Tara's Blog - Week of Recovery

I'm well rested, 3 pounds heavier, and better than ever.. It's amazing what a week without chemotherapy can do to you!

I spent almost all of last week with my family in southern Illinois, shopping and what not. The day we arrived, my dad and Danny (my little brother) came down with the flu and were resting for about a day and a half. Now I'm not neutropenic, which means my white blood cell count is in the normal ranges, but I was still pretty cautious. Masks were not needed but vitamin C was a must. I felt great all week and ate pretty much anything. I felt like I had gained at least a little bit of weight and I did! 3 pounds to be exact ;) The burn from radiation is almost completely healed, allowing me to move around the house more and finally work out on my bike again. I don't have chemotherapy at all this week so I'm looking forward to riding my bike, hanging out with my family, and my favorite, FOOD.

Now for the GREAT news... The tumor is the smallest it's ever been! In fact I'm in the middle of completing another set of scans, and I just had the CT scan done today. One of my oncologists was so excited about how much smaller it has gotten that she had to call right away. My mom and I were smiling from ear to ear. I'll be back in tomorrow for some blood and a PET scan. Then, both MRIs and a bone scan will be done soon as well.

Let's hope surgery is an option after all of these scans! I'll have to do more chemotherapy after, but just getting the tumor out is my main concern.