Just Go Fam: But Joy Comes With The Morning!

Psalm 30:4-5 (ESV)

Sing praises to the Lord, O you his saints,

and give thanks to his holy name.

For his anger is but for a moment,

and his favor is for a lifetime.

Weeping may tarry for the night,

but joy comes with the morning.

Thursdaywas such a crazy, whirlwind of a day! It threw us for a loop when the nurse at my plastic surgeon's office called me to tell me I needed to get into surgery to have my expanders removed ASAP. I recalled the decision-making process prior to deciding to get these expanders, and remembered some of the horror stories I was told by fellow young breast cancer survivors. I remembered some of them getting life-threatening infections....needing emergency surgeries...being hospitalized. However, I really haven't had too many issues since my surgery. But, when I could hear the concern in the voice of the nurse after she and the doctor saw the photo I sent them of the hole near my left side incision, it made me wonder if I should be concerned. Somehow (well, I know how--thank you, Lord), I had an amazing peace during that whole ordeal on Thursday night. I just had a lot of questions though. Did they think I had an infection? What if I did--what is the protocol? What is the alternative to this impromptu surgery? I just had some questions that I wanted answers to prior to having surgery.

So, as you can imagine, I was elated when my plastic surgeon called me late Thursday night from his cell phone. He wanted me to know that he personally reviewed the photo I had emailed to them showing the hole near the incision site and had provided the instructions to the nurse to call me. He explained the alternative to not having surgery next week, reassured me that he was not concerned about the results or my healing. In fact, he said that a lot of the previous studies that recommended waiting at least 6 months after radiation prior to doing the the 2nd stage of reconstruction were outdated. He felt completely comfortable doing the surgery on me just a couple of months out from my radiation. Also, he prescribed an antibiotic just as a prophylactic to keep any potential infection that may be brewing near the "hole" at bay. He also talked me through which medications I need to stop, etc., so that I can have my surgery. So, after that phone call, I felt even more peace and had most of my questions answered. All of my other questions were answered the following morning in their office. I didn't see the doctor, but I saw a nurse who taped up my wound. My surgery is scheduled for 11:30am on Wednesday (8/7). My parents are able to head down after work tomorrow to help out with the kids. Everything is working out.

The great news is that I will be DONE with another big stage in this reconstruction and will only have two more minor ones remaining. Hooray! I can't tell you how excited I am to be getting these expanders out of my body. Oh--and there's a bonus! My doctor is going to remove my port-a-cath also! That's pretty exciting! After I am done with surgery on Wednesday, I will look a lot less "cancer-y".

Some other great news--I didn't have any hives today. So, I am just going to go ahead and say that they are gone! Praise the Lord!

The morning time is such a joyful time in our house. Our kids wake up happy every morning. This morning, we decided to keep our jammies on all morning long. We played....and played....and played. And, I took pictures....lots of them!

just chillaxin'

Today was a special day. It was puppy's birthday. Puppy is Luke's "lovee." She is super-special to him. He sleeps with her and his little blue blanket every night. I am pretty sure "puppy" is in her mid 30's. That is how many birthdays of hers I think we have celebrated. :-)