Schedule, getting off Keppra and last day of my 20s!

It takes at lot longer to get a breast biopsy at Anderson than we first thought. I will have a mammogram and biopsy at the beginning of next week. I will then have to wait 7-10 days for the results. But at least within that week I have my first clinical trial brain MRI so I have more results to obsess about to take my mind of the other ones.

Today is the last day I will be taking the anti seizure medication Keppra. I have been having a skin reaction to it and since I have not had a seizure, doctor said that I could take a half dose for 3 days then stop. I am very happy about this because it made me quite sleepy.

Today is the last day in my twenties!!! It's been a crazy decade. Though I have been dealing with this illness since 2 months after turning 20, I have had many more good times these past 10 years than bad times. I do a lot when I am in remission and feeling well. I have had 7 major surgeries and 2 years of chemo. It sounds like a lot but it was over 10 years, leaving lots of time for fun. During my 20s I was able to:

-return to college and graduate with my Bachelors in Nursing. And when I was feeling well I had a great time in college, sometimes probably a little too much fun : )
-I was able to travel a lot, the farthest being Singapore
-I worked at a few jobs and finally in 2011 found my area of nursing, moved back to TX, and now have the best job EVER!
 - I became a mama to the most handsome little chihuahua of all time named Toby.
-I met and married the love of my life!!
-I lived in Rhode Island for a little over a year and had the opportunity to experience another part of the country.

I learned so much in my 20s. Sometimes they were painful lessons, but I needed them to grow. I sometimes think what life would be like if I had never gotten cancer. I for sure wouldn't be who I am today and I wouldn't be where I am today. Having cancer calmed me down and bit and slowed me down, 2 things that I really needed ten years ago. Do I wish I could have gotten those lessons a different way, of course, but knowing me I probably wouldn't have learned what I needed to. If I could go back in time and was given a delete cancer button, I wouldn't press it. Are there some things I would change, of course! I would have gone to a different doctor initially, I would have a freezer full of my eggs locked down somewhere and I would most definitely delete a recurrence or two, maybe 3. But other than that, as painful as it sometimes was, I wouldn't trade it. Life just wouldn't be what it is now if I had taken a different path. Even though I'm going through it again, I am still so very grateful for all that I have in my life.


So tomorrow will be the start of a new chapter. I look forward to see what it holds.