To my close friends and new friends still here on MySpace, here is an update on my personal life.

I will start this off as saying, we have a new member to the BCSC, or the Breast Cancer Survivor Club!

It has been difficult for me to continue posting updates on my wife's battle with cancer the past 4 months. Just being in the Overlake cancer center and seeing all the other people who are walking down this same path as us, makes us realize just how lucky we are. Its not an easy path by any means, but yet somehow we feel very fortunate in our year of battling this cancer. 
As anyone who has, or is going down this road knows, its very taxing on your emotional state of mind, not to mention the painful physical effects the treatments put the body though, and then the surgeries with the physical scars as well as the mental scars that just don't seem to heal, the overwhelming amount of bills and paperwork, it all takes a toll on you.

So backing up earlier to this summer, just after Camille's intense chemo treatments were done. The tumorectomy was the next step, to physically remove the cancerous tumor, which was done in late July, with the surgery happening on one of the hottest days of the summer. Our scheduled 6 hour stay was lengthened to almost 13 hours, as Bellevue, the hospital included, all lost power mid-way into Camille's procedure, due to a extreme power grid failure.
She was placed on a critical list of patients that needed to complete their surgery that day and numbered according to the seriousness of their situation. There were only 3 fully running operation rooms working on emergency back up power. So we spent a long time waiting in a hot and stuffy room, periodically being shuffled from room to room. Then finally into the surgery room. The day was long and frustrating, and the surgery was more physically destructive then either of us had expected. Camille also donated some tissues to Fred Hutch cancer research center for studies. Then finally after 13 hours we were at home and Camille was on her road to recovery from the surgery.
5 days later, we flew to MN to go visit my mother. Camille fought with some very nasty side effects during this trip, but also got to spend some nice time relaxing and recovering. Some of these nasty side effects are still plaguing her to date, but seem to be getting better. 

I have learned thorough all of this that I am not immune to mental an/or emotional breakdowns. I had my breaking point early September as Camille was starting her 5 day a week radiation treatments that continued on until this very week! I had to drop down to working only 4 days a week for the past month in a half before my own sanity seemed to return to a normal level. All this time, Camille was still able to continue working her 5 day a week job WITH the daily treatments, much to my bewildered amazement! I tell you this, if the shoe was on the other foot, I do not believe I could of done what she did.

So now, as of yesterday, her radiation treatment are finally done with. It has left her skin brittle, red and hard in places that will take months to heal. Her energy level is still drained and will remain at a diminished level throughout the end of the year the doctors say. And the pains due to complications from her lymph nodes biopsy are still plaguing her right arm and hand. But the good thing is, her hair is now starting to grow back, eyelashes included, "she says thankfully".

As many of our close friends have noticed, she stopped wearing her wigs out and went for the silk scarves, wraps, bandanas and hats. She came to a mental block that would not let her put on her wigs, thinking that she, "looked like a cancer patient that was trying to hide the fact that she was sick". She is almost to the point where she thinks she will have the balls to go without anything on her head soon. And of course, her hair cannot grow back quickly enough for her liking. 

Camille is sooooo excited to be done with her daily treatments and is now officially back to a normal life schedule, punctuated periodically with a doctor appointment here and there. We have NOT been given a 100% cancer free guarantee by any means, but as of this writing, the outlook is very positive!

For now, its time for Camille to continue on with her healing, physically as well as emotionally. And luckily for us, we have been able to keep up with our medical bills, thanks to our jobs that were more then willing to work with us through this journey and our insurance, and thus have graciously turned down any offers of a benefit of any sort for us.

But most importantly, what we would both like to say is this, one of the biggest things that helped us make it from day to day throughout this long year, was the constant help and support from all of our friends, family and workmates. We owe mountain sized loads of thanks and humbled gratitude, going out to each and every one of you.

Much and many thanks from me, to all of you!

R-)

RJB PHOTO