I am getting there! Slowly. There is Hope!

Just checking in b4 I get too busy. I spent a wonderful day with my 3 little girls. The baby is sooooo sweet. She's 4 wks old and so very precious. She sat in her little bouncy chair on my kitchen table and stared at a little shelf on my wall that has a little girl with a sunflower and a bumble bee sitting on a slice of watermelon I painted years ago. She just stared and squirmed and even smiled at it! I thought maybe she had gas, but later when I put her out there again she started to smile again. Baby's are definitely what us women are here on this earth for. They are such little miracles.
I really needed to have them here yesterday. I was on the phone half the day with PS office, ins. co. and the hospital billing dept.! How frustrating it is to get answers. My ins. failed to tell me that even though the dr and anesthesiolgy is covered 100%, the hospital is out of network, so we will have to foot the bill for that! I tried to get a ball park figure of how much and no one would give me a straight answer-"we don't know until the surgery is done"! I talked to DH last nite and thought he would say nevermind, but he listened to me and said I was worth it and if I have to make "booby payments" that's what we'll do! I love that man so much!
Well I'm off today after a few hopefully quick phone calls. Have to do my food shopping so I can hibernate for a week or so and recuperate.
Take care all. Don't know if I'll be back on here again b4 surgery. Tomorrow I go to Saratoga Raceway and hopefully keep myself from getting the jitters about surgery.
Love, hugs, and prayers. Keepin' the faith...Dawn

Hi ladies. Dawn , I hope all is well and you are healing nicely. Please let us know as soon as you can how things are going. Kaloni , sounds like all is going well for you and your recon. I am suppose to see my ps in October for what he said would be for my nipple recon. But I am concerned about the difference in the size of my breasts. He made my recon. bigger than my normal. My right breast is a D , and my left a C. Which makes it hard to buy a bra. I mostly wear my sports bra. He talked before surgery about a lift on the left and I thought he said he even out the breasts if need be. But the last time I saw him , he seemed happy with the way they looked. Not me. So will see...
Jackie and Kaloni , are you two taking tamoxifen and was it a hard decision for you if you are or not? I'm just not sure if it is worth the SEs' and complications. I hate these decisions. Well , I hope everyone is having a good weekend. I am going to a graduation dinner for my Son today. First time I will be wearing my wig! It is so hot and humid here. If its to uncomfortable I'm gonna scarf it! C-ya later. Hugs, Mel

Hi Kaloni , Dawn and Jackie. Dawn , so good to here from you.I'm glad recovery is going better than you thought.Good luck tomorrow getting the stiches out. Maybe the drains will come out too! I hated those.Gentle hugs to you. Let us know how it goes.
Kaloni , sounds like you're doing well.Let me know how the second step to your reconstruction goes. It will help me prepare for mine! My son's dinner was very nice. I wore my wig , but was glad to get home and take it off!
Jackie hope all is well with you.Have you been bikin? Hope your having fun.Well ladies , dinner time. Left over chicken strogonff. Take care. Hugs , Melody

Hi Ladies. Just trying to catch up. They took some of my stitches out last week. some on the outer parts of both breasts on the bottom incision. I still have the "T" stitches and the ones around my nipples. Boy are they itchy. Guess that's a good thing. I go again this Wed. to get hopefully the rest of them out. Last Thurs-the day after I saw the PS for the stitches I started having a low grade fever and I felt really poopy so I called the drs office that evening. They phoned in a script for antibiotic-cleomycin or something. It must have been good b/c I took it that night b4 going to bed and the next morning I felt a lot better. It's a good thing b/c we had our nieces wedding in Brooklyn and we had to leave Fri. morning to go to the rehearsal dinner. I had SSSSOOOOO much fun. It was hard to "take it easy" but I did the best I could. We went to a nail shop and got manicures and pedicures with my niece-my first time. Boy was it nice getting the pedicure! Then we had the dinner and got to our hotel about midnite. I thought I would have a hard time sleeping, but I slept like a log. On Sat. morning we went to the hair stylists shop my neice goes to and we all had our hair done even the adorable flower girls ages 7 and 2. She had a beautiful Greek wedding (she's Italian and Irish-quite a combination). The photographer took pictures of everyone at a park near the Brooklyn Bridge with the bridge as a backdrop. It must have cost Amber a fortune, but God are they going to be beautiful. It was such a beautiful day! We got home yesterday at 4 and yes I was a little tired (slept most of the 3+ hour ride home, but I was fine today. I am however developing a rash around my left nipple. I was worried at first, but when I looked in the mirror I realized it is in the shape of the dressing that was covering it for a week. Maybe all the moving and the sweat got it irritated. I will make sure the dr can tell me what to do to get rid of it. Boy it hurts and itches at the same time. I left my surgical bra off for about 3 hours today after my shower with just a t-shirt and it felt a lot better and was less red. Now I have it back on and I can feel it getting irritated again. I don't dare leave it off for very long as they told me it is very important the first few weeks to keep the new girls supported. I'm keeping my fingers crossed and praying they will heal without anymore problems.
Enough about me- you ladies sound like you've been very busy. Kaloni best of luck to you with your upcoming surgery. I will be sending healing prayers out to you. Jackie I hope your expander behaves itself this time and you have no problems. Will be sending healing prayers to you too. I will put a "bug" in my dh's ear and let him know. Any idea the date yet. That would be a beautiful trip. Keep me posted. Melody hope all is well with you. Glad your son's dinner went well. BTW I actually didn't have any drains with my surgery. PS said it looked so good when he was done he didn't put them in. I have no drainage at this point. The day he removed the dressings, I had the tiniest bit in the crease of my right breast and that was it. I just can't wait to get the rest out and hopefully get rid of this annoying rash.
Take care all. I'm off to bed. Big day tomorrow! I have my little ones for the first time since summer break for the teachers. I can't wait but I know I'll be exhausted. I will have all 4 kids I usually have plus the new baby (6 weeks) but I know the older kids will be good for me. They know Dawny has "booboos" so they will extra good and careful. They are a bunch of really good kids. I will miss the 2 oldest ones when they start school on Wed. SNIFF. I know I'll shed a few tears when they get on that bus.
Good nite all. Lots of love, hugs and prayers. Keepin' the faith...Dawn

Hey Kaloni. Must be not much going on with everyone. Glad you're here still. I have been healing pretty good. Am still having trouble after 4 weeks getting a sport bra on. They are so very sensitive now. It doesn't take much to make the scars angry and red so I keep wearing this horrible surgical bra/vest. I guess I need more patience. I keep spitting stitches so am hoping that soon they will be a thing of the past. I'm finally sleeping in my own bed with a wedge pillow. I am back to watching my little ones everyday and the baby keeps me quite busy, but it doesn't seem to be bothering my healing any. I sure hope you are feeling more like yourself. I can't imagine the ups and downs you must go thru. I know my friend had total mastectomy on both sides a few years ago had some ups and downs, but she is doing great now. Keep your chin up. Try to find the positives in everyday. You must be so relieved to have Sept. here being in FL in the hot weather. Have you had much bad weather as far as the hurricane season goes? My DMIL's home seems to be doing ok in Holiday FL according to DH's aunt. I know how hot it is down there in the summer. It's got to be hard to deal with the heat and humidity. I know when I cared for my DMIL a few years ago I had a very hard time with it.

But it is beautiful down there. I'd love to be there from Jan. to Apr. Maybe someday! Well take care. I am thinking of you and the other sweet ladies here often.

Keepin' the faith...Dawn

hi Ladies! Kaloni , I hope you have a safe and nice visit in Jasper. I hope Mike's dad is feeling better.

My SO is recovering from his surgery for PAD. Both legs are very swelled from fluid.So he still has alot of pain.But he is getting around alittle better. He went to see his doc Mon. and they ultrasound his right leg , and they said the "new" artery/vein is working fabulously. But it really hurt him to have the US because they were pressing on his staples. So , this Mon. they will take the staples out and US the left leg.I hope it is good also.Jackie and Dawn , how are you ladies doing? I hope all is well with you both.

I saw my onc Wed. and all looks well. I don't have to go back for two months now! But these hot flashes from the tamoxifen are driving me crazy. Yesterday , I counted , they were happening hourly! I asked my onc about them , and he said to give it a couple months to see if they stop on their own. If not he will then give me something.

Well all , have a great weekend. Hugs Mel

Hi Kaloni! Congrats on your new job venture! Just think , you'll get dibs on new arrivals and maybe a discount! I hope its enjoyable for you. My son is fine. It is my significant other that had surgery. His legs are still swelled , but he is feeling better.

How was your trip? Hope it was good. Well , talk to you later. Have a great weekend! Hugs and prayers , Melody

Hi Kaloni! I'm so glad to hear your surgery went well and you are healing nicely. I wouldn't worry to much about your tumor markers. I know , easy for me to say , but I have read alot about the markers going up and down. So I know its on your mind , but again try not to worry. Wow , I would think having your nipple moved would be painful. I'm glad they look good. Yes , get lots of rest. It really helps the healing process.

I went for my 6 month mammogram Fri. Everything was fine. The tamoxifen is giving me lots of hotflashes and my period has stopped. I go back to see my onc Nov. 28th. I am going to ask him to remove my port. I'm not sure how long he wanted me to keep it , but I'm ready for it to be gone! Good luck on your oreintation tomorrow. I hope you enjoy your new job. You deserve happiness always. And thank you Kaloni for always being there for me. You have been there from the begining of my journey and I appreciate you so much. Take care , Hugs and Prayers , Melody

Thank God I finally figured this out again!! I kept reading about once a week, and then all of a sudden I could not get on to respond. It seems they've changed my password for some reason.

So glad you got your surgery over Kaloni and are recuperating well. Hope all is well with your healing and your new job. What type of work is it? You take care and I hope to hear from you soon.

Melody it's good to hear from you too. At least your period is one less thing you have to worry about now.

I have not heard from Jackie in ages. I emailed her quite a while back but no response other than jokes forwarded,etc. Hope she's ok.

I have healed very well from my surgery. I go back next week for a checkup. My nipple sensitivity has finally gone away. It felt like someone rubbed sandpaper on them for a while!!

I just found out this morning that my dear sweet Uncle Ross passed away at 4am. He had bladder cancer. He was 83. He had lung cancer about 20 yrs ago and had part of a lung removed and did very well for a long time. About a year ago he started having problems and they discovered the tumor. Him and my dad were so close. They looked like twins! He's joined dad now and I know he is in a much better place  but he will surely be missed by us all. He was such a sweetie!

Well gotta go. The baby is crying. (she's Uncle Ross' great grandaughter)

Take care ladies. Glad you're doing well.

Keepin' the faith...Dawn

Dawn, i am sorry about your loss, prayers for you and your family. And I am glad you are on the mend from your surgery also! (((hugs))) and Love to you, jackie