Ten Years Starts Today

Kim went in for her surgical consultation on Monday of this week. The great news is that the tumor has gone from 3.7 cm to just a bit of 2 cm. Her lymph nodes have also diminished in size though she we be having three of them removed. We went with high hopes that the plan for surgery would be a quick in and out and I'll say that maybe we were flying a bit to high off of the chemotherapy finish.

The surgery will likely be an outpatient procedure on Thursday December 15th though there is a chance Kim may spend the night. It really will depend on what  Dr Johnson discovers during surgery and Kim's comfort level with the drain she'll have in place to manage the lymph node removal healing process. Man, what a bummer. Recovery from the lumpectomy and lymph node removal will have Kim toting a surgical drain for at least a week. There's also a risk of lymphedema, swelling and pain in the arm on the side of the removal. Kim is confident in the surgery process but very worried about long-term effects such as the arm pain. Dr Johnson is as good as it gets and we are confident that the procedure will go well. One benefit to the surgery on that day is the removal of the port in Kim's right chest. It'll be a big day.

Today was the first Thursday in four months that Kim did not return for chemotherapy on the alternating week. She's feeling better and better, her feet don't hurt as much. She also seems to mentally willing her hair and eyelashes to grow more quickly. 

But today is a day to note because it's the first day she's taken a Tamoxifen Citrate tablet. Tamoxifen is used treat breast cancers that test positive for estrogen receptors. It blocks the effects that the hormone estrogen has on cancer cells and lowers the chance that breast cancer will grow. By starting today she'll give the drug a few weeks to work the tumor size down even further. 

She will be taking this drug every day for ten years.

I cannot get my head around that time period. Add to this the possible side effects of hot flashes, nausea, fatigue, headache, and hair thinning and it's a quick end to the sense of joy and optimism we had just a week ago. Sure, we knew four months ago that this drug would be prescribed but it really hit home today standing in the kitchen as she added the tablet to her pile of vitamins and supplements. It feels like another member of the household to me. 

The bright side, right? Kim is strong and healthy and will only become even more so as we go on. To celebrate this fact the family is off to Seattle for the weekend. Art museums are good for each one of us. 

Here's to 2026