Brent and I are sitting in the airport waiting to fly home to the kiddos.  We have been in Houston for the last 4 days as it was time for my first appointments since treatment concluded.  After being poked and imaged multiple times I’m happy to report that there is no evidence of disease in my body.  😊 I’m calling it cancer free!!! My blood work looks great and my tumor markers fell again since October (they were normal then just even lower now). My medical oncologist and my radiation oncologist were both very happy with how I’m doing tolerating my ongoing treatments (daily oral meds).  

Brent and I will fly back down June 3 and I will have surgery June 5 for reconstruction.  I will have a procedure called a DIEP flap.  It’s a 6-7 hour surgery, 4-5 day hospital stay and 2 weeks stay in Houston.  I will be off work for all of 6 weeks.  It’s a difficult surgery but I feel it’s the best path for me.  I will then have a revision surgery for scars in 4-6 months.  So I hope 🤞🏻 by the end of 2024 we are done with operating rooms!  

I will see my medical oncologist in 6 months but I don’t have to see radiation oncology for a year. At which time we will do ultrasound and cat scan.  He said expect there to be things (like fat deposits and fat necrosis) on those scans because of the DIEP surgery.  He said we just need a baseline and to ensure it isn’t malignant.  Once we have baseline then any changes will be easily detectable.  I will also start screenings for pancreatic cancer since I’m genetically at an increased risk.  I told Brent all of these screenings stress me out.  The actual imaging part doesn’t but the result outcome does.  Waiting for those results is torturous.  Even when I have no reason to believe they will be bad it is just nerve racking!  Nothing builds mental toughness like keeping your shit together while waiting for results like that!    The blessing in all of this, is that if something is detected it would be super early because I am screened so often.  

This morning I had to meet with high risk gynecology and ironically it was the PA that Chan used to see.  She hadn’t heard the sad news of her passing and was very sympathetic.  She said I remember seeing her in December and was surprised to hear she passed just shortly after that.  

All in all it was a perfect check up and for that I’m grateful 🥹 

XO,

Larissa