Some News & A Weekend Away

Here is the family at the Red Sox game this weekend!

So, I tried to post a new blog Saturday morning @ 4am before we left for Toronto, but I ran out of time and didn't want to miss the bus ride there, so you all had a weekend free of the Ramsgard news. Lucky you, cause it wasn't great news.

On Friday, I had my first appointment with the Radiation Oncologist, Dr. Bogart, one of Syracuse's best according to the CNY magazine this month. I happen to pick him becaue he was one of my first new friends when I moved to Syracuse all those years ago. The meeting was good and he explained all there is to know about radiation as it relates to me, Andy was there taking it all in as well. He also happened to have the pathology results I was still waiting to hear about from the Surgeon, so he shared those with me. It apprears when they took the breast "lump" and that extra 1 cm around it in surgery last week, that the 1 cm around it still has DCIS cells in it, in 3 different locations, which means they didn't get it all as they had hoped. Not great news, but still needed further info. from the surgeon as he was the one in there and could interpret what these results met to me.
So, we went to Shell & Marc's for dinner and continued to await the call from the surgeon. Let me tell you, if you awaiting what you know is already bad news, good friends, homemade chips & salsa, and a few mojitos help alot! The call came @ 6:32pm. The surgeon said he had already spoke with Dr. Bogart and asked if I had more questions. So the answer to my questions were:

1. yes, it is true, they did not get it all and there was involvement in 3 areas which isn't great, but it is still treatable.
2. He said he alrady took quite a bit of the breast tissue and as such, doing another lumpectomy would leave deformity and still require radiation & hormones.
3. He recommends a left breast mastectomy & reconstruction with hormone treatment following. no radiation needed as they are taking the boob and there is no lymph node involvement, that was still clear!
4. He also said some people also opt for the bilateral mastectomy, what I now call the "Christina Applegate" if they feel they will worry about reoccurance too much in the other breast or have a strong family history/test positive for the gene thing. He said research does not indicate a direct correlation of DCIS occuring in the other breast just because it occurs in one. Also, with doing a bilateral I will forego the radiation and possibly the hormones (I have a call into my oncologist to find out the answer to this as the surgeon didn't know for sure)
5. He recommends talking to the Plastic Surgeon now to see what he thinks about one versus two as far as comsmetic outcome. I have a call into him now and lets face it people, at this point, the cancer is going one way or the other and what is really important after all this is a nice set of boobs!

So, I have been doing lots of research on this all and reading about what other people choose to do and why and trying to figure out what will be right for me and Andy. I also have names from several of you and friends of yours that I can talk to who have been through this and I plan on talking with them too. I obviously also need to talk with the Oncologist and Plastic Surgeon and I am optimistic that will happen today.

I meet back with the Surgeon tomorrow for follow up from the surgery and to discuss what I want to do. I have a scheduled mtg. with the Oncologist on Wed. and I still planning on going to that and seeing if he can shed any more light on all this. So that's all for me right now, let's move on to happy stuff...

Rex had a great 10th birthday in Toronto watching 2 Blue Jay/Red Sox games back to back Sat./Sun. they lost the first one, but won on his birthday with Dice K pitching. (It was our first time seeing him pitch and it was awesome. Rex also got the treat of having his name on the scoreboard in the fifth inning. It was a quick trip up and back, but very memorable & a nice distraction. We also got Rex a signed Jacoby Ellsbury rookie card, which made him pretty darn happy! Andy, on the other hand, not so happy as he had no recliner to sleep in and sleeping in the hotel room chair just wasn't the same. Poor thing, he was happy to be home and weathered the pain of the bus ride well. He'd do anything to make sure Rex had a great time!

Andy is off to an appointment today. He is having another chest xray and meeting with his surgeon for follow up on the lungs and ribs. There are still occassions I will look over and see he is still pretty uncomfortable, but he keeps it pretty well hidden most of the time.

Thanks to all for all the incoming cards/flowers/snacks/meals/gifts. It warms our hearts to know we have such giving and loving friends.
Sherie

One Week Post Op

9.18.08

Andy and I on the Erie Canal trip(8.08)headed for some then unknown trouble ahead

I removed all the bandages and took a look at the boob, it isn't that bad! As I mentioned before, the lymph node removal scar is the worst and I can't wear shirts that cover it because it rubs against it, so I am forced to wear tank tops and expose you all to the ugliness. Some may say it is my attempt at getting sympathy, but it really just feels better with it exposed and nothing on it. If you make note of the scar when you see me and seem interested in more, I am sharing the bruising and other scar that is hiding under my shirt, I haven't had any waredrobe malfunctions yet with nipple slippage, but there's always that chance I guess. Funny, no men have wanted to see it, I guess it's pretty nasty looking for those with a week stomach and apparently men can't get past their week stomach enough even if it means seeing my boob! Seriously, the scar on my boob is minimal and on the underneath, so once the brusing is gone, you'll never know anyone took a clump of cancerous cells from there. It doesn't appear that there is any disfiguration or big hole. So, now my daily breast care routine includes:

1. taking the pain meds, as it is still pretty sore

2. rubbing on arnica gel for the bruising & swelling (thank you Ali & your clotting disorder for the knowledge and prompt deliver of the arnica)

3. applying mederma on the scars to reduce the incidence of visable scars in 6-8 weeks

4. rubbing on lavender oil for healthy breast restoration, to fight off infection, and cause it just smells good

It is amazing I have time for any other part of my body, my family, or any of you, but I am good at multi-tasking and organizing.

I called the Doctor yesterday to find out if they had the final report on my node and tissue evaluation. They still didn't and said they hope to have it today and would call. I see the Radiation Oncologist tomorrow for the initial evaluation and anticipate I will start radiation treatments within the next week or two.

So, yes I am out and about again, so careful on the roads if you see me. I drove myself to a hair appointment on Tuesday and had a lovely time with everyone @ Bijou. Kim gave me a book, "Are you there vodka, it's me Sherie". Ok, it didn't say my name, but I substituted my name in cause it should say my name.

The Ciaccios made us come to them for dinner Tuesday. It was nice eating out and having company. Lori was very strict with me and wouldn't let me help at all. Ruby hit her eye against a table while there and we had to rush her to Dr. Ciaccio's chair (he's an ER doc) where he administered emergency TLC and a dab of opthalmic ointment. The next morning Ruby got up and stood in my nursing line to have her treatment and I think she now feels she belongs to our ailing family. Rex's rash has resolved, sio he's due for something soon!

I had lunch with my parents and sister yesterday, my parents are heading to a NASCAR race today and wanted to make sure I was able to manage without them. Dad mowed the lawn before he went, thanks Roggie!

Went to Rex's 5th grade orientation last evening and had a chance to see alot of you, you all look so good! Mr. B is pretty enthusiastic and makes me want to be in 5th grade, the kids are going to have a great year!

So, about Andy.

He is back to a normal schedule at work. No time for naps again for him. He is tired by the time he comes home. PT has been going well and he is not using the sling as much, even in public, so if you see him and want to give him a big hug or slap, make sure you do it on his left side.

He still is trying to sleep in the recliner, but has even had nights where he can't sleep in that. Good thing he is use to getting by on little sleep. He's still quite uncomfortable, but putting on a good face.

Well, the boss is calling now asking for me to do some work, so work I will. I'll let you know as soon as I hear from the Doc about my final results.

Got my tickets for the Breast Cancer event at Mirbeau, Did you?

Sherie

NEWS ALERT! sherie takes a 2 hour nap!

NEWS ALERT: Sherie Ramsgard takes a 2 hour nap in the middle of the afternoon! It is true, I just woke up after sitting down in the recliner 2 hours ago. Either sports central was really boring or I actual can nap.
And what is this smut, TMZ, that is on @4pm? I love it! I know most of you are probably watching the big O or Ellen, but this TMZ is where it is at, it is like the Courtney Cox show “dirt”, but it is real. Move over E!, you may be being replaced on Sherie’s favorite entertainment show.

So, big day. I removed the bandages over the lymph node area. The incision is about 2 inch long, bigger than I thought it would be. No sutures, seems they used the super glue stuff. It is clear and no sign of infection. I covered it back up with a new, smaller bandage so as not to gross anyone out, although I will show you if you want to see it! I still haven’t changed the boob one. It doesn’t look like they took much with the bandage on, but I’ll wait a day or two on that one. The area is on the underneath of my girl, so I could easily pad it if I had to. I just have to keep telling myself an imperfect boob is better than no boob at all! And I just heard my plastic surgeon is retiring in December, so all you ladies I encouraged to get a boob lift, better stop procrastinating and make that call!

I am still trying to come up with a boob sling to wear in public so I can warn people to be gentle with their hugs due to the recent surgery to my left breast and also get the sympathy Andy gets when he wears his!
If I don’t come up with something soon, I may have to wear the tank top that exposes the lymph node incision and bruising around my arm pit.

Andy hasn’t napped all day today, he just stopped home for some medication and said his arm is killing him today. He has been in back to back meetings today and he is feeling it. Ms Maria is scheduled this evening for reflexology and/or cranial sacral work on both of us tonight.

Dinners have been great, we’ve had no repeats yet and a great variety of them. The kids have enjoyed trying them all and for the most part, are liking them.

We appreciate all of you working so hard to get us back on track. I suppose it is better than any of you having to throw the New Years Eve party this year if we weren’t better.

Sherie

UPDATES: via Sherie

So I did come home last evening. They let me go after I drank 2 glasses of water, ate 1 jello cup, and pee-pee’d 500cc’s! I asked what had to be done to go and that is what they told me, so I did it. The older lady in what was to be my room helped motivate me after she was moaning and groaning and called the nurse 5 times in the 1 hour I was there. I was home by 9:30pm. Unfortunately, by the time I came out of recovery I was no longer hungry and a bit nauseous, so no McDonalds either! My mom fixed me a nice bowl of oatmeal and a lortab and I was set for bed. I slept well in my own bed, left side prompted on pillows, Andy continues to hog the recliner for his night time as he still can’t lie recline flat.

Andy worked all day, My mom was here with me. She did laundry, cleaned the fish tanks, and reorganized the millions of cards and flowers you are all sending. It was starting to look like a funeral in our kitchen, so Helen suggested we spread the flowers out to the other rooms and Mom did a nice job hanging the cards up on the magnetic wall. In between all that she shopped for some kid essentuials, got my medications, and made me my meals. She said I make a better nurse than I do a patient. She said I was moving around too much and at one point said “I am going to kill you if you don’t lay down and rest!” Well, after having made it through surgery with such a great outcome I felt it was not my time to die, so I rested! Mom was also a great help the past few days, as she has been my whole life, so I would hate to see her go to jail for killing me.

As far as the recovery, it is not too bad. My boob feels fine, just a bit swollen. Where they took the sentinel lymph node however is sore and swollen. It was hiding behind my massive muscles, so they had to go a bit deep and it is right in my arm pit, so I can not lift my left arm or use it for much. Not to fret, together Andy and I have one full set of working arms! We are quite a pair right now. Can’t wash my hair, but Ruby said my braids were cute! The lortabs for pain are keeping me comfortable and nicely relaxed!

So, the Doctor said they are doing some more extensive testing today on the lymph node and breast tissue just to make sure they got it all. The initial testing yesterday was all good, but they like to look a little closer just to make sure and said they will have those results early next week.

Off to route on the Yankees, yes you heard me right, they are playing the Devil Rays who are 2 ½ games ahead of the Red Sox, so we want the Yankees to win this weekend!

Thanks for all those prayers and thoughts, they really helped keep me in a good place yesterday and continue to help me heal now. As the kids will be off at friends and family most of Saturday and Sunday, Andy & I will just be having crazy sex the whole weekend! Well, maybe not really, but in our lortab dreams!

Love ya all, Sherie and Andy

UPDATES: via Sherie

Andy has his first Physical Therapy session to get his shoulder moving as he has been in the sling for the past week for his broken collar bone, he survived. What he is not surviving is all the hilarious cards that you are all sending. He had to take an extra pain medicine yesterday after reading them all. Our kitchen island is filled with cards and flowers, thank you so much for all you well wished, Andy is feeling the love and laughter again.

I had my third massage this week in preparation for surgery tomorrow. Maria, the queen of Licensed Massage Therapist, said my body is relaxed and ready. She also gave me some lavender oil to help promote breast health and ward out virus and illness from being in the hospital. I feel good and smell pretty!

I have been listening to an empowering CD Shelly made me and eating lots, cause Ms. Bev said I would be hungry with no food after midnight! Apparently I can sneak in a few gin & tonics as long as its before 8pm.
All my lists are made and Mom and Dad are ready to fill in tomorrow with the kids and all their scheduled activities. Friends are helping with pick ups and drop offs from the kids different activities, dinners and goodies are rolling in, and lots of cards, emails, and comments on the blog fill my head with positive thoughts and energy. I even had some time to distribute popcorn to eager cub scouts getting ready to sell @ the P&C.

So, I am good and feel no worry or anxiety at this point. I have great Doctors and nurses to see me through everything tomorrow. Andy will be with me the whole day and will let all of you know how everything goes as soon as it is over.

Thank you all again for everything,
Sherie

ANDY updates - via sherie

Andy had 2 follow up appointments today. Dr. Pietropaoli, the top Orthopedic/sports Medicine guy this side of Auburn, saw him for his collar bone (In all honesty, Dr. P. is the Sports Doc.for the Auburn Doubledays, Syracuse Chiefs, & Toronto Blue Jays baseball teams, so our guy is in great hands!) It was a clean break and appears to be aligning nicely. He may have a small bump on his right collar bone once it is completely healed. He will start Physical Therapy @ Victory Sports this week to help get his shoulder moving again. His shoulder is a nice shade of yellow with hues of purple and red! I might add that his bones look sexy even on xray!

Dr. Wormuth, the ER/Thoracic surgeon saw him again today for his ribs and lung. It appears our boy broke 4 ribs, not the measly 2 we mentioned earlier (that according to Andy, gets him 2 more days in the lazy boy recliner). His lung is fully re- expanded and there is no blood or fluid leakage! He survived and worked it out without the dreaded chest tube they initially threaten. Yeah for Andy and a good set of lungs.

Overall,
1.Andy worked all morning, but was visible tired and ready for more pain meds and a nap after his appointments.
2. He has cut back on the narcotics, as they were making his head “foggy” and is using mostly the advil and muscle relaxant. He also got a pain patch today to try out, thank you Dr. Nathan for that suggestion!
3. He is driving around town, so be careful if you see him!
4. He re-visited the site of the accident over the weekend, the soy field is still matted where we landed, and he was very lucky people saw him flying through the air because he could have been lost in that field of soybeans for awhile. His skin has never looked better from lying in the soybeans!
5. He just had a reflexology treatment with our Maria and he is looking relaxed.

Everyone have a martini for him cause he can’t drink with all these meds.

Sherie

UPDATES: via Sherie monday 9-8-08

I called to clarify how things work on Thursday because a lot of people were asking questions about the timeline and it wasn’t making sense to them or me, guess I was zoning during the original explanation. So what they said today is: 10am – I am admitted to One Day Surgery Center @ Community. They send me over to Wellspring Breast Center, which is attached to Community.

At Wellspring:
*they will do more mammograms and locate the area of concern. They will do a needle localization where there put in a marker for the surgeon so he knows where to go and take the cells. (under local anesthesia)

*They will then inject some dye into the breast and locate the sentinel lymph node and remove that (still just local anesthesia) and send to lab for immediate evaluation.

Back to surgery center @ the hospital at this point where they will put me under general anesthesia
*they will start lumpectomy
*they will receive word from lab about lymph node findings and if they need to do more
*they also are immediately testing the tissue they are removing in the lumpectomy to test the borders. The *theory is to remove 1 cm. more around the area of concern and test the borders. If the borders are clear, *then they know they got everything. They keep doing that right there until borders are clear.

I will send Andy’s follow ups this evening once we get back.

Sherie

UPDATES: via Sherie

"Andy... just try and relax... just TRY it...just a little bit "

Sherie: I had pretesting on Thursday and I’m scheduled for surgery @ 10am on 9.11. (Thursday) I will have a sentinel lymph node removal first -where they test to make sure it hasn’t spread – may not know for a week. Then will have lumpectomy @ 3pm. If surgery is on time and I come out of anesthesia well, I’ll be home that night. If I need more time, I’ll be home next morning. My mom will be home with the kids, Andy will be with me.

Andy: had follow up with Doctor on Thursday. The extra air around his lung is going down, but still there, no blood! They will do another chest

x-ray and follow up on 9.8. No chest tube was needed as it seems to be resolving on own. Remains in a sling and a lot of pain, but comfortable with meds. Hopes to be back to working a bit more on Tuesday, but clients keep cancelling his meetings on him so he can’t work! Following up with Dr. Pietropauli on 9.8 for his collar bone.

Thank you to everyone for all the meals and snacks thus far. All the calls, emails, and cards too. Andy asks that you send more serious cards as the funny ones make him laugh and that hurts.

If anyone has any questions on any of the SurvivorMan or Myth busters, let Andy know, he saw every episode while in the hospital!