RECOVERING FROM SURGERY

RECOVERING FROM SURGERY yet once again and doing well.  Plastic surgeon was right, not near as bad as first time around, but I'm trying to take it slow...sorta.  As some of you know, we went in for planned surgery Monday before last, I was dressed in the gown in pre-op and about to be anesthesized, when nurse (going over my meds) realized I had only been off Ibruprofen for four days, not 7-10 days required in my situation.  Somehow this info was dropped through the cracks between Dr. and surgical center who called me with the pre-op details.  Ibruprofen, such as Advil, thins your blood and destroys your platelets which we need to form clotting after a surgery.  With me being recently off chemo, they wouldn't take any chances.  Long story short...after shedding a few frustrating tears, I agreed it was the right thing to do to postpone until the following Monday.

SO THIS PAST MONDAY, we head down to Tampa once again to get it done.  This time, believe it or not, my throat had started hurting badly, I ached, and a sinus condition (I assume) had started progressing.  There was no way I was going to let them send me home again, so I prayed I wouldn't die under anesthesia and chose to play down these new little details.  I didn't die, but got to suffer through a sinus infection while recovering from surgery.  Lucky me!  Both conditions are improving, but my strength is low again and I can't drive for another couple of weeks yet.

I HAVE GREAT FRIENDS who cart me to Dr.'s appts., cook delicious dinners after surgery, bring me chocolate bar treats, and get me out of the house to see a chick flick on occasion.  I even went last week (pre-surgery) with my sister to Zumba, where I barely made it through the first couple of songs before hitting the floor to watch.  I told her it was no wonder she looks great and has lost so much weight...quite a workout!  I hope to join as soon as I can to keep my weight off.  Speaking of that, I must say, while not the easiest weight-lose plan by any means, I'm delighted to have shed 30 LBS. since my first surgery 10 months ago.  30 LBS.!!!!!  Now the trick will be keeping it off now that I just started Tamoxifen pills daily which will block estrogen in my body which feeds my type of breast cancer.

PICKING UP MY OLDEST SON from the airport tonight.  He's been in California with our dear YOUNG friends (lol), the Shireys, helping with their youth VBS.  We've missed him.  I love both my sons SO MUCH, our sweet Sami, and of course my ever-patient husband.  I'm blessed!





 

NEXT SURGERY

HELLO MY DEAR AND SUPPORTIVE FRIENDS.  I'm glad to say I've felt stronger today than in a long time.  Got all the laundry done, walked, did my arm exercises, cleaned a bathroom (with the help of my son, Cayler) cooked supper and...well that's about it, but that's pretty darn good for me lately.

WE SAW MY PLASTIC SURGEON yesterday for the first time in the several months due to the weekly chemo decision.  Bottom line - I opted to go ahead with the next phase of my reconstruction which means surgery this coming Monday.  This surgery will be to swap out the ROCK HARD tissue expanders that have been there since the bilateral mastectomy for the permanent silicone implants.  You can't imagine how great it will feel to get those out as they have been a constant source of discomfort since day one - basically like having two bricks under the skin refusing to budge.  My surgeon told me this surgery, while not as painful afterward as the mastectomy (I asked him to "promise"), will require 4-6 weeks of recovery.  This was a main reason we quickly opted to take the opening he had in his surgery schedule for this Monday.  No drains afterward either...yaah!  We figured also, that while I'm still aching and recovering and getting my strength back from chemo, why not be aching and recovering from this inevitable surgery as well at the same time.  Convalescing, Kenny calls it.  My goal is to restart radiography school in August so time is of the essence.  Chop, chop!  Bad wording I guess.

SPEAKING OF RADIOGRAPHY...last Friday I was so blessed to be able to attend the graduation ceremony of the fellow students I left behind when I went on medical leave.  They spent the last year finishing their senior year and many of them have already landed jobs which is great news.  It was a wonderful night at the Holiday Inn Conference Center in Ocala.  We sat with our dear friends Nicole and her husband Jamie and cheered her on as she received a special award for her GPA.  There were about 300 people in attendance including the 24 students, their families, faculty of the program and CF, as well as many hospital and imaging center personnel.  IT WAS SO GOOD to see everyone and feel their loving support and hugs.  I couldn't have been more honored when Nicole presented me a special award on behalf of the class for inspiration and courage.  Her words were generous and as beautiful as she is.  I was truly humbled and touched.  As much as I would have loved to be graduating with them that night, I truly felt pride and joy in my heart for each one of them because I know how hard they each worked to get there.  It was encouraging.

The keynote speaker, Dr. Jordan, encouraged the graduates to never forget that the patients they see are often scared, in pain, confused, and in need of the techs assistance, and to always treat them with compassion.  Nothing will teach you that lesson more than being the patient yourself.  So when I look at it that way - I guess during this past year, I've still been "in school" learning the most valuable lesson of all - TO CARE. 

DRAWING DOWN OF CHEMO TROOPS

THIS WEEK...VERY ROUGH, even though I expected as much.  Yesterday and today, DEFINITE upswing.  Praise the Lord!  Having had my final chemo last Thursday (can I hear a "whoop-whoop"?) the toxicity levels in my body have been at their all time highest this week causing the aches and pains of various kinds to stretch my resolve.  Before yesterday, most of my days were spent sleeping in, taking my meds, then holding down the couch or recliner.  Is it possible to watch every single Food Network and/or Cooking Channel program there is straight in a row?  I THINK IT IS!  I even watched some British chick named Nijela(?) who gave all her measurements in grams.  Now tell me how is that of use to us lazy Americans who refused to learn the metric system?  I flipped back to Paula Deen.  "One stick of butta, ya'll".  Now THAT I can understand.

MORNINGS WERE HARD, but night time had seemed to be the worst and I would dread it.  I would lay there with my heating pad and propping pillows, as my pain seemed to thumb its nose at my long digested strong pain pills.  As I've probably mentioned before, I've grown a renewed appreciation for those who suffer in chronic pain, and I'm sure mine doesn't touch the surface of what many deal with.  I'd find myself praying in those long hours in the dark room waiting for sleep to overtake me.  Praying for myself, obviously.  "There is power in the name of Jesus, there is healing in the name of Jesus, there is strength in the name of Jesus"  over and over.  Then would find myself instantaneously praying for someone else's pain, pleading the Lord to have mercy and give relief to many of you even.  I take no credit for this, but see the whole thing as such a God thing.  If he took all our pains away immediately, we'd probably jump up, brush ourselves off, and go back to our busy selfish lives, not giving much thought to others.  God's ways are not our ways.

NO MATTER WHAT YOUR OPINION MIGHT BE ON CHOOSING TO TAKE CHEMO, no one will argue that as we often say, "the treatment is as bad as the disease".  I have my different opinions on chemo for different situations, but I obviously embraced this life-saving arsenal and accepted its good and its bad.  The chemo drugs are like our troops going to war (within my body) to search out and find the bad guys - the "Al qaeda cancer" living within and threatening my very existence.  With any war, its not neat and tidy.  There are many innocent casualties of this chemo war, like my fingernails, aching bones and joints, taste buds, hair, eyebrows and lashes, chest, arms and physical strength, to name a few.  And let's not forget my brave breasts who were sacrificed on the front lines early on in this war on breast cancer.  They deserve the purple heart for sure.  And even now that this part of the war is declared over, I realize that the "drawing down of troops" does not happen overnight, and so it is with my body.  It will take time and I'm trying to be patient.

BEING MEMORIAL DAY WEEK, we had the privilege of riding one evening through the National Veterans cemetery a few miles from our home.  I encourage any of you who can, take the day sometime, make the trip and drive through especially with your child or your teenager.  We have to be reminded that its so much more than a steak or slab of ribs on the grill on Memorial Day or a suntan day at the beach.  Nothing will do that more than visiting this sacred and beautifully hard place.  The lush green perfectly manicured grounds and waving line of flags pointing the way to those endless white and gray head stones that seem to go on forever in perfect military alignment over quiet rolling green hills.  As we stopped and walked through to find Kenny's granddaddy Hall's stone, he spoke such words of truth, that "every one of these has a story".  Driving through with the windows down I found myself really proud for the first time to be from little Bushnell - the recipient of such an honorable and important place to so many military families who sacrificed so much.

My troubles....minimal.