How I am Doing
I do apologize for this gap between posts, and now numerous thoughts. Life is getting back to normal, and thus back to busy. Thanks for still checking in!
After visiting with my plastic surgeon last week, and then visiting with a friend whose wife went through a double mastectomy, I have adjusted my expectations about healing time. That seems to be helping me to do better, even though the consensus seems to be 2-3 months before feeling really okay. When I heard that, I was able to stop waiting to feel like I wasn't hurting so much and decided to just go out and "do." I think for the most part that has been an aid in my healing, though sometimes at the end of the day I can be really sore and really tired.
I was supposed to go back to Baylor yesterday, but as Mark and I discussed our schedules and its demands, it seemed the better choice for my family to put it off until later. So, I canceled and will be going back on October 31st. The only thing that makes me a little nervous is the doctor's comment that scar tissue tends to build up when there is too much time in between expansions, thus making the expansion more painful...but...what to do? Sometimes, family just needs to come first!
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Often times people ask about how the girls are doing. Thanks so much for that! I think they are doing okay. It seems that they rolled with the punches for the longest time, and now that we are edging out of the surgery, there have been a few bumps. For instance, I think that Annaleigh saw her school/Mom's Day Out as a great thing while I was post-surgery. Now that I am stronger, she is seeming to struggle with having to go, and while she is there she will not always participate and does not want to eat her lunch or snacks, because she wants to eat with mommy and daddy. Yet, her teachers are working with her beautifully, and she is participating more and being happy more often while there.
Along the same lines, Annaleigh heard someone on TV use the term "breast cancer". "You had breast cancer, Mommy." "Yes, honey, I did, but it is all gone now." (Yippee, I can say that!) I was a little surprised to hear her say that, but she is a bright little girl and I have tried to be open and honest, so I shouldn't have been. Like the situation at school, it makes me a little sad that she is having this experience, but I am determined to keep on finding the silver linings...like the fact that she will learn early on that life is to live...that we run TO God in trouble, not away...that we are to be God's hands and feet to those who hurt.
Come to think of it, if I, myself, can learn all of that, this experience will not have been wasted.
After visiting with my plastic surgeon last week, and then visiting with a friend whose wife went through a double mastectomy, I have adjusted my expectations about healing time. That seems to be helping me to do better, even though the consensus seems to be 2-3 months before feeling really okay. When I heard that, I was able to stop waiting to feel like I wasn't hurting so much and decided to just go out and "do." I think for the most part that has been an aid in my healing, though sometimes at the end of the day I can be really sore and really tired.
I was supposed to go back to Baylor yesterday, but as Mark and I discussed our schedules and its demands, it seemed the better choice for my family to put it off until later. So, I canceled and will be going back on October 31st. The only thing that makes me a little nervous is the doctor's comment that scar tissue tends to build up when there is too much time in between expansions, thus making the expansion more painful...but...what to do? Sometimes, family just needs to come first!
______
Often times people ask about how the girls are doing. Thanks so much for that! I think they are doing okay. It seems that they rolled with the punches for the longest time, and now that we are edging out of the surgery, there have been a few bumps. For instance, I think that Annaleigh saw her school/Mom's Day Out as a great thing while I was post-surgery. Now that I am stronger, she is seeming to struggle with having to go, and while she is there she will not always participate and does not want to eat her lunch or snacks, because she wants to eat with mommy and daddy. Yet, her teachers are working with her beautifully, and she is participating more and being happy more often while there.
Along the same lines, Annaleigh heard someone on TV use the term "breast cancer". "You had breast cancer, Mommy." "Yes, honey, I did, but it is all gone now." (Yippee, I can say that!) I was a little surprised to hear her say that, but she is a bright little girl and I have tried to be open and honest, so I shouldn't have been. Like the situation at school, it makes me a little sad that she is having this experience, but I am determined to keep on finding the silver linings...like the fact that she will learn early on that life is to live...that we run TO God in trouble, not away...that we are to be God's hands and feet to those who hurt.
Come to think of it, if I, myself, can learn all of that, this experience will not have been wasted.
posted by Beverly @ 10:55 PM
1 Comments:
At 8:31 AM,
Dawn Stan said…
Hi Beverly, Don't rush yourself with healing. I am nearly 13 weeks out of just a lumpectomy and I still have discomfort. Like you I expected to heal quite quickly. I still can't lie on my side to sleep comfortably. I have found for a while I feel good and then I experience new discomfort for a bit then it returns to fine. I suppose depending on what stress we put our bodies through determine what we feel and how fast we heal.
Like you I have been quite honest with my girls although they aren't quite as young as yours. Mine are nearly nine and twelve. I have found honesty (although at times the minimal info) is the best way to approach the questions. No point in going around the situation as sooner or later they will realise the truth.
I am also determined to keep the silver linings. After all life is good and we are blessed to have discovered this cancer, I have had friends who have commented about how horrible to discover the LUMP. All I can say is how horrible to have not discovered it.
Thinking of you.I believe God does not give us more than he knows we can cope with.
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