Why can't I just get a straight answer????

I had a good appointment with Dr. B. today. We started off talking about the bleeding issue. The ultrasound report had not been read by the hospital yet but he told me he really was not too worried. He felt like it was a symptom of menopause or a side affect of the Arimidex that I began taking after surgery. He said that if it continues for more than a few more weeks I should check back in with him.



We talked about the hair loss issue. Got the same answer….either a result of menopause or side affect of the Arimidex…he said it was pretty common and that he had never seen anyone lose too much…I wish I would have said “exactly what is too much”???? Just four more years of this drug…UGH!!



The Arimidex is known for causing a lot of joint pain…we talked about that and I told him that the only issue I have noticed is that my left wrist is very stiff and painful in the mornings. Hopefully, this will be the only joint issue I have while taking this med…just won’t be playing too much tennis…good thing I don’t play anyway!!! J



I asked him if there was anything new with treatments or vaccines. He told me about a few new clinical trials he has started and told me that he does believe that we will see more vaccines coming out in the future to try to prevent cancer…I have read quite a bit about these and I am so hopeful that we will see more of these be developed and approved for use. As we were finishing up he said “you are doing great, I would not put you in any trial..you are cured”…I started to cry which I guess kind of confused him….he didn’t know if I was happy or upset about not going into any trials… I got up and gave him a big hug and told him how much I love to hear him say that I am cured. As he walked out he looked back and said “I don’t just say that to make you feel better…”




On my way home from work the surgeon called...it's never good when they call instead of the nurse....she said that the ultrasound showed the endometrial lining had increased from 8mm to 13 mms and that was too much of an increase that quickly. Thickening of the lining can be a sign of pre cancer or cancer of the uterus. It can also just be from the meds or menopause...UGH!! We are going to do a uterine biopsy on the 8th - this will check to see if there are any cancer cells present. She explained everything very well and said that she is very optimistic that we will NOT find cancer. I'm just sick of tests and more waiting but hopefully everything will turn out just fine...I had a uterine biopsy when I was first diagnosed. It is done in the office and it goes pretty quick...it's pretty painful but as long as it's quick and I don't get anesthesia I am ok with it.


It’s already been a long week and I am so ready for the long weekend. My heart has been heavy worrying about JD and family. They had a really rough weekend with seizures and were back and forth to the hospital a couple of times. When I got home tonight I heard that he had just had another 10 minute long seizure and they were taking him by ambulance to Indy. I hate that they have to go thru any of this but Sue has such amazing faith…she is certainly an inspiration to so many. Please keep them in your prayers!!!



Speaking of Sue…HAPPY BIRTHDAY DEAR FRIEND – I love you…she is a 4th of July baby!!!



The rest of the Middleton clan is just fine..looking forward to a fun 4th of July weekend with family and an extra day off from work!! YIPPEE!



Jillian lost BOTH of her two front teeth on Saturday…the permanent teeth were already pushing in behind so she will not be toothless for too long. We spent a lot of time at the pool and had a fun night at the Hulefeld’s on Saturday night. We played Rack-O – do you remember that game?? I KICKED their butts! I took all the fixins to make banana splits after dinner…they were awesome and the kids enjoyed it…a perfect summer treat! I missed the Strawberry Hill Sunday Night Pool Party – Maria planned a great Fiesta. I went out for Mexican with a group of friends but was able to stop by the pool afterwards for dessert.



I was very sad to hear about Nick Mayer passing away this week. My thoughts and prayers go out to his entire family. I will always remember us having our picture taken together at Eric’s graduation party and joking about being “Bald Buddies”…he was being treated for lung cancer….



Have a safe and fun 4th of July....

Menopausal Women Are Hotter!

My new motto!

Nothing new to report...just came across this saying and liked it....

Ultrasound in the morning...Dr B on Tuesday...will report back in after that!

An unexpected ultrasound...

Update: the ultrasound was cancelled due to the power being out last night...we had some rough storms roll in over the night. They finally called and told me to come at 7:30 on Monday. I kept searching with Dr. Google today and did see that it is very rare to bleed on arimidex but maybe that is what is going on...I see Dr. B. on Tuesday so hopefully he will make me feel better about all of this.

Please say an extra prayer for JD...not sure what is going on but I read that he is at the hspital due to a seizure tonight...I'm sure Sue and Jack are terrified...please pray that it is not the tumor.....


Well, I have to go in to the OBGYNs office at 7:30 tomorrow for an ultrasound. I could not believe that I was feeling like I was going to have a period this week....the headache, cramps, zits...all too familiar. The spotting started today...I wasn't too concerned but I thought I should check in with the surgeon...the nurse that took the call seemed very alarmed when I told her what was going on and said she would check with the doctor and call me back...within a few minutes they called back to say come in for an ultrasound at 7:30....great...now I am worried...of course "Dr. Google" just comes up with uterine cancer or other stupid cancers....time to quit the google searches!!! Have I said lately how much I HATE CANCER?????

So sad about Farrah today....she fought such a courageous battle...I wish she and Ryan would have been able to get married....Barbara Walter's said theirs was the greatest of Hollywood love stories..her suffering is now over and I am thankful for that....

Happy Father's Day...

I hope all the Dad's out there had a fantastic Father's Day...Happy Belated B-day to my nephew Eric and my friend Penny!

Wow – summer is flying by…we have been keeping busy but having lots of fun. This past weekend was crazy…Jillian finished up her week of vacation bible school on Thursday so she was pretty tired by the time Friday rolled around. We had made plans on Friday night to attend the Midsummer Arts Festival and even though the heat index was 100 she and I still went and had a great time. Bret was down in Cinci at a Red’s game with some friends. After the art fest I dropped Jillian off at home with Tyler and went to a party for the Mother’s and More group….it was a couples dinner and I was amazed by how many people I had “connections” with. One gal grew up in Amherst which was very close to Vermilion and one of our big high school rivals. One of the husbands grew up in Crawfordsville where I lived for 11 years after leaving Vermilion and then another husband grew up in Stone Mountain, GA which bordered Conyers which was where I worked when we lived down there….who knew Cinci was such a melting pot!! Anyway, it was a great party.



On Saturday we packed up the van and headed over to Bart’s to celebrate Father’s Day with Bret’s family. Bret’s Dad and Nancy met us over there. We had a fun day watching the kids swim and play together and a nice cook out that afternoon. I had come up with a plan that we should all sleep out in tents….I don’t think anyone except Jillian was too excited about my plan but almost everyone had agreed that we would do it. All the kids were very excited as tents started to go up but Bart could not locate their family tent so a great deal of confusion was created trying to figure out a plan of who would sleep where??? I finally suggested that I would sleep with all of the kids in the Galberg Taj Mahal tent that we had borrowed from our wonderful neighbors. The kids all agreed to the plan (all the adults were more than willing to agree) so we started loading in air mattresses, inflatable sleeping bags, stuffed animals, favorite blankets and pillows, books, etc. While we were fixing s’mores, playing with glow sticks and catching lightning bugs Hollyn decided her tummy didn’t feel well and she should probably sleep inside…1 down…..it was finally time for us all to load into the tent. Once we got everyone in the tent and into their agreed upon sleeping position Chance announced that “he really didn’t like new things (sleeping in a tent) and since he didn’t have his night light he should probably sleep inside…2 down….Jillian and Paige and I settled in and decided we would each make up princess tales to share….we did that for a while and when I said it was time to quiet down Paige (the youngest of the group) decided she was afraid of the dark and should probably sleep inside…3 down….that left Jillian and I in the BIG tent with 2 queen size air mattresses, 3 blow up sleeping bags, 1 normal sleeping bag and a variety of blankets, pillows, stuffed animals and books. Jillian decided she wanted to get out of her inflatable bed and sleep with me so the two of us cuddled up in the corner of the tent and went to sleep….until the cat tried to attack me thru the screen…scared the shit out of me and since it was dark I didn’t realize it was Bart and Amy’s cat and it probably would have been much happier in the house just like all their kids! You all know how much I “love” cats but don’t worry…I didn’t kill it or anything like that…just did my best to “strongly encourage” it to go away….it came back…scared the shit out of me again…..by 6:00 the cat was pretty frustrated and it launched a major attack on the screen right by my head…TENT TIME WAS OVER!!! I grabbed my favorite pillows and Jillian and into the house we went. I went downstairs to the comfy guest bed and slept a few hours. Now I know why I don’t camp very often but I am glad that we did it…J



After loading everything back in the van it was time to head home. Once we unpacked we spent the afternoon at the pool and then that evening we had a wonderful Father’s Day Cookout with our neighbors….what a weekend but it really was a great one with many great memories!



Not much new with medical issues. I got new glasses a few weeks ago and I was amazed how nervous I was during the exam…I think it’s that stupid air puffer but you would think that after everything that I have had done to me this would be a breeze! I also went for my yearly skin cancer screening and all was fine with that. Next week I go for my three month check up with Dr. B. Last Wednesday marked 21 months that I have been cancer free….I am really looking forward to hitting that two year mark in September. I don’t have much to talk to Dr. B. about next week. The main topic will be hair loss…yep, I think I am losing hair again or it is thinning quickly. From my research I have found that it is a “not so common” side affect of the aromatase inhibitor (arimidex) that I started taking in May after having my ovaries removed. The plan is that I will take this drug for 4 more years which should reduce my risk of recurrence. Within the last few weeks I have really noticed my hair coming out in the shower and it’s starting to look thin in the front. This obviously does not make me happy….we will just have to wait and see what his opinion is next week…UGH, cancer…the gift that just keeps on giving….



I have finally gotten some motivation to start thinking about a revision surgery on the foobs and finishing them up with tats. I have made an appt with another plastic surgeon to get a second opinion on what my options are to fix some of the denting, rippling, etc. on the current ones. I have also been researching tattoos in place of nips….I don’t think there is anyone in Cinci that does this…I have found two permanent make-up artists that are now offering this service to breast reconstruction patients…they call it 3-D nipples because it basically is a tattoo of the nipple and areola but from what I have seen they just look like the real deal…it will be a while before I am ready for that stage but I know I just need to go ahead and get moving again…I just think it will make me feel better and not like I am still in the middle of all this…maybe some closure…



Well, that’s probably more than enough info on nips, tattoos, etc. Thanks for checking in on us. I hope everyone is having a great summer full of wonderful memories…cherish each and every moment…life is short!

A great message!

"I CAN DO ALL THINGS THROUGH CHRIST BECAUSE HE GIVES ME STRENGTH"

Jillian was singing this on the way home from vacation bible school (pirate theme)...it was so sweet and it just made my heart feel good!!

A few pics from the weekend!

It would appear that I have become a little addicted to snapping photos of our friends and family...I love it...can't wait to get home and get them downloaded. These are a few from last weekend. We had our neighborhool end of year pool/pizza party on Fri night. On Saturday we went to stay with the Hulefeld's down on the Ohio River...Sunday eve we were back and ready for our Sunday Night Pool Party ...a perfect weekend with wonderful friends!!!! I hope you enjoy the pics!

All is well!!

Just a quick note to say all is well. So thankful today that JD is doing so great with his new chemo plan!!! I will type more later...too tired tonight...long day - 11 hour road trip up to northern Ohio to have a meeting with a customer...I just sat in the passenger seat and "yapped" poor Mark's ear off all day...poor Mark!! I did convince him that we needed to stop and eat at Dutch Heritage on the way back...YUMMY Amish cooking- two servings of cream corn and chocolate drizzled peanut butter cookies...my tummy is very happy tonight!!

Thanks for checking in!