Full of Excuses

That's me, for not writing in what seems like forever! Let's see, what have I been up to?

• My mom and stepdad were in town right after Mother's Day, so we had them and my brother Adam over for a dinner with lots of debate on whether prayer should be allowed in schools (apparently wine not only brings on the hot flashes, but also the political debates with my Republican mother...). NO idea how we got on that topic, but I'm happy to say we ended the conversation and still love each other :)
• I had another LOLTC meeting - have I gone into this yet? I'm a volunteer on the planning committee for an event hosted by Gillette Children's Hospital called LOLTC (Laugh Out Loud Twin Cities). The event is in late September and we'll be having the one and only David Spade as our entertainment! We're still early in the process, but if you know of a business that'd be willing to donate gift cards, golf outings, vacations etc, please let me know! 
• I've still been seeing the physical therapist for my pesky back muscle; and thankfully I think it's on the way out. I'm still icing it every night, and it's pretty flared up after I run, but on occasion, I feel like I'm not noticing it anymore, which must mean it's getting better right?
• I had a Breast Cancer Patient Advisory Committee meeting, which, as always, reminds me of how thankful I am for the doctors and nurses I got to work with during my biopsy, diagnosis, surgeries and recovery. Not everyone is so lucky; I feel like I got the best of it all!
• My BFF from preschool, Maeghen, was in town from MA for her parent's 30th wedding anniversary, so we got to hang out a bit while she was here on a 3-day stay. It was lovely catching up with her and her two sisters; can't wait until October when the middle of the three girls (Alexis) gets married!
• We kicked off wedding season by celebrating our friends Paul and Will in a lovely ceremony and reception right here in St. Paul. The happiness that beamed out of their smiles was tremendous - it's not often you see true love like this (and they had a penguin at their reception - best entertainment ever!)!
• Jason and I just enjoyed a few days visiting friends in Rice Lake, WI over Memorial Day weekend. They recently bought their first house and it was so nice catching up and breaking it in! We came home a day early to have a grill out of our own, and so I could spend some time finishing up the paint job I started in our dining room (to fix damage from a polar vortex ice dam). It's getting there, just need to move the furniture back and we can call it done! 

Aaaaand that's just the past two weeks. Throw in a few of Jason's softball games, some yard work  (my seedlings are completely duds by the way), trips to the gym, and an episode of Breaking Bad here and there and I'd say my time is all used up :)

Bring it on summer (and sorry, I have photos for a few of the events above but I'm having issues with my Apple ID/iPhoto streaming...maybe next time)!

Therapy

I met with the physical therapist yesterday who agreed that it is a strained muscle in my back that's causing so much pain. She lectured me about my posture at work, and showed me a few stretches to strengthen the muscles that are out of whack. Bad news: she said our meeting yesterday starts week one and that it'll be 6-7 weeks before I'm pain free. That means I'm stuck on the stationary bike for awhile instead of the treadmill, but I'm at the point where I'd do almost anything to get rid of the pain. I'm meeting with her again next week and I'm hoping I'm able to say that I've noticed a change!

Ten

Ten days!  That's it, the time has finally come where I can say "surgery is next week!"  Jason and I met with Dr. Heinrich on Thursday to go over details of the surgery.  We talked about the size of implants I'll get (she'll test a few out before sewing me up to see what looks the most natural), what I can expect for pain (I'll be sore for a few days) and how it'll affect the progress I've made with my physical therapy (should actually make things better).  She said I'll be swollen for a few weeks, and I'll have to wear a compression bra of some sort to help with that.  I'll do whatever she says as long as it means I can get rid of these expanders! 

Yesssss!

Weekend Wrap-Up

I know I rave and rave about how amazing my support system is (I know that I'm a very lucky girl) but I just can't stop when they've helped my Making Strides Against Breast Cancer team raise $1,270!  Wonderful job everyone!

I know I kind of left a teaser about my BRCA1 and BRCA2 test results (sorry!); they came back negative, which means the reason I got cancer was just the luck of the draw.  While it's a little unsettling to not have a definite answer why, it's wonderful to know that the women in my family are "safe" (I use quotes because they could be "lucky" and get random cancer too (knocking on wood that it never happens)) and I get a little peace of mind knowing that my risk of ovarian cancer isn't elevated.  It is what it is I guess; there's another gene test we can do, but it opens the Pandora's box of diseases I'd be susceptible to (they're diseases we can't watch for or prevent), and I'm not sure I want to carry that knowledge around every day.

Ashley made a great point that technology in this area of medicine is developing so quickly that it's not impossible there's another breast cancer-causing gene out there that no one has discovered yet.

Anyway, I hate to come back to this because it's probably so boring to read about, but I'm still having some pretty intense muscle pain.  The exercises my PT showed me a few weeks ago definitely stretch the muscles, but they're not taking away any of the pain/tightness.  I even went as far as calling my surgeon's office Friday afternoon to see if it's normal to feel this way.  Bad news: it is.  Good news: the nurse assured me I'd feel much better after New Boobs Day (31 days!).  I'm going to bench myself for the remaining 3 kickball games we have and really try to watch what I'm lifting, drink a ton of water, and continue stretching.  I can handle 31 days!

Talk About Pain...

So last night I mentioned being in pain from the first expansion.  It got much, much worse from the time I made the post.  I somehow got myself to a lying down position on our bed, bawling, and was attempting some of the stretches I learned in PT (hey, the drugs weren't working so I had to exhaust all avenues) while Jason was Googling to see if others had had a similar reaction to their first expansion.  They did. 

The stabbing pain I was feeling in my ribs was normal; we found out the a lot of surgeons will sew the breast muscle to the ribs, so of course, when the muscle expands (because of the tissue expanders underneath) it pulls the ribs, making them feel like they're slowly breaking.  How nice right?  I broke down and took more of my meds (I've been trying to take less than I need - who needs all of these drugs in their system?) which helped me sleep.

I woke up this morning and just laid in bed, dreading sitting up (by far the most painful thing I do every day) and finally I gave myself the 1-2-3 and I was up. I took meds immediately and over the past two hours, they've kicked in enough to allow me to take a shower (a very slow and careful one at that).  I'm planning on taking it easy today; maybe doing my stretches a few times but other than that, I don't think I can handle much more :(

Keeping up with the Schober's

I've been a busy girl!  I'll get through the yucky part first.  Because I was still producing so much fluid after the drains came out, I had to have the excess pocket (what looked like a nasty fat roll/side boob) drained, which at the time didn't hurt much, but about an hour after killed!  That was Thursday, and I've noticed that it's been filling up again, which means another possible drain at my appointment on Monday.  Dumb.

Yesterday I met with a physical therapist who showed me exercises I can do at home 2-4 times/day to regain the range in motion I've lost since the surgery.  I did it once first thing this morning (before taking any of my pain meds) and wow, it hurt.  Bad.  Showering after was not fun and took WAY longer than it needed to.  Once the drugs kicked in I felt much better and went shopping with my two sisters for some new dresses (the tube top swim suit cover-ups need to go) and after painful try-ons, came out with a few scores!

When I got home I did the PT exercises again and did much better; not so much pain, a little further in the stretches.  It feels so good to be doing SOME sort of exercise again; I know I'm burning maybe 15-20 calories while doing the stretches, but anything is better than nothing at this point.

I'm awaiting the arrival of Jason's parents - Todd and Barb - at the moment.  They're the best in-laws a gal could've hoped for (and I'm not just saying that for brownie points either).  I'm so excited to see them, but at the same time a little nervous.  When they're here, we like to show them the town and check out local events.  Usually our outings involve way too much eating and drinking (something I've not done while on all these pain meds) and are go go go non-stop.  I hope I can keep up with them!

Todd & Barbie <3