Happy Saturday!!

Thank you Rebecca for my adorable coffee cup!

All the coffee in the world can not seem to make this face look awake!

Hi All,

I am alive and well.

So, I jumped right back into life full speed ahead and everything has been great except for my time management skills. Blogging has been at the top of my “want to” list, but life responsibilities and a little fun here and there has left my blog feeling extremely neglected. Yes, my blog has feelings.

I am happy to report that I have been cooking and eating lots of yummy Freestyle foods, I spent last weekend out of town and had all sorts of fun, I have been walking on the treadmill and doing Yoga with Adrienne on YouTube (Love her!) and I am back working at WW meetings! I worked at three meetings this morning and I was the Leader at two of those. I am subbing as a Leader when there is an opportunity to do so and I am so happy to be able to do that!

I walked out of those meetings this morning looking forward to the day when I am Leading meetings four to five days a week. So many great members, so many inspirational stories, so many laughs and friendly faces. Do any of you remember how much I LOVE THIS JOB???

 

Updates….

Knees

I finally made it to the orthopedic doctor to discuss my knees. It turns out that I do NOT have a torn meniscus in either knee, but the meniscus is very thin. Great news! No surgery recommended at this time, just some exercises and a prescription anti-inflammatory. He did recommended a cortisone shot in each knee and I wasn’t prepared for that, so I politely declined. Dang it! As soon as I got home, I knew that I should have just taken him up on his offer. He did say that if I changed my mind, I could come back anytime and get the shots. Then we had a nice discussion about my new boobs. This is the same doctor that did my rotator cuff surgery in 2013 and now apparently I feel like I can tell him anything. What am I doing?? He actually was fascinated by it all and had a lot of questions. Pretty sure I taught the doc a few things.

 

Boobs

Yesterday I had my 9 week post op appointment with my plastic surgeon. I wasn’t sure what to expect at this appointment. My particular breast reconstruction surgery  (Read all about my breast cancer and my decision to have DIEP Flap breast reconstruction) happens in three phases. Phase 1 was the surgery that I had nine weeks ago, the tissue transfer from belly to boobs. Phase 1 heals and settles for three months before moving to phase 2, with post op visits to see how phase 1 is healing thrown in there.

In a nut shell, phase 2 is all about making your new healthy boobs look pretty.

In phase 2, they are given the best shape possible using fat grafting from the parts of your body that will give you the best overall shape. Any “dog ears” at the end of incisions will be fixed. Any areas of the breast where there is no tissue and appears to be a dent, will be fixed with fat grafting.

Dr. Chandler is very pleased with my results from phase 1, as am I. My scars are looking good. My incisions have healed nicely. Although my breast are very round (not really teardrop) and wide in diameter, they do look fairly symmetrical and physically I am feeling good.

My healthy new boobs are bigger than I was expecting them to be and they are much heavier than my natural breast. Get this. Not only can a genius doctor take your belly tissue and make you new boobs out of it, but once everything has healed and settled, he can give you a reduction and a lift! Is that just crazy?

He does tell me that my body will be very sore for 3-5 days, then I will feel much better. If he is not pleased with how everything looks (and I’m not pleased), then we will do another fat grafting later that should complete phase 2.

I will also be having a full hysterectomy during the phase 2 surgery, so one less surgery to schedule.

Phase 2 will likely be scheduled at the end of March or sometime in April.

Phase 3 is nipples. Those can actually be constructed from some of my own skin by my plastic surgeon, then have the areola tattooed on, or I can opt for the 3D Nipple Tattoo. Decision yet to be made. I might be done being cut on by the time we get there. We’ll see.

 

Life

These next several days are extremely full and I know it will be a few days before I get back here.

I have no new recipes, but I will share some favorite things that we have had since my last post.

 

First, Last Weekends Fun!

Outdoors with this girl!

 

Four Wheeling to watch the sunset

 

Puzzles and Games

 

Boys being Boys…

 

And some Cozy (Girly) Fires

 

We came home Sunday to celebrate the 4th birthday of our grand daughter, Princess Charlotte.

 

She asked for a purse and money to go shopping! Cracking up with this girl. We have a shopping date with her mommy for next weekend.

(Check out Wrenley in the bottom right. She is going to be ONE next month! How is that possible??)

 

Now, a little Food

Shrimp over Cilantro Lime Caulirice

 

Sloppy Joe’s over mashed Baked Sweet Potato from my friend, Trina.

I love this recipe!!

 

This was as easy as easy can be. 

Rotisserie Chicken, Broth, diced Celery and Onion, Frozen Veggies and a handful of Egg Noodles. Simmer and season to taste.

 

Check out my friend Trina’s recipe for Chicken and Broccoli Stir Fry.

This tasted great for a variety and came together quick since I used a pre-cut bag of carrots and cut up the chicken and other veggies earlier in the day.  

I served this over some simple Fried Caulirice.

 

I’ll end with another tasty skillet full of veggies to eat with eggs.

You by now know that I like to open up the fridge and throw anything I can find into the skillet to fill an omelet or top off with some eggs.

Peppers, Onions, (Pre-cooked) DicednNew Potatoes, Diced Broccoli

 

 

 

Okay, there is just a little update.

I hope you all are doing wonderful!

Have a great week and I’ll check back in later this week!

2018 Goals
Make time each week to Meal Plan
Drink 100 ounces of water each day
Exercise 5 days a week
Eat three meals and one snack daily
Fitbit 10,000 Daily Steps

“love the life you live, live the life you love”