Lessons Cancer Taught Me
I am continuously blessed with the thoughtfulness and generosity of my friends and family. Yesterday a friend and her very crafty daughter, made this for me out of dice from a new game we had learned on a girls weekend back in November. I am thankful that I have another set of Tenzi to play because I don’t want to take this one apart! 
💗
Flowers, fruit baskets, the amazing food from the meal train, helping out with Jackson and Apollo, I can’t say thank you enough. Love you all.
I (with my Sister beside me in case I wobbled), walked to the bus stop and back this afternoon. 9 whole houses away and I feel like I ran a marathon and am going to nap now, but that’s progress, right?
Want to know one of the best things in my world at the moment? Having clean hair, not up in some crazy pony on top of my head. Thank you so much to my sister for this. I wish I could say I felt like a whole new person, but at least now I am a person with clean hair. Pretty sure my Sister should just move in permanently full time to take care of J and Apollo and to be my personal hairwasher. 
I feel slightly better most days, moving a little more, but not so much that Nate yells at me to stop. 😀. I don’t know what I would do without him. He is my rock, making sure I take my meds, feeds me at random times when I am hungry, turns on my diffuser and even puts lotion on my hands every night. He hates lotion. While there are still many challenges and we have a long road ahead, I feel like I can see a little light at the end of this first tunnel. Now I am going to nap. I have become the Queen of 4 hour naps. Thank you everyone for the cards, texts, flowers and support. I am so very lucky.
So today is 8 days post surgery, or is it 7 days, since most of last Monday was spent in surgery? We got some good news today, we heard from the surgical oncologist today. The news was that the pathology came back and we are in the clear. They got all the cancer during the mastectomy process. The cancer itself was 5mm in size, they also found some non-invasive cancer that was 1.5cm in size. The surgical oncologist is going to talk to the medical oncologist to see if they want to perform an “oncotype DX test” (see link below).
We got that call while we were in the parking lot of the plastic surgeon. Today was the first “post op” for the patient. The good news there is that the skin is healing nicely (the scars) as well as the latisimus flap is pinking up well (that means that it is not being rejected by the neighboring skin). They also took out 3 of the 6 drains today, 1 from each of the locations. We setup another appt next week for Wednesday for the follow on. That means that the final drains should come out at that time.
On the home front we are doing well, I think I sufficiently have scolded my wife enough that she doesn’t try to do things for herself right now. She asks for help, which we are more than willing to give her. Also the Dr confirmed that rest is exactly what Michelle needs at this point in time to help her body heal and recuperate.
Day 7 post surgery. My life is now officially ground hog day. I wake up, take a bunch of pills, watch “Ellen,” eat breakfast, help Nate to empty my drains (6, 6 drains coming out of my body) and then go back to bed. Then it’s time for more pills and to watch some “Hart of Dixie.” Yes, it is good to watch mindless TV when taking heavy pain meds. Then more sleep, however I can only sleep on my back, my head elevated with a bed lounger, the ones with arms, with tiny pillows under my armpits. We splurged and have 2 loungers so we don’t have to take them up and downstairs. Last night Sister and I watched #Oscarssoboring and of course turned it off before the envelope mishap. Empty drains, take more pills and then sleep and repeat. Remembering to drink a ton of water and eating is also helpful. I am losing my mind.
Tomorrow at 10:30 am is my post op appointment with my plastic surgeon and then Wednesday at 10:00 am is my post op with my cancer surgeon. Hoping some or all of the drains can come out. Unfortunately, my days will stay the same for a while. Rest and repeat. So very thankful for Nate and Sister who do everything from putting my hair in a bun to getting me coffee. And the meal train has been amazing, thank you so much! We greatly appreciate all off your support, prayers and check ins!
Been home for two days now and I am definitely moving better. Still very slow and trying to not move my arms or chest much as the pain meds just don’t kick it all. If I stay in one place, I’m ok. Moving is the problem. Nate has been taking great care of me as I move from the bed to the couch, keeping track of my meds and emptying the drains. My sister is now here and will also help with J and Apollo. I did shower today and had a meltdown when I took a good look at my incisions and cried throughout the shower while Nate did his best to clean off the orange betadyne and sharpie where the surgeons made their marks. Then I slept for 3 hours just to calm down. I am trying to be a good patient, but Nate is unhappy with me when I carry my iPad or water anywhere. This is no fun.
I was discharged this afternoon and am home in bed. Found an oral painkiller which works well and I was doing all of the other stuff needed to let me go home, so we are home. Very thankful for the great nurses and DRs and my husband for taking good care of me. Off to nap now.
I received this beautiful flower arrangement and teddy bear today from Allison’s Flowers. There was a message, but it did not say who they were from. Anybody? Thank you! 
🌸 (mystery solved – from my sister-in-law, Michelle)
Day 1 recovering has been rough. Even with pain meds (morphine and oxycodone) my chest feels like it is going to explode. There were also procedures to my right armpit and left underarm area and well as a left part on my back. It is hard to move anything and I am still not very comfortable walking. I get nauseous and dizzy. Thankfully I have great nurses who bring me lots of ice.
My surgeons came in this morning to check everything out and said my incision sites look great. I have not looked, not quite ready yet. Thank you everyone for your continued support and messages. We are very blessed.
The most amazing flower arrangement that I have ever seen arrived yesterday. Thank you so much to our family at Denali and for giving Nate the time he needs to care for me and the kids.
Slowly getting better. Had at least a few hours of uninterrupted sleep last night and have been able to brush my teeth. It’s amazing what a difference it makes to brush your teeth and hair. Still trying to get my pain under control with different medication. There is some talk of going home today, but I am hoping for tomorrow to get another day with the nurses here to handle the drains and meds and to rest.
Night one in the hospital done, I wish I could say it was a restful, but it was anything but that. My nurse was in every hour to check my vitals and they tried to get me up and walk at 3:30 in the morning. It did not go so well as I was dizzy and the pain in my chest was crazy, despite being on morphine, so I sat right back down and tried to keep the nausea at bay. I am sure it will get better every day. Thank you all for your love and prayers yesterday.