Making Strides

Taking a break from all of the pain talk (boooo pain; it's still here), I've decided to sign up for the American Cancer Society's Making Strides Against Breast Cancer walk on October 12!  It'll be just a nice little morning walk compared to the 3-day (60 miles!) I did a few years ago, but this one is hitting much closer to home.  My fundraising goals are definitely doable, so I'm sharing the link here in case you haven't been on Facebook today/checked your email (I'm sorry in advance for soliciting).  Please take a moment to visit my fundraising page to contribute, or walk with me if you're in the Mpls area that weekend! Let's go Team Schober!

Ma ma ma ma ma ma ma ma madness

I promise I haven't forgotten to update, we've just been crazy busy and have a few more weeks of the madness before things slow down! 

Not much to report on the cancer side of things; I've been waking up sore every day so that's fun. The muscles in my chest and arms have been really tight and I've been trying to stretch as much as possible.  I think sleeping in my in-law's guest bed over the weekend, long jaunts in the car, short walk/runs, and playing kickball are all playing a part in the soreness.  I'm just overall not being very cautious with my body anymore and I think it's telling me to slow down.  Who has time to slow down though, when there's so much fun to be had? 

We got home Sunday night from a great weekend in WI!  We spent time with Jason's parents, cousins and aunt, went to Lauren's (one of the two cousins we saw) bridal shower, and to the Packer's (GO PACK!) v. Redskins game on Sunday with our good friends Andrew, Joelle, Robin and Emily.  It was a packed (see what I did right there?) weekend with little sleep, loads of fun and awesome memories made.

The girls and I dancing with the Tundra Line at Lambeau Field and some snapshots from the game.  We're super excited about our cool new Packer's sunglasses :)

Let the craziness continue (oh, and only 50 days until NBD)!

BRCA

So with much encouragement from my care team, I finally had blood drawn and sent off to see if I test positive for the BRCA1 or BRCA2 gene.  I wasn't hesitating because I'm afraid of the results; believe me, after being diagnosed with cancer I think I can handle gene test results.  I'd made a note to schedule it, pasted it to my computer, and then each time I saw it, looked past it.  It just started blending in with my surroundings ha!

If I remember correctly from the gene counseling session I had before my surgery, it was discussed that I have a 17%(?) chance of having a mutation (fun fact: we all have the gene, it's just a matter of it mutating or not that causes breast cancer).  That could be way off, but it'd be nice to know (and nice if one of my parents would get tested too) so I can tell any potential affected family members that they're at risk too.  I should find out the results in 3-4 weeks, so I'll keep you updated.

Go Mode

After having my final, yes final, expansion on Thursday last week, I met with Dr. Howe on Friday morning to discuss how the tamoxifen is going.  I'm having the very typical side effects: hot flashes and night sweats (hot) so nothing to be too concerned about.  He was so impressed with my blood work that he told me I could officially tell people that I'm cancer free.  Did you hear that!?  Cancer FREE!  Gone, zip!  Of course as I was finally finishing my last thank you notes yesterday, (writing it in every single one) I couldn't help but wonder if I'm totally jinxing myself by celebrating and blabbing to everyone about it.  On the other hand, I think I deserve the bragging rights - it's the best news I've had all summer!

Bringing me to my next topic: my energy level.  I don't know if it was the great news on Friday or the fact that I got some heavy duty relaxing in this weekend, but I've been like the energizer bunny lately!  I've been working out and kicking butt on annoying little house projects I've been putting off.  I've even been able to squeeze an episode of Orange is the New Black once a night (one more episode left... dreading the end of that hour, Season 2 needs to be available pronto!).

Loving and living life; only 58 days until New Boobs Day :) We finally broke the two-month barrier people!!

Long Winded

Jason's aunt Colleen is a genius and suggested that I write to Ellen, you know, that Ellen, to see if she'd be willing to help out with my pajama project (ohhh boy, let's call it the Pajama Project! I'm seeing logos flash in my head!).  Of course!  Ellen helps so many people, and this could be a way for her to really make an impact.  I wrote up a page and a half explaining my story and how much I love the pajamas and why everyone having a mastectomy should own their own pair.  Then I realized I had to stay within 1,500 characters.  Wom womp.  I whittled and deleted, bringing what was originally well over 4,000 characters down to the 1,500 requirement, on the nose.  Here's what I submitted:

On 6/14/13 at the ripe age of 28, I was diagnosed with breast cancer. I had a bilateral mastectomy soon after, and during my recovery was given a Victoria’s Secret Supersoft Short PJ Set. I was preaching about how much I love them day in and out when it occurred to me that I needed to do more. I had an idea to gift a pair of these pajamas to every woman going through a mastectomy. Sadly it’d be a lot of pajamas and I’m not Scrooge McDuck with a vault filled with gold coins, so being a part of the social media world we live in, I reached out. I wrote a review on the VS website (by Cassie61413 on 8/12/13 – check it out!) hoping to give a gentle “hint hint.” I also submitted a short essay to Fab-U-Wish through BrightPink.org, acknowledging the fact that we’d need some collaboration between multiple, huge organizations to make something so big happen.

So far I’ve heard nothing, and that’s where you come in (third time’s a charm, right?). I’ve seen you and your sponsors give out some pretty hefty checks to very deserving people. As someone who has been through it herself, I believe that anyone having a mastectomy, single or double, is more than deserving of a little comfort. Is it at all possible that you would be willing to be the bridge between the Victoria’s Secret pajamas and patients as they leave the hospital? I know this is such a major request and it will involve many moving parts, but how worth it if even one person feels the comfort I felt? Thanks for your consideration!

I really do hope that the third time is a charm and she's interested in this project!  

Support Group

Yesterday afternoon I met with the breast cancer support group that Lynnae and Carrie (my two angels from the pre-surgery days) host once a month.  The topic was nutrition, and so fitting too because I've been doing some pretty hefty research on combating hot flashes.  I was, as expected, the youngest in the group of a dozen women, and we had a great conversation about soy, ground flax seed, and a plant-based diet.  I'm pumped to try a few things and see how they affect the side effects!

Tomorrow I have one more (I won't say last this time, I might change my mind again) expansion.  I know, I know, I thought I was going to be done too. I'm liking the size I'm at right now and Dr. Heinrich wants me to over-expand so she has room to work with.  My lovely sister Rachel is chauffeuring me to my appointment and I'm excited for her to meet the wonderful staff at the clinic I go to.

Total side note: I'm super sore from 1) dancing my booty off at the wedding over the weekend and 2) playing kickball last night.  Not as ready to jump into activity as I thought :(

More later this week - this gal is exhausted!