To catch everyone up a little bit. My next surgery was going to be in May. Since I burnt from radiation and your burned from the inside out your skin can change drastically. They like for you to wait 3 months before having any type of reconstructive surgery. SO. That's what we will do. They have been able to continue to do the fills to get my breasts where I would like them to be and hopefully we will be able to do final implants in July and be DONE. That's the goal at least. At first I was devastated because I felt like we had momentum and I thought we would be able to get it all done. Craig quickly reminded me that I had been asking for a ''break'' for the last 10 months and someone was listening to me. Embrace the change once again, Mary Ann.
I feel as if during this whole journey I have had to learn a several new dances.. I am hoping that this process is smoother but still have my dancing shoes on.
I have gone back to work this week starting on Monday. Monday I was pretty tired but managed to stay the whole day. However on my way home I was having trouble staying awake. Tuesday I worked for about 7 hours and yesterday I was able to work the whole day. Learning how to listen to my body is different this time. When I was at home sometimes I did feel tired, but I could rest when I needed to or take a nap. Trips to the grocery store weren't like driving 45 minutes and then forcing myself to stay awake and alert for 8 hours. This has been an adjustment and difficult, simply because I am craving that ''new normal''. Whatever that new normal is... I said to my parents just the other day - I can understand how toddlers get cranky when they get out of their 'routine', I'm 25 and I can barely cope some days.
Since I am so tired and having a little bit of a problem adjusting I talked with my oncologist and he stated that maybe we should back off on my hours and go down to 30 hours a week and let my body build some stamina back. He stated after radiation it can take a while to get my energy back. And because folks, we're coming up on the 10 month mark. I haven't had to do anything consistently for the last 10 months - its a bit of an adjustment and we are just going to work through it.
I will work until my surgery at the end of July and then be out for likely 8 weeks. I will be in the hospital 5 days and need PT to teach me to lift my arms. Until then I think Craig and I are going to enjoy our summer and the lake while we can.
I will update more this weekend. May has been wonderful thus far. ArtBra. Pub Crawl. Clints Graduation. And this weekend Craigs DIRTY THIRTY. Next post I will post pictures of all of these wonderful events that have helped me let go of my 'cancer mentality' a little bit.
Wherever you are, be all there.
XOXO
Mary Ann
I feel as if during this whole journey I have had to learn a several new dances.. I am hoping that this process is smoother but still have my dancing shoes on.
I have gone back to work this week starting on Monday. Monday I was pretty tired but managed to stay the whole day. However on my way home I was having trouble staying awake. Tuesday I worked for about 7 hours and yesterday I was able to work the whole day. Learning how to listen to my body is different this time. When I was at home sometimes I did feel tired, but I could rest when I needed to or take a nap. Trips to the grocery store weren't like driving 45 minutes and then forcing myself to stay awake and alert for 8 hours. This has been an adjustment and difficult, simply because I am craving that ''new normal''. Whatever that new normal is... I said to my parents just the other day - I can understand how toddlers get cranky when they get out of their 'routine', I'm 25 and I can barely cope some days.
Since I am so tired and having a little bit of a problem adjusting I talked with my oncologist and he stated that maybe we should back off on my hours and go down to 30 hours a week and let my body build some stamina back. He stated after radiation it can take a while to get my energy back. And because folks, we're coming up on the 10 month mark. I haven't had to do anything consistently for the last 10 months - its a bit of an adjustment and we are just going to work through it.
I will work until my surgery at the end of July and then be out for likely 8 weeks. I will be in the hospital 5 days and need PT to teach me to lift my arms. Until then I think Craig and I are going to enjoy our summer and the lake while we can.
I will update more this weekend. May has been wonderful thus far. ArtBra. Pub Crawl. Clints Graduation. And this weekend Craigs DIRTY THIRTY. Next post I will post pictures of all of these wonderful events that have helped me let go of my 'cancer mentality' a little bit.
Wherever you are, be all there.
XOXO
Mary Ann