Forged In The Flames

Wow, a lot has happened in the past few weeks, and my brain has been struggling to play catch up. I guess the last time I posted was after I had my scans – which has been almost two months….YIKES. SOO, lets see….In that time frame I have had surgery, recovery, and have been preparing for radiation (sort of). Rewinding, here is a short synopsis of the past two months.

Surgery

This was a big deal for me in more than one way. It was a big deal because I was loosing a part of me. It is in NO WAY like having a “boob job” (and I have had people try and compare it as such) as I could keep NOTHING. from my “original pieces”. It was a big deal because I was taking steps towards removing anything that was left over from chemo. This process brings LOTS of ups and LOTS of downs. It was no easy walk in the park, and still is not. Thankfully I have a loving family and a few friends who have been by my side during this process. Leading up to surgery, I was a bit of an emotional mess. I was trusting God in the process, and dealing with tons of emotions that continually surfaced.

I had wonderful providers and nurses who were encouraging, kind, and supportive. The surgeons? Man…..THE BEST! I felt bad for the anesthesiologist, as I had many many questions for him in pre-op: what type of drugs were being used, what kind of airway was he going to place….but he was awesome! I remember getting the good drugs and going happy nappy. Apparently, in PACU, I was asking for my husband constantly, telling the nurses that I really needed him and I was told I also informed the PACU nurses that I could handle pain (which is totally not true hahaha!). My husband and one sister were there with me in my room when I was finally ushered to the floor ( I know my other sisters wish they could have been there too). I am thankful that my husband did not have to wait and wonder alone.

Between follow ups and post-op, I was told that the surgeons got GREAT margins! and that the one marked lymph node was NEGATIVE in the pathology report! WOOHOOO! God is sooo good! I choose to believe that I am cancer free- still. I have been super active since surgery. I started walking the day after and have increased how far I go each day since then. The beginning was super slow, but now I am up to about 7 miles a day (not all at one time). I am still working on my upper extremity mobility and strength as I still have some limited range of motion and tightness.

I have met with the radiation oncologist and I am moving forward with this. The modern science behind this is very fascinating and I spent most of my appointment with her talking about food and MBA studies (which actually made me feel so relaxed). Radiation will be M-F for about 6 weeks. I have a little over one month left before I can go back to work, and I plan on working while I go through radiation. I am thankful that I have a job and a boss that works with my crazy schedule as I know that it is not easy. I am getting antsy, and if you know me on a personal level, this is very hard for me to do.

Moving forward, I am thankful for God’s grace to make it thus far, and pray that He continues to keep me and guide me through this process. I have a few funny stories, and perhaps I will make a super lighthearted post with these in the future.