June 2022
-Edited June 29-
Hi Friends! June 1 marked one year since my stage 4, metastatic breast cancer diagnosis. What a weird year full of transitions, good times, hard days, much fatigue and many, many blessings.
As I wrote before, the last PET scan showed that I am stable, meaning the same, meaning not better and not worse. The assumption is that the endocrine therapy I take is slowing down the growth of my tumors, keeping them stable. Thankfully I have less bone pain than I did a year ago! I’ll have another PET scan in mid-July.
People often ask about my physical state, so in answer to that, my main issues are: off and on extreme fatigue, liver pain, occasional headaches and moderate bone pain in various areas. I also get asked about my mental state... It changes from hour to hour. I’d say that having been at this for a while now, I’ve gotten more used to: my slow lifestyle, not feeling “like myself”, missing fun things, going to appointments, etc. On a positive note, I love being home and hanging out with my family.
I’m still planning some trips! Some people have rightfully assumed that my taking trips means I’m feeling better. Unfortunately, this is not the case. However, taking a slow-paced trip is a really nice way for me to spend extended time with friends and family. I leave this Saturday for a one week cruise to Mexico with my daughters! We are really, really looking forward to it. I’m also going to go somewhere with the boys in my family, hopefully in July. And… Mic and I will be, Lord willing, taking a trip with my brother and my sister-in-law in August. I have found I become very uncomfortable in the car, but can tolerate plane rides well, so planes (and cruise ships), it is! I am spoiled, I know!
*** Update: The cruise did not happen. The morning of the cruise my youngest daughter woke up with Covid! We had to pull out. With the blessing of my youngest daughter, we searched for the cheapest plane tickets for the rest of us to still make a trip with the time off my other two daughters had scheduled off work! The answer? Maui! I’m updating this post from a beach in Kihei. We will be back in LA this Saturday, July 2. . :)
If you haven’t heard my church podcast yet, you can find it here: Julie Hirtzel Podcast.
I haven’t added any new posts to the Shadows section, but will soon.
Thank you for your prayers, encouragement, kindnesses and just everything!
