Well I am 10 days of being the unaboober. I can honestly say I am not upset or depressed or distraught over this like my doctors and nurses warned me about. All my doctors and nurses kept telling me how emotional this procedure is, especially with no expander being put in. Nope - I don't miss Leftie and Rightie is kind of enjoying all the attention. Selfish bitch......
Gregg and I spent the night down at Emory the night before me because we had to be there so damn early on May 1. The boys were at Nana and Pops who were taking good care of them and managing Logan's nerves for us :) The next morning, I got a phone call at 5:15 from Jenny telling me good luck before I went in. I was very happy and it was so sweet as it was 4:15 her time but she called and that's what mattered. We got to the OR floor and I was taken right back. I, of course, expected to be nervous like most people are for surgery but this surgery, I was very calm. I was hooked up to the blood pressure and heart monitor machine and to everyone's surprise, it was surprisingly normal. Like way normal. I mean 110/70. Say what? Is this for the right patient? I hadn't even had Versed yet....wow, I really am ready. I felt happy. I wasn't just saying I wasn't nervous, I really wasn't nervous. I was blessed and had a lot of family there - Gregg, Mom, Dad, Evie, Paul, Will, Aunt Karen, Chris and Phillis. They were all there supporting me and all of their phones were blowing up waiting to see and hear how everything went. My brother kept updating my Facebook page to keep everyone posted as to the details of my surgery. It was a great help I think. When I was in the back, I remember asking the OR staff how come I didn't have sheets from the Ritz Carlton because the Emory sheets were not soft enough. I also instructed anesthesia to not tell me to count down - just put me to sleep already :)
After almost 4 hours of surgery, they finally had gotten what they thought were clear margins but really needed to wait for the final path. A lot of lymph nodes were taken and more skin/tissue was removed due to cancer still being present in my skin. I was able to go home the next day and begin the healing process. Gregg has been great taking care of me and honestly, having to do everything. I have had a hard time taking showers, opening medicine bottles, doors, etc. I am getting better now - either that or just tired of being dependent on others so making myself do it. I went to the doctor yesterday and received good news in that they were able to get clear margins. Only 1 lymph node out of 15 showed cancer. I unfortunately had to leave both drains in due to the amount of swelling and bruising I still have. They also looked at me like I was crazy when I asked about returning to work due to still needing to take it easy along with no driving allowed. They did tell me I could work from home but no going to the office. Seriously. I have behaved and have been at home this long. I could tell you what channel and what time all shows come on. The one awesome thing is that the Robertsons (from Duck Dynasty) were on all the morning shows this past week so that at least gave me a daily highlight.
The one downer to my news from the doctor was that my rad onc doctor emailed me Friday to tell me I have to go to radiation twice a day, five days a week for 5 weeks. 50 treatments. WOW. I will have had 2 weeks of radiation worth by the end of my first week. This is a result of the cancer still being present in my skin at the time of surgery. I will have such a large area of radiation and am unfortunately, not a candidate for targeted radiation. I go for my markings on June 10th and will start radiation 3-5 days after that. I, of course, immediately started figuring out my game plan about work and have found a few locations to work from between the treatments. I will have one in the morning and one in the afternoon, six hours later. With it being summer, the boys will be taken care of with Gregg not having class until nighttime.
The amazing news is Logan is up to 49 pounds. I told him when he hit 50, I am getting him a real phone. This is such a huge accomplishment for him. Grayson finished baseball and Logan's tournament is starting as his team finished the season undefeated. Gregg finished the spring semester and I am so proud of him for going to school during all this - it was a good distraction and I'm glad he listened to me ha ha! You know, I am always right. My cousin, Chris, is done with radiation and is in the process of planning her wedding to an amazing guy. We are happy to welcome him to our family! I can't wait for their wedding - it will be a beautiful day and she will be a beautiful bride!
Tomorrow is Mother's Day. I am so extremely blessed not just to be a Mother, but to have amazing Mothers in my life. God blessed me with my Mom who has been at almost every dr's appt and every chemo session and my Mother-in-law has made sure the boys have been taken care of during all of this. The boys made me great presents at school including a MOM card from Grayson and a list of reasons why My Mom is Special by Logan - he especially touched my heart where he says "My mom is good at many things. One thing she is best at is fighting breast cancer." I shed tears when I saw this, and he says, its true, you are so brave and strong Mom. I wish all of you a very Happy Mother's Day. If you don't have children, you are still a mother if you have any pets because those are your children as well. You deserve to be pampered too! Thank you for all your support, prayers, love, texts, phone calls, visits, cards, food, and flowers. Without those, we would not be getting through this. Thank you and have a great Mother's Day - be sure to thank those in your life and give loved ones extra hugs!!!!!
