscle and skin. Luckily, I healed nicely with minimal scaring...which was a huge sigh of relief when the Big Day was finally here. My 8th surgery and 7th scar was done and over with. Now on the oncology side of things.

Oh man, I don't even know where to begin with this topic. I don't think I have been more frustrated in my life dealing with a doctor than I have with my oncologist over the past 4 months. The time spent in the waiting room versus the time spent in the actual room with him is quite displeasing. Don't get me wrong, he is top notch in the field of oncology, however his bed-side manner lacks. I cannot tell you how many times we left his office feeling more confused and frustrated. We would wait for over an hour for literally a 3-5 minute talk that would tell us nothing. NOTHING! It was almost as if he never looked at my chart. Let's not get into the "additional tests" that took 2 WHOLE MONTHS to get around to. Yeah, I will spare those details. After several visits to his office, I finally was told I would need 3-5 weeks of radiation. No chemo (THANK the LORD!), but I will need iv-like injections once every six months. Oh, and the side effects of that are lovely! I get to go through menopause at the age of 35 and experience hot flashes. Aren't you jealous?! lol I am so thankful though we have embryos harvested from 2 years ago. Technology is amazing, and I will be forever grateful when the time comes to use them. :) I told my oncologist that I did not care nor was I scared of the treatment. I just wanted to get it done and over with, so I can move on with my life.

Today I met with my radiation oncologist, who was quite thorough and gave us so much more information than my medical oncologist. I was very pleased with him! I was quite optimistic about the visit and all the information we received about possible side effects, etc. It wasn't until I heard the words "6 ½ weeks of radiation 5 times a week"....which puts my last treatment literally 10 days before we depart for our honeymoon in Italy. I looked at him blankly and felt the knots in my stomach turn. If at any time during treatment my skin gets severely sunburned, they will have to "pause" treatment until it heals a little, then restart it. Then I face the possibility of not healing completely before we jet off. Of course, I am only hearing all the negative things as he is telling me this. So, I've had to take a step back, take many deep breaths, tell myself not to stress and remind myself of how resilient my body has been over the past 2 years. I only had 1 bump in the road after my first surgery, but every other survey has been smooth. My body heals nicely and quickly.

So that's the reader's digest version of the past 4 months. Not too exciting except for getting hitched to the most amazing man ever! I have faith every thing will work out, and we will soon be on our honeymoon. Thanks for all the love and healing words!

xo,
"Mrs. Lyle"