From Betty, a sorority sister in Sequim

June 25, 2006

Sunday: A lazy day today with the temperature hovering near 100 degrees. Lois' tubes were worked pretty hard yesterday, so today she decided to "let it be." She relaxed all day: slept, read, and lounged. We ate dinner, then sat outside for a while, now it's shower time and preparation for the evening hours.

Tomorrow it's supposed to hit just over 100 degrees. I love it you know; I like to go out and sit in my car with the windows rolled up. I called Brooke and the gang and told them to come on over and get in the pool; the water's 86 degrees, perfect for cooling down on a hot day. Oh, and by the way, just kidding about sitting in the car. I roll the windows down.

Lois has many dear friends in Sequim. The following is from a sorority sister of hers, Betty. It was originally sent as an email, and I thought it deserved more; so after getting Betty's permission, I'm posting here for you to read. It's a great testimony from a very brave woman, one we're all proud to know and cherish.

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Lois,

I know how/hard waiting for results is. I checked your blog several times on Thursday awaiting news of the result. I had to wait seven days for my sentinel node results. My mastectomy was Aug 31 and the lab was closed for Labor day.

However, when we heard the cancer had not spread to the lymph nodes we were greatly relieved!! My surgeon installed a port on my right side during surgery because my Oncologist planned chemo treatment. Sleeping was very difficult at first because I am a side sleeper. My left side was tender from the surgery and the right had the port between by shoulder & collar bone. I was also very bruised from my waist to where my breast used to be. My surgeon says it is very common for slender people to bruise more. I know Rick was very relieved when my drain tube with collection bag was removed eight long days after surgery. Since I only had one bag I was able to attach it to my sweat pants that had a tie waist. I was told gravity helped the flow of the blood and the faster it flowed the sooner it would be removed!

Because the surgeon had clean margins and my lump was smaller than 2cm I did not have radiation. I did have four sessions of chemo every three weeks. My last chemo was right after Thanksgiving. I lost all my hair and spent four months BALD! Oct., November, December & January brrr.... My work was amazing and 25 people shaved their heads in support of me. WOW!! We even made front page of the Daily News. The gals at Copies Plus pitched in bought me a wig.

I had shoulder length red hair while I was bald. Many of my customers did not recognize me!! That was fun. I even got called "Miss" wow, I had not been called miss in years!! I guess with the gray gone I looked much younger. :-)
Now my hair is back and curly and back to gray. I am just grateful to HAVE hair!

I did have several weeks of physical therapy through the hospital and now have full range of motion back. I still have exercises to do daily. My therapist also guided me in other ways. Such as vitamin E is good to rub on your scars (once your Dr says it is okay) to help them fade. She also told me I could order my prosthesis through Jim's RX where they also had specialty bras it fits in. I decided to wait a year and let the scar heal before I even think about reconstruction. The scar is healing nicely and starting to fade. The port was removed in January and that scar is more noticeable.

On to more recent news. Tracey graduated from Sacramento State on May 19th with a degree in Child Psychology with honors!! We, Tracey, Claudio, Claudio's parents, his sister, her husband, their baby and Rick & I had planned a trip to Maui to celebrate her graduation. Once we arrived in Maui Tracey informed us they were getting married Thursday! We were ALL surprised and pleased. Claudio and Tracey have been together for over three years. He is very good for her and his family are very nice people. The wedding was held on Makena beach May 25th at 5:30 - barefoot! She was a beautiful bride! Afterwards the wedding dinner was at Seawatch restaurant. Which was delicious. Another interesting fact, Rick's friend Bobby is one of the head chefs there. This was unknown to Tracey until AFTER she had booked the dinner on line. She had a wedding coordinator to help her choose the pastor, photographer, flowers, location and cake. Everything went very smoothly. So, I am now a Mother-in-Law! I passed chocolate covered macadamia nuts and the wedding pictures at the last Beta meeting/dinner in June. :-)

Lois, would you please send me your phone number I cannot find it and I would like to call and talk to you. Since I have recently been through this we are Sisters in a new way. There has been so many blessings from having cancer, so much kindness and love from unexpected people you will constantly be surprised and overwhelmed. I wish you were closer and I would give you a huge HUG! Know you are constantly in my thoughts and prayers. I could not have made it without Ricks love and support. Jim, one book Rick found extremely helpful was Breast Cancer Husband by Marc Silver. The cover states how to help your wife and yourself through diagnosis, treatment and beyond.

All for now. It's a beautiful sunny day and I am going to work in the yard.
Take care dear sister.

Love, Betty