Monday, August 24, 2009

Three Times...

...is not a charm. Yes, I did it again, and this time it was my fault. Thurday, I was driving the rental car home from the hospital, and as I was turning into my very own cul de sac, I got distracted and began watching what was going on in our yard. I hit a Cadillac Deville that was coming the other way. Thankfully the elderly gentleman who was driving maneuvered almost completely out of my way, and we got away with just scratched paint on each of our cars. But I sure felt stupid. He was pretty mad at first (and I guess I don't blame him - I was mad at myself), but when I started crying, he calmed right down and apologized repeatedly for not being quick enough to get out of my way. Now that's backwards.

We had a damage waiver on our rental vehicle, so the insurance stuff, again, is going smoothly. If I mail in my fine, it will be reduced by quite a bit and the points on my license will be reduced from three to one. There are so many traffic violations in a city this size, they pay you not to come to court. Where I grew up, you could only get your fine reduce if you showed up for your court case.

The next day was my last radiation treatment! We loaded up the whole family, and while I held my breath and used the assistant brake pedal on my side way too much, we drove down I-25 one last time (at least the last time for about a month). The nuns have a graduation ceremony for each patient on the last day of treatment. I'll try to post pictures later. They provided me with a cap and gown and had me march around the waiting room while Sister Marie played Pomp and Circumstance on her tape player. I even got a diploma. Then Sister Marie told me I had better not ever come back, except for check-ups. I wonder if she has a fine for violating that rule? They did give me one last rule. Check-up appointments must be made for the morning hours when they will be in the waiting room.

I move on to five years of hormone therapy now. I'll be taking a daily Tamoxifen pill. That will reduce my chances of a reoccurance another few percentage points. After the surgery, my reoccurance chance was about 70%. Now, with the radiation, chemo and hormone therapy, my reoccurance risk is about 40% over the next ten years, so it's come down quite a bit, although its still high. We will certainly appreciate your thoughts and prayers.

I'll continue to post - probably about as often as I have been. Our lives will be full of happenings. It couldn't be otherwise with seven growing children and at least one accident prone adult. I plan to post a series of pictures of Gilead from his birth till now so you all can enjoy his progress with us.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Amy, The relief you must feel to be through this stage of your treatment! Praise the Lord for all He has done in these past months. We will continue to be in prayer for you and yours, especially when we know you are driving! Maybe we should pray that God would provide a chauffeur? :) Love to you all,
Stephanie for the Smith crew

~Me said...

Yeah!!! I'm so glad you've finished your treatment!

And I can't help but laugh at your accident. Not being cruel, but I am SO accident prone. Once, I was sitting in traffic minding my own business when I was hit from behind. 4 months later, I hit someone else from behind. There's also the various spin outs on icy roads and a flat. Whew!

I'm glad things are going so well.

Love, Bonnie

Brandi said...

Geez Amy, much more and your going to catch up to my dads driving record, lol! I thought that was impossible:). All jokes aside I'm glad you made it out of this one ok too! Love you all bunches.

Anonymous said...

Praising the Lord that He is keeping you safe (on so many levels!). Thanks for keeping us updated. Praying for you and your sweet family.

Lisa Arnold
Greer, SC

The Sefcovic's said...

Hi Amy, just wanted to let you know that even though we haven't talked I have kept up on your lives through your blog. I've laughed and cried though them all. It's been such a joy to be a part of this whole process with you. Thank you to both of you for keeping us informed on all the happenings throughout the last year. Praise God He has brought you through so much. We will continue to pray for you and your family and check your site for updates. We hope to see you sometime soon, although I know soon is not really ever very soon. We think of you often. Miss and love you.

The Sefcovic's

Perry, Becca, Simon and Lukas said...

Hey Amy-
It's so good to hear from you! As always, you write in such a way that I feel like I'm right there experiencing it all with you- even down to the cap and gown and Pomp and Circumstance! Thanks so much for sharing and showing what God's doing in your lives. A huge congrats on finishing up w/ radiation- you're such a trooper. I wish you guys great back-to-school days (I'm thinking that's happening)...
Thinking of ya lots! We'll keep in touch.

Anonymous said...

Keep posting stuff like this i really like it