Tomorrow I will have a double mastectomy and begin the steps for DIEP Flap reconstructive surgery. How did I get here? Let me tell you. June 28th, I found a lump in my left breast while I was putting lotion on after my shower. July 7th, I went in to see my doctor for an exam and she confirmed what I already knew. I needed to schedule a mammogram. I’d had a mammogram in January and everything checked out fine. July 11th, I went in for a 3D mammogram. They then wanted to do an ultra sound that day, so I did. After the ultra sound. The tech told me to stay put and that she would be back to let me know if she needed to do anything further. I laid there on the table in my gown, my head full of thoughts. Do I have breast cancer? If they come in and […]
Month: August 2017
Dark Clouds, Silver Linings
Here is a mini update….. Our daughter Kate’s house flooded and their family of six moved into our empty nester house about a month ago. The kids are 9, 4, 3 and 3 months. I am having surgery on Thursday and our goal was to help them get their house put back together so that they could move in this past weekend and I could do what I needed to do to prepare for surgery. Hours (okay, days) were spent cleaning up from the flood (mostly my husband and Kate’s fiancé), replacing dry wall and insulation and painting. Then, Tuesday morning, the day the carpet was scheduled to be installed, we had another hard rain and the house flooded all over again. Worse this time. I had a meltdown on Wednesday. A complete and full blown 12 hour meltdown. I woke up Thursday with a new burst of energy and only […]
You’re Probably Not Going to Believe This….
Remember just a few weeks ago, when I basically blogged about food and activity and fun stuff?? The week was going great. We were making huge progress in getting our daughter and her family back into their home after the flood just a few weeks ago. We even made waffles on Sunday morning and I counted steps at least one day in the past week. Things were feeling good and there was a light at the end of the tunnel. We cleaned really good on Sunday (right after our waffle feast!) and wrapped up a few things on Monday. The carpet was to be installed Tuesday and Mike was going to finish up the new trim. They just needed a few furniture pieces and we could move the kids and grand kids back into their home this coming weekend. Nope. The house flooded again Tuesday morning. 26 days after the first flood. […]
Oklahoma Visit!
This post was going to be all about surgery fears. My double mastectomy is in 10 days! I went to a concert on Thursday night with some girlfriends and then had a full weekend with family. I forgot all about my fears and enjoyed myself. I don’t have time for fear anyhow. Exciting News Before I chat about our Oklahoma visit, I’d like to welcome my new readers that found my blog via Prevention Magazine. Welcome and thanks for subscribing to the blog! To my new readers….these last several post are not typical of my blog post, but I hope you’ll stick with me through these next several weeks as I will be anxious to heal and get back to a daily blog post of what I’m eating and what type of exercise I’m doing while having a little fun along the way. Yes, I was excited about being in a magazine so […]
Now for the List!
Since I’m out of my routine and haven’t been blogging daily, I have a lot to get off of my chest. This blog post will be all over the place, so bare with me, just read, and remember that I am crazy right now. Surgery Planning If you know me well enough (in person or here on the blog), you know I like a list. I like a “to do” list. I like a “meals for the week” list. I like a “grocery” list. I like a “random things we need” list. I like a “projects around the house” list. I’ve been known to do something that wasn’t on one of my list, then write it on a list and cross it off! Hey! Don’t knock it til you try it! Such a sense of accomplishment! That feeling when I cross every item off of my list, then admire it, […]
A Happy Weekend!!!
(I was having a few computer issues and my entire original post on this weekend that I did post, was lost! That took me a long time to write and I don’t know how I could duplicate it, but here is version two. I’m so bummed) I’ve posted some pretty heavy stuff lately. Today, I’ve got some really happy news that I can hardly wait to share! Tess (my daughter) and her boyfriend Manuel came in from Dallas on Thursday to enjoy a long weekend with family and attend a friends wedding on Saturday night. A few weeks back, Manuel called to ask for our blessing in proposing to Tess. That’s right. The man that I truly prayed for my daughter to one day meet, called and asked for our blessing in proposing to Tess. All afternoon on Thursday and all day Friday, I had to pretend to be clueless, which […]
I Now Have a Date
I worked the food truck on Wednesday, then ran a gazillion errands, then cleaned out the fridge and stocked it with the things that I had collected while running my gazillion errands, then made dinner. While cooking dinner, Kate and Shelby and the kids arrived back at our house after being gone over the weekend. We had dinner and then I don’t know what happened, but all of a sudden it was 10:00 p.m. I still hadn’t showered from working at the food truck and I smelled like a cheeseburger. A dirty smelly, old cheeseburger. I didn’t track or count, but I did eat good food! The doctors office called and my surgery is scheduled for August 31st. Finally! Here are Wednesday’s eats… Breakfast The remaining half of my RXBar from Wednesday. Lunch Bunless Burger while working at the food truck. Dinner Roasted Crinkle Cut Butternut Squash (Pre-cut from […]
Optimism, With a Side of Anxiety
Thanks! Thank you for all of your comments, text messages, emails of encouragement, prayers and for sharing your own stories. I know that so many women have been where I am at now and have come out of treatment feeling strong and healthy and I know that I will do the same. I am feeling extremely lucky that I found it so early. I met with the oncologist for the first time today. While Mike and I were waiting for the doc to come into the exam room, I told Mike that I thought that this appointment would be at a desk, having a conversation about my treatment post surgery. I didn’t really think about an exam. Mike told me that if the doctor came in and was good looking, he might leave during the exam. Cracking up! The oncologist (He wasn’t un attractive, but Mike must have thought so. He stayed.) said that when […]
I’m Trying To Find The Right Words
I have five different drafts for this blog post. One draft is like a novel, the other drafts are just a few short paragraphs. I keep trying to find just the right words. Some really really great things have happened this year and some really really crappy things have happened as well. Moving my mom’s cousin into the nursing home in February wore on me both emotionally and physically. The moving, the decisions, the second guessing, the visiting, and the new responsibility were all things that I was never quite certain that I was taking care of in the right way. Then one day out of the blue, she became ill. Nine days later, she was gone. The responsibilities that followed her death left me feeling a bit overwhelmed. From moving her out of her apartment into the nursing home at the beginning of February to her death at the end of June was a lot […]
Flood, Family and Food
Flood and Family Thank you for all of your sweet comments and text and emails. We are all taking one day at a time and remembering that this too shall pass. If you missed the last two post, well, they were full of stories that leave you saying phrases such as….”This sucks”, “Holy shit” and “We’ll figure it out”. Over the weekend, family stepped in to help Kate and Shelby clean up from the water damage in their house and now what is not in this dumpster is in storage. The boys got busy and were able to cut out drywall in the whole house. The house is pretty empty waiting for the fans and dehumidifier to do their thing. The toilet and sinks sit in the garage and the major appliances are in the middle of the kitchen. Now we wait for things to dry out, pick out […]