Well, it’s been a few weeks so I figured it’s time for another progress report! No news is good news, right? Pretty much! Last week I had my final appointment with my plastic surgeon Dr. Storm. He basically released me from his care, and said everything looks like it has healed from all the infection issues. So awesome!! Kylie also had her final appointment with her foot surgeon last week who said – next time I see you will be at the grocery store. She was released to wear regular shoes with unrestricted activity. Three days later she was walking around Worlds of Fun amusement park with her friends! She says the foot still gets sore after awhile, but her mobility continues to improve and she’s doing better and better. Praise the Lord!!

My next appointment with my oncologist will be in November. So far I seem to be tolerating the latest hormone blocker Anastrozole fairly well. The urinary tract infection healed up and hasn’t returned. I’m still taking cranberry extract and D-Mannose to keep things healthy, and also increasing my water intake a bit more considering it’s summer time and I think the Anastrozole just dries me up. My tongue feels like I’ve burned it on hot food almost all the time, which is a little strange considering my mouth doesn’t feel exceptionally dry. Food still tastes fine. It does encourage me to drink more fluids, and I’ve started using the Biotene dry mouth rinse before I go to bed, which also seems to help!

I’ve had a few incidents with achy knees when I go downstairs after standing for a prolonged period of time (i.e. making soap!) which is how my joint pain started with Letrozole. However, my shoulder joints are still pain free and the range of motion in my shoulders is still SO much better! My legs still get restless sometimes, but again, I can combat that with exercise which I’m pretty faithful to do every morning now.

I did have to have a few conversations with the Lord about my thinning hair… You may not have noticed, but it is happening! I was really hoping to keep that super thick hair that came in after chemo. I’m trying out some new hair products and we’ll see what happens. I feel like I’m in the public eye more than most because of the Soap Challenge Club. They see me every month!

We’ve had a really fun summer with both of the girls home, and now we have about a week and a half left before they go to their respective colleges. It’s going to be a huge adjustment not having them here, and I will miss them dearly, but I do love being able to have this time with Kent. Before they leave, we get to celebrate my parents’ 50th wedding anniversary this weekend, and I’m very excited to see my relatives!