Hello friends! I’m very sorry for the delayed update. After surgery it’s taken me quite some time to recover but also I’ve been so busy because I’ve tried to get back to “normal life” as much as possible and with the kiddos back in school they’ve really given me no choice! Surgery went great, I was so lucky to have one of the best surgeons in the world at Mayo. Recovery for everyone is different, and I’m doing a little more each day. They removed 8 lymph nodes from the right side of my body and those all came back negative for cancer, but having those removed has put me through some extra soreness and limited my movement with my right arm. I do believe my oncology team was convinced there were going to be cancer cells in some of those nodes so to have those come back negative was such great news. And the great news didn’t stop there. A couple days post-op I got a call from my surgical team and the pathology report from the breast tissue removed during my surgery came back completely negative and ZERO remaining cancer cells were found. Meaning one thing- I’M CANCER FREE! It’s honestly still so surreal to even say, I feel like I’m going to jinx myself by even mentioning it. But it has truly made everything I’ve been through since January so worth it. All the chemo, all the sick days and all the setbacks, the emotional rollercoaster, the good days and the bad days, ALL WORTH IT. It’s been both the longest 10 months ever and also has gone by like the blink of an eye. I honestly never imagined I would get here, but also knew I would at the same time. 

With all that said, my journey still isn’t over. Last week I met with my radiology team and I will still continue to receive radiation as a part of my treatment. We discussed both continuing with radiation and removing it completely and I decided in the beginning of this process I would attack this disease with every avenue available to me. Because of the great response I had to chemo I am able to lower the total number of radiation sessions to 15, lowering my total exposure to the radiation and also taking less of a toll on my body. I am still hoping to receive proton radiation, and will find out more about that at my next appointment in the beginning of November, shooting to begin my 15 treatments mid November! 

This is where I take a minute to thank all of you, everyone who has followed my journey. Everyone who has sent their thoughts, prayers, good vibes. Everyone who has sent meals, gift cards, flowers, care packages or gifts. Everyone who has reached out, sent messages, cards, texts, calls, kept in touch. I hope you all know how much it has meant to me and my family and how without your support I don’t know how I could’ve made it through. You’ve helped me stay positive, stay strong, and helped me get through every step of this journey. I’m so lucky for so many different reasons but I’m just really lucky to be surrounded by such amazing love and support. Thank you all so so much 💗