The end is in sight.

The end of this breast cancer journey with lumpy. It appears to have been a blip, a road bump as a friend called it, and it will soon pass. My wake up call appears to have been delivered by a soft jingle, not a clanging of cymbals. The residual evidence will eventually simply be a couple of scars on my breast and armpit. It is currently still a giant black patch on my right breast, and it still feels numb and hard from the surgery. Apparently it will remain numb this way forever.

The oncotype genomic test result on lumpy, at number 16, revealed that I'm at low risk of having lumpy's undetected cells elsewhere in me.  18 would have been mid range, over 40 would have been alarmingly high. So, those random aches here and there are not cancer cells partying, at least not lumpy's. This knowledge should keep my inner hypochondriac in check.

Next steps, get the daily radiation therapy over with, and then get on that Tamoxifen course for the next 5 years. My dear husband is bracing himself for PMS days ahead. If the past is a good predictor, it should be extremely manageable. I may just need to build-in more quiet time to listen to the ADD chatter and scribble them away in Pandora’s pages.

Warnings about various side effects of Tamoxifen should be my daily reminder. 

The stand outs: blood clots, stroke, depression, weight gain, thinning hair. Just peachy ain’t it. My hair is already thinning, thank you very much.

So, what can I do next to keep my risks low, without taking away all reasons to live in the first place? The oncologist said he does not believe in any food restrictions. I am free to eat! I will however refrain from extremes...most of the time! A few resources that should help keep my head level:

http://www.breastcancer.org/tips/nutrition/healthy_eat/plan

Article to scare one off high-fructose corn syrup soda.

http://www.breastcancer.org/tips/nutrition/healthy_eat/what_happens

No more reusing plastic water bottles. 

http://www.breastcancer.org/risk/factors/plastic