This is your friendly reminder! Feel It on the First! Men too! Know your body. Be your own advocate. Doing a monthly self breast check will familiarize you with our own body. Check for any unusual lumps, bumps, dimples or changes. You just might save your own life! Okay, lot’s going on in my head. The reality of everything that my body has gone through and what is to come is apparently just starting to sink in. The hormone changes are not making anything any easier to deal with. My entire torso looks like it belongs to someone else. Yes, my tummy is gone and that is nice, I now have breast and that is amazing and the cancer is out of my body and that is the BEST news, but there are many changes that look and feel very strange. I am covered in scars with more […]
Author: julesfarm@yahoo.com
A Much Needed Date
After six weeks of taking things easy after surgery, Mike and I were ready to get out of the house and talk about something besides cancer, surgery, recovery and future doctors appointments. I’m feeling very overwhelmed right now with future crap and Mike know’s it. I was looking forward to a nice dinner out. Mike had bigger plans for me. This guy. I love him so much. He reserved a beautiful hotel room on the Plaza with a balcony and a view of the city. He made our dinner reservations, and he surprised me by adding an afternoon at the salon for me. There was just something about him planning everything that had me feeling very loved. Mike dropped me off at the salon at 2:00. I checked in and told them I wasn’t sure what my husband had scheduled. He scheduled for me to have a facial and to have my […]
Yesterday’s Lesson
Yesterday was one strange food day. I met my mom for brunch and it was NOT good. Came home and had a tasty snack. Late afternoon, I had several task at home to do and let the afternoon sneak by without eating. This girl does NOT forget to eat. But I did. I opened up the pantry and devoured a half of a bag of Trader Joe’s Roasted Plantains. We rarely have chips, crackers, snacks items in the house for just this reason. I love these plantains, but have done a great job of simply eating them with meals when I want a salty crunch. Yesterday……..like I had the bag in the air dumping all the crumbs into my mouth! Then I took a nap. After my nap, I made an easy shrimp taco dinner. I don’t even think it qualified as dinner. And, I ate more plantains. I tracked it all […]
Dining Out on WW Freestyle
These last few days have been filled with coffee/lunch dates with family and friends. Today is 6 weeks post op and I am ready to go back to work at WW February 1st. I had so many people that I wanted to meet up with over the last two or three weeks and it’s been nice to catch up with everyone. I’m behind a few days in a blog post with what I’ve been eating so I’ll fill this post with food. I feel so in control right now with my eating and it is such a good feeling! Having meals out has felt easy to me with the new Freestyle. I have guessed on Smartpoints with a few things, but I know that I’ve made good choices and everything I’ve ordered has tasted great! Do you find it easier to eat out on Weight Watcher Freestyle? If so, tell me what you’re […]
How Are You WWFreestyling?
I gotta tell ya, with all of the new Zero Smartpoint foods with Weight Watchers Freestyle, I’ve been super focused on what I could do with Plain Nonfat Greek Yogurt, Chicken Breast and Eggs. I have not been super focused on veggies. I truly believe that balance and variety are key for me in remaining on track and feeing satisfied. When I work in a variety of foods, veggies included, not only do I feel satisfied in the fact that I have a ton of options of foods to eat, but my tastebuds are satisfied too, and that helps keeps my cravings to a minimum. Fruit and Nut Butters help to keep my sugar cravings to a minimum. Meals packed with protein keep me full from meal to meal and that helps keep unnecessary snacking to a minimum. Incorporating a variety of veggies into my meals not only gives me […]
Easy Saturday
We spent the whole day yesterday at home and my goal for the day was to do laundry and change the sheets. Did that. I had two errands to run and it just never happened. Last night we started The Americans. Binge watching at its best. Today, errands. I see by my pictures that we need some green vegetables in this house. I loved cooking up three main meals earlier in the week and making dinner easy, but I realize I never added a side veggie or a salad. I’ll add some veggies in this weeks meal plan. I’m off to the store. Happy Sunday my friends! Yesterday….. I ate both breakfast and lunch very late in the day, so dinner was light and I just wasn’t hungry. I will say that the amount of protein that I am eating and the variety of foods that I am eating is keeping […]
Fun Few Days
I’ve had a great few days connecting with old friends and meeting some new friends. Wednesday night I met one of my newest friends. We were introduced through a nurse at my Plastic surgeons office. My two nurses that I see the most are Jenny and Stephanie and they are both wonderful. Jenny knew I had some concerns about the DIEP flap back in August before I even had my mastectomy. She reached out to Stephanie, who I had not yet met, and they made an extra effort to get me in to see Dr. Chandler before my mastectomy. it was so comforting that they would do that, and I also felt more confident about my decison after meeting with Dr. Chandler. The two nurses also told me about another DIEP patient that they knew would be willing to talk to me and offer support if I was interested. YES! That […]
Spa/Soup Day
I spent yesterday either in the kitchen cooking or pretending like I was at the spa. I did my nails, (fingers and toes). Then I did a face mask You’re welcome. Right out of a horror film!!! At least it was better than my last mask experience. I think I’ll stick with a simple mud mask. I’ll show you that next time. I know. You can hardly wait. Then I took a long shower and I used all of the hot water. Then, I cooked. I’ve surprisingly been very successful spending so much time at home and not eating the house! I am in the zone! I cooked up meatballs, Bird Balls, to put in the freezer and have later (after I made myself a yummy meatball sandwich). Have you made these yet? 1 Freestyle SmartPoint each. They are about 2″ in diameter. Freeze very well and took about 10 minutes to […]
Practicing Patience
I’m getting super antsy being at home wanting to organize this or that, move this chair or that chair, paint a room, move a dresser. These are just the sort of things I do when I’m home a lot. I get these ideas and want to change things up. I’m advised to not lift over 10 pounds for the first 8 weeks post op. I’m also advised to do nothing strenuous as there is a risk of a hernia following my recent surgery. I hate asking for help, I hate to sit and I also hate thinking of things to do then not being able to do them. I’m venting. I’ve noticed that I’m in a much better mood if I keep myself busy. however, getting out in this cold isn’t my cup of tea either. A cup of tea. Now that’s my thing. (But you can only sit and drink so much […]
Time to Pass on the Healing Chair
Do you remember when the Healing Chair was first delivered to our house? You can read more about that in my post, My Breast Cancer. A wonderful group of volunteers provide this electric recliner for patients having a mastectomy. They also brought me a blanket, a beautiful Kendra Scott necklace and a journal that moves from patient to patient along with the chair. Mike and I delivered this chair to another breast cancer patient after my mastectomy recovery. I received a Healing Chair again for my reconstructive surgery. It was a comfortable place to heal after both surgeries and greatly appreciated. Mike and I were able to take the most recent Healing Chair from our house to another patients house yesterday. I remember the comfort of meeting the woman and her husband that first brought the chair to our house. They were so open to our questions about recovery and what to […]