Tag: Breast

Tomorrow is another day

I have been very sore today!

In some respects I feel like it was a lifetime ago that I had my surgery but then when I look at a calendar it has still not even been 3 months.  Less than a month since the nipple reconstruction and revision which in itself was a pretty large surgery.  Today my body waved a white flag. I could not even bring myself to put on a bra today.  I tried to ignore it this morning and ran some errands and then took a walk but half way through my walk I could tell things were off.  I headed home and ever since have been on my butt.

Oh well, tomorrow is another day!

I do not think that there is any other quality so essential to success of any kind as the quality of perseverance. It overcomes almost everything, even nature. 

                                                                               -John D. Rockefeller

Shopping?

 

I went shopping today, kind of.  I was going to go out and buy a few things.  I have been looking so frumpy in my baggy clothes.  I decided to take a walk first and while doing so I had some time to think about what I needed.  That is when I realized, I had absolutely no idea where to start.  So when I arrived back home  I decided I should do a quick inventory of my closet.  Between the massive reduction in boob size, and the lifestyle changes I had made over the last year or so, I have lost 40 pounds, 15 of it since the surgery.

It turned out to be a very productive afternoon and one of the best shopping trips I have ever had and I never left the house.  I did not realize just how much weight I had gained.  I guess I just kept pushing things to the back of the closet as they got tight, hoping some day they would once again fit.  Well, happily that day is today!  I honestly can not remember the last time I cleaned out my closet.  I found things that I do not think I ever wore.  I also found some old favorites that I could not even get on let alone button a year ago that will now be entered into normal rotation.

I am very sore tonight from all of the trying on of clothes.  I took everything out and tried it.  I of course had to keep a bra on the entire time.  The “girls” are not happy tonight, probably the most uncomfortable I have been in a few weeks.

My wallet was thrilled with the luck we had today!  I was not looking forward to a big shopping bill especially since I am not exactly sure if I have reached my final size.  My surgeon said it would take months before my body finished shifting (for lack of a better word) .  I also am so pleased with how I am both looking and feeling that I have been inspired to maintain a daily exercise regime.  I am up to about 150 sit ups a day on top of either a long walk or some time on the elliptical.

Amazing it was just 2 months ago that I could not get myself out of bed.  The important thing now is to keep it up!

 

If I only had a crystal ball

The way I see it, life is really about making a few good decisions at the right time.    For me I will say my job change was a very important decision made. I took a significant pay cut and loss of title in doing so. I was mocked by many around me.    I was even counter offered but in my heart I felt what I was doing was right.  In the end, I achieved so much more, a higher title and worlds more money.  It  allowed me to live the professional life I always thought I wanted.  It also allowed me to open my mind up to other aspects of my life, the possibility of having a family.

Changing course in my life and having the girls was a huge decision for me which may be the greatest one I have ever or will ever make.  My girls are my world!  There is no title available that could fill my life as much as seeing my girls grow and learn.

I had to go to the dentist the other day.  It was the first place where I have had to announce my recent surgery.  As I sat down, the hygienist asked cheerfully, “any medical changes since last visit?” Oh sure!

She had just turned 40.  I know that because the rest of the appointment we talked about boobs.  She was very interested in my story . What I found interesting is the fact that she also had a friend with breast cancer and a script for a mammogram yet had not made an appointment.  She told me that her doctor had ordered it as a baseline when she had her appointment a few months ago and had just not gotten around to making the mammo appointment. Did I think it was really that important?  My eyes must have done something because she sat back allowing me to sit up  to answer.  I had my first mammo  in my early 20’s.  Do I think it is important…ugh hell yes!

Decisions, what to eat, wear, is getting a mammogram today really that important?

Having a prophylactic bilateral mastectomy I am sure will turn out to be at the top of my good decisions list.  With the pathology results, I don’t even need to list why.

I almost want to call my dentist office to see if she has made her appointment yet.  Had my mother gone earlier?  But you can’t go back you can only look at all of the information at hand and make what you hope will be the right decision, one that 20 years down the road makes that list, the list of the few great decisions I made in my life.