Breathe in for 4, pause for 4, exhale out for 4

Here is the overdue update for those that are curious. My team has decided to take break/pause for my liver enzymes to settle down before my laparoscopic HIPEC procedure coming up so April 23rd was my 10th and final chemo as of now and so far so good, my blood lab liver numbers are slowly but surely improving.

Albeit I am a bit anxious as this will entail a full 8 weeks of not being on systemic chemo (5wks before and 3wks after) I also will be doing a PET scan the day before the procedure to establish a status to see if I can move forward with chemo/radiation or full gastrectomy. I while I am under also will be doing another upper endoscope with biopsies and a quick liver biopsy. Might as well get the full menu available :-).

Pre-op appts that entail labs, EKG, PET scan and two appointments (one with the anesthesiologist and one with the surgeon will happen the day before) The day of surgery will take approximately 4/5 hours and one or two nights of admission. Interesting enough, Mayo just yesterday posted a bit about the HIPEC procedure on their page.

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I already have the pleasure of chatting online with Dr. Grotz and I look forward to one day meeting with him in person to proceed with the bigger surgery of gastrectomy. His knowledge and experience has definitely made me feel very comfortable. I only wish he could fly down to Florida, rather than me having to head over to Rochester Minnesota, but when it comes having the best, you go where they are.

So despite the anxiousness of this break, I have tried to take full advantage of it. I planned out things for each weekend to look forward to, from a nice weekend at Sanibel with the hubby, to getting dental cleaning in (something you can’t do during treatment), to even going back to Space Center at Cape Canaveral. Nothing like seeing up close the humanity immense capability to innovate.

Overall just trying to keep me busy, so my mind won’t have time to overthink. Tho I do wish i could have gotten some new ink (tattoo) on this break but that will have to wait. I’ve also been working hard on continuing to gain some weight and I am happy to say that I am currently just shy of 3lbs. to my pre-diagnosed weight. There are so many things I took for granted in this world that now are dear to my heart.

• Eating to your hearts content without nausea or worrying about what it will do to your bloodwork each week.
• Getting old and getting wrinkles
• Not having to wear a mask due to your immunity being compromised
• Exercising without losing your breath or feeling major fatigue within 3 mins.

These are all privileges to be cherished.Today is blessing and if we have ever met, I want you to know that am luckily to have shared space with you, I do hope it was with a smile and a chuckle at life’s curveball moments. I appreciate all the wonderful energy and vibes you beautiful folks can give me on May 30th. Love you all!

And with that being said I also wanted to share this wonderful Self Magazine interview from this amazing woman that I was blessed to meet last month in Houston. My girl Alyssa Burks:

She is forever one my sisters in this realm, one that I can rely on to chat and bounce off each other in thoughts in treatment and in healing.

And as always here are the few photos moments I was able to capture during this break.