9 MORE DAYS TO NEW BOOBIES!!

Tomorrow I go in for my pre-op appointment with my plastic surgeon to have him check me out and finalize plans for surgery.  I soooooo wish I were getting a tummy tuck, neck and face lift at the same time, but us beggers cannot be choosers.  One recovery from all that Face Fab would have been nice, but I will take the new breasts for now.  I am so tired of this expander!!! It's rock hard and feels so strange. I can tell the skin has stretched as I now have ample skin on the side that rubs against my armpit.  And it's so disgusting and makes my armpit chafed.  And I hate the word chafed!!!  Yuck!  But only 9 more days...bring on the pain!  No pain, no gain!

I am starting to feel so much better.  Each day I am less fatigued.  I still have major muscle stiffness and soreness though.  That sucks.  I try to blame it on the cancer treatments but I might be forced to just chalk it up to age.....no, not quite yet!

Photos

My bad-ass baby!!!

Weight Loss.....URGHHHHH

I decided since I had gained quite a bit of weight during treatment (and since I could no longer blame it on chemo or the steroids!!!) that I should try to lose some weight.  Being over weight and inactive (among other things) aids in getting breast cancer....so they say.  But for my own sanity I have been on weight watchers for the past 5 weeks.  I am happy to report I have lost a total of 9.4 lbs.  I feel better already and have given myself a healthy goal and plenty of time to do it in (a year!!)  Thank goodness for mobile apps too as they can tell you everything about what goes into your mouth and if you want to eat it - or as I say "is it points worthy"?  Weight watchers gives you an allocation of points for you to consume each day and if you stay within that range you lose weight.  So it's pretty cut and dry and it really does work.  But I sure do miss my big bowls of icecream at night!!

Tonight is Palmer's Open House for his first year in 6th grade over at Hubbard.  He gets to meet his teachers and find his classrooms and locker and drop off his stuff.  He has already called me three times and it's not even noon yet.  He is so excited I think he might pee his pants.  But that's a good thing.

In Remission.......

I don't want to jinx myself, cuz you know how I feel about that...everytime I say something is good news sometimes turns around on me, so I want to be careful....maybe that's called superstition?  Who knows.  I do know that when speaking with my oncologist yesterday they "think" and are "pretty sure" they got the cancer that was inside of me.  So I am considering that remission and I am going to call myself cancer free...please no jinx!!!!

Since I have TNBC (triple negative breast cancer) I do not respond to any long term drugs such as hormone therapy or tamoxafin.  Chemo and radiation are the only things that work on my type of breast cancer.  Those with hormone positive receptors can continue their treatment past chemo and radiation.  They take a pill that can keep treating them.  I cannot do chemo for the next 5 years (and thank goodness!)  But since we zapped everything and I had the mastectomy the oncologist feels that we have done well on getting rid of the cancer....hopefully for good!  I am petrified it will come back...not going to lie to you.  But I can't live my life scared to death of it, so I have to just put it out of my mind.  I am on the last home stretch and cannot wait to be done and live like a normal person....even though I was never really normal before.

NEW BOOBS!!!

I am happy to report that Dr. Awesome (my plastic surgeon) has scheduled my breast reconstruction surgery!  I will finally get this expander out that has been oh so uncomfortable.  Mike could fling pennies at it and they would probably torpedo back at him...maybe that is why I haven't let him do that at all.  Poor guy...I am such a fun hater.  Anyway, I will get my new saline implant on my right breast and he's going to spruce up the left breast a bit too since it was a little slow in healing due to the chemo.  They both should look spiffy afterwards!  So Sept 5th is the date....set your calendars. 

I have had some requests for before and after photos but I will refrain from posting those.  Unless Hugh Heffner wants to put a few million in my bank account....even then I am not so sure.  Here is a bit of TMI for you....if I want a nipple, I have to have it tatooed on....that could be my first tatoo.  And no I don't think I will be showing my tatoo to every Tom, Dick and Harry that asks about it...who knows though, maybe they will look so awesome a flash down at the river might be in order!!!

Palmer comes home!!!!

I am happy to report that my baby (11 year old baby) comes home today!!  After being gone 2 whole months visiting his dad and family in AL.  They will be in town right after lunch.  Today we are going to register him for Middle School....yes, I said Middle School.  He will be in 6th grade.  I remember my 6th grade year so well as we were the top dogs on the totem pole....the oldest of the Whitten Elementary back in the day.  We thought we were soooo cool....and I am sure some of us were!! HA!!  Palmer, unfortunately will be the youngest class at his Middle School (6th - 8th) but I know he cannot wait to go.  Thank goodness!  He starts football here in a few days and cannot wait for that either.  Thank goodness he has energy...now maybe it will rub off on me!!

This is Palmer and his grandaddy Wylie...they have stickers on their face....couple of goofballs!

Today marks the 4th week after chemo...so I am HOPING tomorrow I can feel completely poison-free!!!  We will see about that!  I am going to try to get a pedicure sometime soon....my toes look like something from the Flinstones right now...yuck!