Kickin' It Pink With Kristyn: Summertime!

After a few painful months dealing with Lymphedema swelling in my left arm and breast, actually the entire left side of my body, the swelling is under control. I saw a Lymphedema therapist weekly for about 12 weeks. After my last appointment I hugged her and I'm not really a big hugger (except with Micah!). Mary and I talked about everything while she worked her magic with lymphatic drainage massage.

Tomorrow is my Stage 2 - With a Twist reconstruction surgery. I had my first surgery last February, the double mastectomy with immediate reconstruction. And another surgery in May to make everything symmetrical. Normally this would be it for reconstruction surgeries but, lucky me, I had a recurrence and then a lumpectomy to remove the second tumor. The lumpectomy left a scar 3-4 inches long on my left breast. I also have skin discoloration on my breast from radiation. Some might ask if I can deal with the scar and skin discoloration and I absolutely can. BUT! I don't have to! Women (and men) who have breast cancer are finding that they have options after treatment and don't have to be disfigured just because they had cancer. Some women have a double mastectomy and are left with scars on a flat chest where they used to have breasts. Some women have to have their nipples removed, can you imagine? But my hospital has this tattoo artist named Vinnie who flies in to do 3D nipple tattoos. My nipples were not removed. However, they were moved in one of my surgeries and will probably be moved again. This is CRAZY stuff! It's also crazy to think that I have boobs but they aren't really boobs. So I don't think about it much:) I would show my scars, my "boobs" and my fake belly button to anyone because I think it's fascinating. But I'm not going to lift my shirt in public or without you asking so if you're interested just let me know. No pics on here either because this is not an x-rated blog!

Anyway... Pre-op today and surgery tomorrow. I'm not sure what exactly is being done but I'll find out today. I also don't know my expected recovery time or any risks associated with the surgery, not necessarily medical risks but the need for additional surgeries. I still have my port which requires monthly flushing by a nurse at the cancer center and will require surgery to remove. At this point I do not have an expected return to work date and I'm trying not to plan because I have no idea what is going to happen!

On a non-cancer related note, Bobby, Helena, Micah and I went on vacation last week to Vero Beach, Florida. My good friend Erin invited us to join her family at the Driftwood Inn for their Week 27 vacation. We had a great time! Erin's family has timeshares at the Driftwood Inn during Week 27 and has been going for years (I think like 35 years!). How nice to be included and treated like family when we arrived! We drove 11.5 hours across Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida to the East Coast/Atlantic Ocean and arrived on Saturday. To save money we stayed with Erin in her room for the first 2 nights and then moved to our humongous 1 bedroom/2 bath/full kitchen/balcony/closet-that-could've-been-Micah's-room room. All of us in Erin's room was a little cramped and I'm positive Erin was ready for her space back :) We spent 7 nights on the beach, in the pools, walking all over the resort (which luckily isn't that big), up stairs, down stairs and hanging out with a very welcoming and fun family.

chillin on the way to Vero Beach

Helena providing entertainment on the drive

Micah's Spider Man kite up in the sky

I think she was practicing

Bobby, Micah and Helena kayaking with some of our new friends/family.
For those of you who know me well, you know I don't like to put forth much energy on vacation. Luckily Bobby knows me well and didn't even ask if I wanted to go kayaking.