I posted this today on my Giveforward fundraising site, to share the latest news with everyone.
Good morning everyone,
I did not plan to provide any further updates, but I keep thinking of all of you and how much your love, prayers, support and gifts have not only meant to me but helped as well. By next week, it will be 45 days since my bi-lateral mastectomy. I'm completely in awe that time has passed. It really seemed like only a few weeks ago when I underwent surgery.
Since that time I have returned to work. The first week was overwhelming. It took me some time to get acclimated, but as soon as I was, it felt great to be back.
The medical bills have started to arrive. I am so thankful to all of you for your generous donations in helping me apply all of your gifts towards my medical bills. While I do have health insurance, there are out of pocket expenses that we incur regardless of how much coverage we have. Since January, it is safe to say I have had over 50 doctor appointments. Not a single day goes by where I don't think of your support and how fortunate I am to have such a wonderful circle of family and friends in my life. It is overwhelming at times to take all that in. I am indebted to you all!!!
In previous posts I mentioned that I had looked into alternative chinese medicine as part of my treatment plan, in addition I changed over to an organic-vegetarian diet. I've been taking the chinese herbs for about 30 days and feel a HUGE difference as a result of taking them. I honestly have never slept as well as I have been for the past 30 days. I really believe that a full nites sleep is the secret to being in a good mood and maintaining an even amount of energy throughout the day. I had two nites where I didn't sleep that well, and it was because I forgot to take my herbs before bed. The next day I was dragging and cranky. No fun for anyone...including myself.
During the past month I have also elected to have more in depth testing and explorations done on my body to ensure that there are no other signs of masses, in my body. I elected to have these tests because I wanted to ensure that there were not any other hazards in the body, prior to taking tamoxifen. I think you all know that I struggled with this decision to take tamoxifen due to the cancerous side effects that tamoxifen can cause. After being told by 6 different doctors to take tamoxifen, I made the decision to try it. My body has had time to heal from the surgery and become more balanced as a result of the chinese herbs, kale protein green drinks and vegetarian diet. I feel like my body will respond better to the drug, given where I'm at. They said I may feel sick the first week of taking it because my system is so clean right now. I think I can handle a week of that.
On the tissue expander front, my breasts are now expanded to 290 cc's. I have one more fill to go and I believe I will be where I want to be from a size perspective. Once I get there, the doctor will over expand me so that when the implants are inserted, the breasts will fall more naturally. Right now, they honestly look like two tennis balls under my muscle. I still love them even though they are "bolted" on! The 2nd surgery is planned for July. The date has not been set yet. The surgery scheduler is in the process of scheduling it.
The final surgery...yes there is a 3rd! This surgery will be scheduled in the fall. The final phase will be constructing a nipple and areola. There are several options for this procedure. You can have a nipple reconstructed as an "outty" and use skin from another part of your body to rebuild the areola. You can also just reconstruct the nipple and have your areola tattooed on. The final option is to have a 3-D tattoo. I have not decided what I will do. I have time.
By the end of 2013, I will have completed my breast reconstruction. It will be a relief when I arrive at that point. While these next two surgeries aren't nearly to the extent as the bi-lateral mastectomy; it still makes me nervous. I've never had this many surgeries in less than a year...let a lone a year!
Life continues to move on, my schedule with work and kids is back to what it was...only much harder to manage than before with all the dr appt and baseball practices/schedules, etc. can take a toll on me. I continue to keep my head up, my attitude positive and I'm just happy to be where I am. Healthy!
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