Wow! It has been two weeks since my last radiation treatment. My, how time flies. I continue to feel better and stronger each day.  The skin in the radiated area has lost its redness and is not sensitive to the touch.  I am back to wearing my regular bras.    There is still tightness of deep tissue that needs to be gently massaged out.  This will be something  I will work for for weeks to come.

Last Monday I was able to clean my whole house, something I haven't done since October.  It felt wonderful to do be "back in the saddle"  I am back to exercising 3 times a week at Curves and walking on the in-between days.  I purchased a Walk at Home video (Leslie Sansone) and find it helpful on those days when going outside is just to cold or dangerous.  I am hopeful that exercising daily will keep the joint aches away.

So far the Arimidex has not caused me a great deal of negative side effects.  Dr. Quackenbush's nurse called last week to see how I was doing. In the course of that conversation I was able to ask about the effects on bone density and subsequently have a Dexascan scheduled for early next month.  This will give us a baseline to monitor my bones.  They also told me that I should be taking 1000 - 1500 mg of Calcium a day.  I am not sure what to think about that yet.  When I have taken Calcium before it causes my plumbing to slloooww way down.  the Arimidex has a side effect of constipation too. My question is; How and I going to deal with this for 5 years?     Surely there is some way to make this all work.

Good News:  more hair!    Preston says my hair  ranges between  1/8 & 1/2 in. long.   It looks like it might be a darker shade than my previous hair color, (that is... the hair that isn't white)   It is pretty much salt and pepper.

My eyebrows are filling back in and I have had to clean up the edges with tweezers.  Eyelashes are beginning to grow back as well.   Very exciting.

This week I am getting ready to be gone for a week to Hawaii. There are many loose ends to tie up and projects to finish, as well as pack for a week of SUMMER!   Preston and I are looking forward (with a little fear and trepidation) to a relaxing and FUN vacation (how is that done??)