Ok, so, some background to help all of this make sense! In November of 2010 I found a lump in my throat - which was diagnosed, on January 10, 2011, as thyroid cancer following a total thyroidectomy. Thyroid gone, cancer gone (well, we hope so – rechecks for a few years and then I am off the hook – except for the new lifelong addiction to Synthroid but that is another post). Living life without a thyroid should be no problem right? WRONG!!! It took a long time to adjust to the medication, I had to have RAI (yet another post...), and my energy levels just tanked. There were many weeks that the only thing I could do was drive to work, come home, and sleep. I would wake feeling like I had been up for ten days! I just could not live like this! I started to read about my health issues and discovered that the human body is perfectly made - and therefore very capable of taking care of itself if give the right conditions. Conditions = food and exercise. The main focus of this blog will deal with those conditions but let me fill in a few more blanks...
Since I was in my late teens I have been abundantly blessed in the ‘knockers’ department - big boobs - wonderful ta-tas! But with a great gift comes great responsibility right? Something like that, anyway... The girls have brought with them their own plethora of issues and so I decided to see a plastic surgeon (June 2011) to discuss the possibility of a reduction. This lead to my second bad news of the year! In order to proceed with surgery I had to have a ‘calcification’ checked out. Long story short, after 2 long needle biopsies, one lumpectomy, and one MRI biopsy they determined that I had LCIS – lobular carcinoma in situ – or as one of my oncologists emphatically demanded I start calling it: lobular neoplasia. They found two other risk factors as well but those names escape me at this moment. Regardless of what I call LCIS the outcome is the same. What they found puts me at a significant risk (42%) of developing invasive breast cancer in the future! So, what to do? I can take tamoxifen (for 5 years – effectively reducing my risk to about 10%) and have mammograms and MRI’s EVERY SIX MONTHS FOR THE REST OF MY LIFE or I can skip the tamoxifen and just have the mammograms and MRI’s EVERY SIX MONTHS FOR THE REST OF MY LIFE or I can have a radical prophylactic by-lateral mastectomy, which would reduce my risk down to less than 1% and the mammograms would NOT have to happen EVERY SIX MONTHS FOR THE REST OF MY LIFE!!!!
After careful consideration I decided to do nothing – no more drugs and no surgery! My surgeon, wonderful man that he is, scared the sh*t out of me! He explained in great detail what he would do and because I have empathy for my fellow (wo)man I will keep those details to myself. So watch and wait it would be… Until I talked to my family doctor, who has been following my mountain of medical reports for the last year and a half, and decided that if possible (up to the insurance company at this point) I will have the surgery – probably in May of this year. My general practitioner spent over an hour with me discussing the pros and cons – all of which I had already done and just simply said that I would be me with or without my boobs! I think he said breasts but I heard boobs… During my whole adult life my breasts have been a major part of my identity. Not that it was the goal, it just happened. Now I am tackling the possible loss, or shall we say reconstruction, of that identity! Again, another post but one worth mentioning – feel free to comment!
So back to the focus of this journey:
Being well
Being healthy
Becoming one with my body
It is so easy to blame the woes of this world on someone else or something else but because of all of the medical drama in the past year plus I have had a lot of time spent alone in doctor’s office waiting rooms… a lot of time to think and wonder about how I ended up here. I also had time to read and read I did! I absorbed anything and everything I could about the human body and maintaining the human body! I know that after surgery the best thing you can do is to move, move your body and it will aid in the healing process. You have got to move it or lose it! I started thinking and reading articles on how the foods we eat can hurt us but also, if chosen wisely, they can help us. If I was going to fight this fight against cancer I needed to do something! I couldn’t just sit back and wait for the doctors to prescribe me pills or cut me open. I am a take charge kind of girl! While I knew most of what I was reading prior to all of this, it became crystal clear and so personal to me now. I could do my part but it would be radical and it would be all me!
So, on a road trip to Daytona Beach in December (2011) I decided to read the book Eat to Live by Dr. Joel Furhman. It was the beginning of the end of the old me!
Since January 2, 2012, I have lost 25 lbs, 3 clothing sizes, and significantly reduced my LDL and triglyceride levels! The transformation has been amazing! I have more energy than I had at 20! Did I mention that during the medical year from hell I turned 40! Yes, I know, I should have just dug the grave!
After careful consideration I decided to do nothing – no more drugs and no surgery! My surgeon, wonderful man that he is, scared the sh*t out of me! He explained in great detail what he would do and because I have empathy for my fellow (wo)man I will keep those details to myself. So watch and wait it would be… Until I talked to my family doctor, who has been following my mountain of medical reports for the last year and a half, and decided that if possible (up to the insurance company at this point) I will have the surgery – probably in May of this year. My general practitioner spent over an hour with me discussing the pros and cons – all of which I had already done and just simply said that I would be me with or without my boobs! I think he said breasts but I heard boobs… During my whole adult life my breasts have been a major part of my identity. Not that it was the goal, it just happened. Now I am tackling the possible loss, or shall we say reconstruction, of that identity! Again, another post but one worth mentioning – feel free to comment!
So back to the focus of this journey:
Being well
Being healthy
Becoming one with my body
It is so easy to blame the woes of this world on someone else or something else but because of all of the medical drama in the past year plus I have had a lot of time spent alone in doctor’s office waiting rooms… a lot of time to think and wonder about how I ended up here. I also had time to read and read I did! I absorbed anything and everything I could about the human body and maintaining the human body! I know that after surgery the best thing you can do is to move, move your body and it will aid in the healing process. You have got to move it or lose it! I started thinking and reading articles on how the foods we eat can hurt us but also, if chosen wisely, they can help us. If I was going to fight this fight against cancer I needed to do something! I couldn’t just sit back and wait for the doctors to prescribe me pills or cut me open. I am a take charge kind of girl! While I knew most of what I was reading prior to all of this, it became crystal clear and so personal to me now. I could do my part but it would be radical and it would be all me!
So, on a road trip to Daytona Beach in December (2011) I decided to read the book Eat to Live by Dr. Joel Furhman. It was the beginning of the end of the old me!
Since January 2, 2012, I have lost 25 lbs, 3 clothing sizes, and significantly reduced my LDL and triglyceride levels! The transformation has been amazing! I have more energy than I had at 20! Did I mention that during the medical year from hell I turned 40! Yes, I know, I should have just dug the grave!
What the book did for me: It gave me a road map, directions, a how-to guide to becoming one with my body. It explained why I needed to make a change and how I needed to change. I won't go into all of the details because I could never do it justice! I simply recommend that you read the book and then we can talk! There are several other books and web sites as well and I will share those as time goes on...
I became excited to be me again! ...and in my zeal I have had several friends jump on this ride with me and so in an effort to make getting new information to them as well as medical updates to far away friends and family this blog has been born. Feel free to comment, understanding that my kids and my dad will be able to see this so if there is anything less than appropriate I will delete; real is ok but rude without basis is just plain stupid! So glad you have chosen to come along for the ride.
Peace and blessings,
Lori
Couldn't get the hyper link to work on the test so here is Dr. Fuhrman's Web address: http://www.drfuhrman.com/default.aspx
No comments:
Post a Comment