The DIEP thus far

On May 2nd I had my DIEP Reconstruction Surgery. I am still in the hospital, but doing well. It has been a much easier experience so far than my mastectomy, although I have not gotten out of bed yet. I will report back after that.

We had an especially good experience with the anesthesiologist, Dr. Hebert. His lengthy conversation with me the night before gave me the confidence to go into the surgery with a positive feeling. He was the first one to come back and check to see how I was doing. We have had excellent care by all of the nursing staff.

We did have a little scare this afternoon when they could not locate any blood flow on either flap. However, the problem turned out to be with the doppler machine so everything is fine.

I should be getting up for the first time around noon today. It's not supposed to be very pleasant but I'm feeling really good so I may be more hopeful than I should be that it won't be so bad.

Today my friend from my college days is coming to visit today, so I am looking forward to that, and I am grateful that as it appears now I will be able to visit with her instead of being rushed back into surgery to save my breast tissue.

I must admit that it felt pretty silly sitting here praying for my breasts, that I hadn't lost them, but with all that we have been through so far, all I can say is that God is good.

Thank you so much for all of your prayers. I appreciate it.

Relay for Life Recap

We want to thank everyone who participated with us in the Relay for Life. It was a very touching experience to walk the survivors lap with all of the other cancer survivors and their caretakers, being cheered on by others as we walked around the track. Our team raised almost $1,000, which I consider an awesome accomplishment and the event as a whole raised $66,500.

One of my most touching moments personally was when Annaleigh (my 4 year old) said that she wanted to be on my team and has said it since the relay. A couple of people have remarked about next year's relay, so we are gearing up for that.

Thanks for your support and encouragement in spirit. Hope that you will get involved in it next year. It was a lot of fun.