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She's made it to the last round!! Grateful to have made it this far with great support, she had to prepare herself for the radiation therapy. It's still a struggle, as radiation isn't great either. However, she's doing her best to keep pushing through, and continuing to fight off cancer as well as she can.

I hope to see her full recovery someday, she's an inspiration with her strength.

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She's written a list of "10 things you didn't know about chemo", and the list goes as follows:
1. Tender scalp
2. Crusty, scabby, constantly runny nose
3. Dry, sore, watery, crusty eyes
4. Twitchy eyes
5. Bone/Muscle Pain
6. Cough
7. Steroid acne/sun rash
8. Peripheral neuropathy
9. Headache
10. Everything tastes like metal and cardboard

She's lost a lot of weight as a result of chemotherapy, and hasn't felt too great from the side effects. She's also surprisingly descriptive in her writing, making the symptoms vivid and painful.

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Her bad side effects returned, and she's now on fluids due to difficulty with eating and drinking. However, she was still able to go out with her husband for a night (yay!). They even figured out how to solve her port issue, so she's avoided another surgery. That aside, her family is doing well, and her mother is still her biggest supporter.

What would we do without moms, she certainly is a super one herself despite the cancer.

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Her port is being useless again, so she has to use an IV.

So much for the port surgery.

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Chemotherapy take 2 begins, and she was feeling the side effects rather strongly. Still able to handle the treatment, until about day 4 where her appetite dropped and she began feeling ill. As a result, she had to go into the hospital to handle the severe side effects of the chemotherapy treatments. Things improved after a few weeks however, and she began feeling like herself again.

This sounds incredibly stressful, one of the worst experiences in one's life.

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Chemotherapy round 2 begins, which will be followed up with 2 weeks of radiation.

I really hope she's able to push through this, it's surely a tough thing to deal with.

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Surgery to place a port pt 2, with a minor issue regarding placement that might need another surgery.

This cycle is just going to keep going huh...

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Surgery to replace implants and remove tumor, thankfully the recovery was okay.

So it begins again...

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The cancer came back, and she was heartbroken to realize that she'd have to go through it all again. Since it was so agressive, it even came back after her double mastectomy.

Despite her attempts, it returned. That must have been soul crushing to hear, and yet she stayed strong.

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Currently in post-chemo phase 2, she's moved on to a new medication (Herceptin) that blocks HER2 proteins. The side effects were scary, but after further thought, she went ahead with the treatment. She's still dealing with chemo side effects, but things are getting better. Having support has helped her a lot, as it's a big mental battle to fight.

She's almost done!! It's good to see things going smoothly.

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During this time period she was feeling ill, her weakened immune system caused this bout of sickness to be particularly bad. As a result, she got to take a break from some of her treatment. However, she was feeling better after some time. She's able to start setting some recovery goals, and has a way of looking at her treatment that convinces her that everything is for the better.

Things seem to be looking up! Hopefully her recovery process is swift from here.

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The 4th treatment was pretty uneventful, just a slightly low WBC count. On the 5th round  however, she'd noticed her hair falling out the night before. She went through a day of class with little incident, and thankfully was able to continue treatment with a normal WBC count.

How was she still able to teach?????

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This was the first chemo treatment, and she was incredibly nervous beforehand. After having waited for an hour and gotten tests over with, she waited another 6 hours during the treatment. She spent the long day in a freezing office, but overall, she believed it wasn't as bad as she anticipated.

In the rest of this entry, she gives great advice about how to handle a chemotherapy appointment.

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First Michelle cut her hair short, then she completely buzzed it. She did this to lessen the shock, but ended up feeling more empowered once the process was over.

She looks great with her new hairdo, but I could never dream of cutting off my long hair.

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Day of her port placement surgery, it was one of her easiest recoveries post-op. The catheter was placed in her jugular, and once that was done she was ready to receive her upcoming chemotherapy medication.

If this recovery was easy, than the others must have been torture.

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The results from the biopsy, and chemotherapy was a strong recommendation. Her tumor was aggressive, with many other adaptations to keep it growing strong (progesterone, estrogen, and HER2 positive). The recommended treatment protocol was as follows: "It involves 12 weekly rounds of Taxol and Herceptin followed by Herceptin once every three weeks for a year along with Tamoxifen for five to ten years"

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With surgical drains in place, Michelle was going through what she claims to be the most difficult part of her recovery. She was in a lot of pain, but with the help of open-front shirts and a reclining lift chair, she was able to make it through.

Thankfully she had the help and support of others around her, because no one should have to go through this alone, nor any part of the cancer journey.

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This was the day of her double mastectomy, as well as the removal of the tumor in her breast and her sentinel lymph node. She also began the reconstruction process with the placement of a tissue expander.

Though it is for the better, the process seems traumatizing. It's quite a bit to go through, and all just for a bit of peace of mind.

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Day started out with news of a new job, and ended with news of breast cancer. Opted for a double masectomy.

I can't imagine how heart breaking that must have been, believing that everything was looking up only to have been torn down.

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Arachnoiditis from an epidural gone wrong.

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With a flood of thoughts rushing through her brain, the biggest two were for the sake of raising her son and what she had done throughout her life to cause this. She had an increased risk to begin with, but never saw it until now.

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Initially, her day started out great with the promise of a full time job she'd always hoped for. The same day, she awaited a biopsy taken after accidentally discovering a lump in her breast. Upon arriving home, she received a call from the doctor telling her she had breast cancer

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A 40 y/o mother and wife who's been diagnosed with breast cancer twice.

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Michelle knew she had to "make (pink) lemonade out of (cancerous) lemons" in order to keep going with breast cancer.