Surgery Day
As I type this Katie is in the middle of surgery, and we are trying our best to keep ourselves busy. Reflecting on the last month and a half, a lot has happened. Katie completed her last two rounds of A/C (aka the Red Devil) and thankfully did not have any more trips to the Emergency Department. In fact, it was night and day to the first two rounds, likely attributed to a combination of the "new blood" she received, the better side effect medicine her nurses were able to procure for her, and her resilience and determination to "be done" with treatment and keep her treatment plan on schedule.
She finished her 16 rounds of chemotherapy at the end of February. This is a huge milestone! It feels odd to celebrate in some ways and cathartic in others. If you're on social media, perhaps you saw her sweet happy dance - if not, definitely go check it out (@katiemcknizzle on Instagram). While her lovely locks are temporarily gone, her eyebrows and lashes are fading, and her fingernails are taking a beating, this video is "so Katie" - whatever life throws at her she will put on a purple wig, smile hella big, and get down and boogie.
With chemo behind her, she had a few weeks off to "rest" and recuperate before surgery. I say "rest" because she still went to Kaiser more times than you can probably count for blood draws, scans, doctor's visits, and webinars. So far, the scans look promising but we won't know for sure if Katie has responded fully to treatment until after her surgery today. During surgery they'll be able to truly stage her tumor and determine if Katie has had a pCR (Pathologic Complete Response) - this is the best indicator she has responded to the chemotherapy. We are hoping, wishing, waiting, praying for this and invite anyone and everyone to please join us!
In addition to all of the testing and preparing for surgery the past few weeks, Katie has tried to make the most of her time "off". Our mom flew in from North Carolina to support and help care for Katie pre/post-surgery, and we were all able to spend a few days together along the beautiful California coast at - you guessed it - Sea Ranch. We cooked healthy from-scratch meals, took long walks along the bluffs, and spent some much needed time soaking in the ocean views and literally soaking in the hot tub as much as we could.
Katie and Nate were also able to get away for a couple of nights to Stinson Beach, typically a day trip but worth an overnight when you're battling exhaustion and trying to keep white blood cell counts high. Check out the gallery for some recent photos.
Due to Covid, we weren't able to go in the hospital today with Katie, but Nate dropped her off this morning and said she was in high spirits going in. Katie’s surgery plan entails a double mastectomy today with a follow-up surgery in a few months’ time. We are nervous but hopeful that it goes smoothly and she gets that pCR we are anxious for. We know her Kaiser SF care team is taking good care of her, and we'll post another update soon once we know how it went!
As always, we are so thankful for you all and appreciative for all the support and well wishes. Please keep the good vibes coming and big hugs to all of y'all.
With love and gratitude,
Mary