My 4 legged kids are ridiculous.

And thank goodness for that! Their silly faces and goofy actions keep me sane.

I am feeling a bit better every day. Still in a fair amount of pain, and I pushed myself a little too far today. I drove to Temple and back for my consultation with the new recon surgeon, and then cleaned out and vacuumed my car. It was really a mess, but now my chest is on fire and I still have to do my stretching for the day.

I went to lymphedema class yesterday. Apparently I had more nodes taken out than I thought. 5 on the right and 2 on the left. I thought they just took 2 from each side. So I am t risk for lyphedema particularly on the right side. This is such a pain in the ass. I have to get compression sleeves to wear when I work out or do heavy work or fly. I have to be ultra careful about cuts and bug bites on my arms, and was advised that getting the tattoo sleeves I want may not be a great idea. I just have to be ultra-careful about infections basically. I am so not good at that. I tend to go into everything headfirst without looking. And having to wear compression sleeves and gloves, as well as long sleeved, thick shirts and gloves in the summer when I am gardening is going to be difficult! I guess I will be gardening at midnight. :/

Today I drove myself to Temple to see the chief of micro vascular surgery for the S&W  plastics office in Temple. He is taking the cases of the previous surgeon that was supposed to do my recon. I like him and his staff very much. He was straightforward and honest with me, and does at least one DEIP surgery a week and has for the last 9 years. He knows what he is doing. I was concerned that maybe he did not do them very often, but that is not the case. We had a good talk about what my goals are, and what his are, and that if I intend on losing weight, that I need to do it before the surgery to get optimal results. He said while we could go ahead and do it before that, but as the previous Dr.   explained, as I lose the weight it will come off my breasts like it would my belly, and then further surgery would be needed. While I was fine with that if the recon would have been done with my mastectomy, I don’t want to add even more surgeries to the list. He also assured me that there is no rush. If it only takes me a year to drop and maintain, cool, but if it takes 5 years, that is okay too. It is all about when I am ready.   I feel much better about that, and without the pressure, I am more motivated.

So with that, I am walking 45-60 minutes a day for now as well as some leg weights., Once my chest heals and I am allowed to start weights with my arms, I will work up to strength training there. It may be over 6 months before I can start on the rower again. And my eating habits start changing in the morning. No more sugar for breakfast.  And a lot less sugar over all. This is the hardest time of year to begin this kind of change, but with me it is balls-out or not at all. So here I go!

That is not to say that I won’t be having my fair share of pie on Thanksgiving! Cause dammit- I earned some frikkin pie this month!! I just won’t have it every single day, 3 times a day forever. I’ve needed to change this in my life for years, but now I have to get serious about it.

I am very thankful that I get to turn 38 in a few weeks, and I want to make it to 108. The best way to do that is to eat right, exercise, and keep my attitude positive. I am fairly good at that last one, which should help me with the other 2.

I also have to give up soy. This will be just as hard as giving up sugar. I’ve depended on soy products for years as a meat replacement, but it interferes with the tamoxifen that I have to take for the next ten years. There are studies that say soy is good for BC, and some that say it causes it, some that say it doesn’t affect it either way. I have no idea what to believe at this point, but as the instructions on the meds specifically say to avoid it, i will be almost eliminating it from my diet. There will specific times I will be consuming it: when eating at my favorite Thai place, and when SilkNog comes around about this time of year. I could use regular eggnog, but it is honestly not as good. Maybe I’ll get lucky and someone will make AlmondNog or RiceNog.  Do any of YOU out there know where to get those? If so, please let me know!!!!

I have not cried in 3 days. That is serious progress. I am finally accepting my current situation/look. It is still startling me occasionally, but it is not as bad as it was. And once the pounds start coming off and my body changes for the better in that sense, I will be much less self conscious about it.  I hope that the tamoxifen does not alter my mood too much. Or make me completely crazy. It can do that, ya know? I am going to wait till after my birthday to start taking it. I just don’t want it to ruin my bday with a bunch of crazy side effects.

My parents 44th wedding anniversary is this weekend. That is pretty amazing. I think about John and spending that amount of time with him and know that would not be enough for me.  We are already going on 6, and it seems like time has flown by. We will be meeting them for dinner tomorrow. I can’t wait to see them.

On that note, I will say goodnight to you all, as it is now almost 230am. Stay warm and safe out there!

xoxoxoxox

 

 

 

 


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