last round of chemo..end of part one (or two)

Well, After 6 rounds of chemo I am finally finished! yay!. Downside? In three weeks I start 6 weeks of radiation, which consists of daily treatments (except on weekends). The chemotherapy put me into a pre-menopause state so i won't have my period for two years, that is a good thing exept that I could still get pregnant. My doctor is recommending that I do not get pregnant for the first 2 years and I will be on a drug that causes birth defects. I am okay with that since I wasn't planning on having kids till I was 30 anyway. There is a chance that I will not be able to have kids from the combined side effects of radiation and chemotherapy. My doctor thinks that because of my age I should be able to bounce right back, he jsut has to lay everything out there. In a couple of weeks I will get genetic testing done to see if I have the cancer gene. If I have it I may have to get my ovaries removed. Most women who die within the first five years of surviving breast cancer end up dyeing(spelling) from ovarian cancer. As of right now it doesn't look like I have ovarian cancer and my Doctor is pretty confident that I do not have the gene. If I don't have the gene my sister's won't have to be tested either, so I think that is good news for them as well. I really can't be 100% confident that I don't have the gene as the other doctor's were 99.99% sure I didn't have cancer, that is another reason I wanted to get tested. Also it turns out that Iowa sucks for plastic surgeons. I have to have reconstruction, but because I have to get radiation my skin loses it's elasticity and cannot put up with a "normal" breast implant. I have to get what is called a "Tram Flap", too hard to explain here. Apparrantly no one in Iowa does this procedure. On the plus side, Duke University does and it is only 50 miles from Ed and I can fly out there and he can take me. I have a consultation with a Plastic surgeon in Iowa to get his professional opinion, talk about cost since I have title 19 and not actual insurance. Anyway, thank you to all you tax payers out there for taking care of my Medicade(spelling). I would probably not be around if it weren't for you!!Missy