Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!



I have so much to be thankful for this year!!

First I am thankful to be alive and well to enjoy the Thanksgiving weekend with my family and friends.  This time last year I had no idea what was coming my way in one short month.  It has been a year of trials and triumphs to be sure.

I am thankful for my co-workers who have gone out of their way to make sure I know they are behind me 100% and they might even miss me, mostly my sarcasm ;)  I can never repay them for keeping me in their thoughts and prayers while I am away.  Their latest dislay 😀❤

I am thankful for my friends who have been with me all the way through.  They have been there if I need them and have been there when maybe I thought I didn't.  They have been understanding of my sickness,  but have also helped me feel "normal" when I needed to.  Another group of people I can never repay for their friendship.

I am thankful for my family who have been with me every step of the way.  This is a diagnosis that no family ever wants to hear.  The shock and initial despair is hard on all involved but we have bounced back together and look forward to the future, including a wedding!!


I am thankful for my dog, Lola who has been my constant companion through the entire process and done nothing but love me.

And finally, I am thankful for my husband.  30 years ago we made a promise to each other never really knowing what was to come.  He has been my rock, my friend, my companion, my love through this entire battle.  He has asked all the questions when my mind stopped at the word "cancer".  He has been there to pick me up when I was so down, who made me push myself when I thought I couldn't, my travel companion that reminds me to relax and enjoy life, and the man who takes care of me better than anyone else could.

I have visited with both my radiologist and my oncologist.  I am released from my radiologist with a visit in 3 months.  My skin has healed and is about a week away from being totally healed.  The body is an amazing thing.  To have suffered such burning and be healed again with little to no indication of how bad it was, wow.  I am now working with my Oncologist and will start my oral chemo on December 1st.  I will take 4 pills in the morning and 4 at night, two weeks on and 1 week off, for 6 months.  The last adventure.  I had a CT scan that was blurry and inconclusive so I have a retake in a week.  Shouldn't have sneezed 😕  I'm looking for good results :)

I believe the light is at the end of the tunnel.  I hope to be back to work February 6th, barring any complications.   It's been quite a year.

I hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving and enjoys the chaos that is to come preparing for Christmas.

Today was a very big day in the Kuspa household.  I did my last radiation treatment today!!  I can't tell you how happy I am to be through this.  Five months of intravenous (or port) chemotherapy, a double mastectomy and an oopherectomy, and 33 rounds of radiation and I'm still standing!

The last week was a booster week.  They add this apparatus on to the machine and concentrate on my scar area.  Really going after any little suckers that may be left.




These are my pictures after 6.5 weeks of frying.  My skin may get a little worse as the effects catch up,  but it will also start healing in areas that have not had direct radiation the last week.

I now have several weeks of skin care to help with the healing process.  There are several areas that are 2nd degree burns.  This was all necessary to burn my chest wall to kill all the skin that could be or was involved in my Inflammatory Breast Cancer.  Being a breast skin as well as a breast tissue cancer makes it different from others.

The skin care routine looks like the picture below.  There is a soaking of the skin with domeboro on the "wet" (weeping) patches of skin, and saline solution on the very dry  parts.  Once soaked for approximately 20 minutes, the entire area, besides the open areas, is covered in aquaphor.  Once covered, a mesh piece is put over the open areas to prevent the skin from sticking to the cotton pads that are then put on the skin to soften anything touching it.  This is repeated twice more through the day.

Unfortunately, I seem to have developed an infection below the armpit.  It is very, very sensitive to any touch and is swollen.  I am on antibiotics to fight that, and pain meds for the rest.  I feel so terrible for anyone that has or is going through severe burns.  I can't imagine the pain they went or are going through if this is how I feel from my less severe burns.

I have a CT scan scheduled for Tuesday.  It is my first 3 month check up.  It is a month late because of the radiation.  I'm nervous to see the results but excited at the same time.  I haven't really had anything to check on my progress since just before chemo ended.

Usually this would be the end of treatments, so I rang the bell at the hospital today.  But for me there is one more step.  Once my skin is healed, I begin my Xeloda.  I have to take 4 pills in the morning and 4 in the evening.  Should be interesting since I hate pills.  Give me a gummy med and I'm good.  Swallowing horse pills is not my idea of fun....for 6 months.  Only good thing is the mopping up of any cells that may remain.  Possible side effects are low white cell count, fatigue, nausea, and hand-foot syndrome, that I know of.  Time will tell what I get, quite the lottery.  :/

One thing that won't happen I'm told, I won't lose my hair!!  Which is great since I just had my first haircut in 9 months!


One year ago this week I was in Colorado without many cares in the world.  Today my perspective has changed on many things.  Don't sweat the small stuff comes to mind, and enjoy the beauty surrounding you.

A picture from some of God's country taken last year.

Dont forget to vote on November 8th, and celebrate our veterans on November 11th.