Surgery Date Set

Revision surgery has been set for April 26th. I have 3 mo to wait, relax, and wait in anticipation for a better reconstructive surgery. :-)

Surgery

Well I finally decided on my surgeon for the revisions: Dr. Iorio. I met with him today to discuss and prepare for surgery on 2/2/12. I discussed my concerns:
        1. Being just shy of 6mo out of radiation
        2. Having two weekend vacays planned in late Feb, only 2 weeks shy of surgery.
        3. Also coming to the understanding that I will have expanders in during the summer & I will just have to deal with the protrusions and a one-piece bathing suit OR being a vampire again for summer of 2012. LOL. 

After discussing these concerns, we decided to post-pone surgery until March/April & he is going to call me with my Pre-Op date and surgery date before the end of today or by tomorrow.  I feel much better with this decision. I feel like I got a chance to talk about my fears and expectations about surgery and also clarify what we will be doing in the first surgery. I wanted no confusion & Kyle surely stepped up to the plate and helped with asking questions.

I had my phone stolen, so my blog, email, and facebook are the best ways to contact me until I get a new phone this afternoon. In the meantime, I am excited I get to try to continue on my great fitness routine I have been on. I want to run one race pre-surgery and I also want the expanders settled so I can start training for some summer races ... maybe the Livestrong Challenge and the YSC Bike Ride are in my future....I am hoping, because treatment got in my way of that last year!

I am very glad that now I plan a little better for the surgery. I will be out 2 weeks from work. It gives me more time to plan for my co-workers and family. Nurses welcome & visitors are also welcome during my time of couch surfing this upcoming Spring. 

I am Strong!

A year ago today, I struggled to run an 11min mile and lost my beautiful hair. I felt like I was gonna lose my identity for 6mo...my fitness, my hair, and my gusto. I had moments when I felt at my lowest especially after radiation when my weight was up 20lbs pre-cancer, but there were moments when I woke up and felt very lucky that I still had my strength, my job, and my health. I exercised through chemo and ran my little legs out, I never wanted to give up. The only thing that knocked me down a bit was radiation, but I bounced right back up.

Today at 5:30a (which I never would have worked out before work pre-cancer) on the treadmill I thought - "Despite 3 surgeries, 16rounds of chemo, 28 sessions of radiation and a nice 15+lb weight gain, I kept running and fighting. I embraced my scarves & wigs. I do not mind my short (although sometimes Will Ferrell like) hair do." 

After that thought I looked down, I was clocking a 8:40min mile, on a significant incline (because only suckers run on flat treadmills in the dead of winter jk), and made it through 4miles. I also realized that right after I completed radiation, I made it through 10weeks of p90x, which is hard as heck, until Tony Horton started to annoy me. Not many people, who don't have cancer can't even do that. To top it off, I have also lost 10lbs of my chemo-pudge since May, 12lb to go. Suck it Cancer

3 weeks until surgery. I am gonna kick ass at the gym and fight off more of this weight, get my immunity up and stay positive. 2012 - only good things will come this year. 

I can blame my positivity on:  

1. my change in meds: From Effexor xr to Celexa

2. positive outlook on my reconstruction

3. A daily dose of Green Monsters. I make mine with MRM Protein Powder, Fruit, PB2, Almond Milk, Spirulina, Psylum Husk, Ground Flax, and Soy Lechtin Granules. I have never had more energy since I started these daily.

Sloan ... Groan

Although, I have some resentment toward Sloan i.e. the Chemo fiasco & implant crap. When I saw Dr. Disa on the 30th of December, he salvaged my opinion of that place. Dr. Disa was by far one of the nicest and informative doctors at Sloan. I still get panic attacks going there, so I knew in my heart even though Dr. Disa was nice & was giving me multiple options, I could never go under the knife there again without freaking out.

Dr. Disa explained that I have two options, which were the same given by the local doctor, Dr. Iorio. He explained the risks and benefits of both. Dr. Disa also said that my skin was barely damaged from radiation, so I could go either way, I just need to take it easy.

I left the appointment confused and unsure of what I wanted to do. Then I made a decision. I liked Dr. Iorio a lot, his empathy and mannerisms reminded me of my oncologist, Dr. Cairoli, whom I trust my life in his hands.

My surgery with Iorio is Feb 2. I am going to hit the "reset button": remove scar tissue that's causing my implants to feel hard, get my implant pockets reformed and lowered, add aloderm to create a better fold, and place tissue expanders, which should be filled to approximately 400cc or more at surgery. I will have drains again. I will be out of work a week. We plan on slowly expanding over 5-6mo and letting the skin settle before we swap out with implants. The goal is to get Extra High Profile Implants in the 600cc range, so my concave rib cage and sticking out bottom of my ribs are NOT larger than my implants anymore.

If this fails, our back up plan is a Bilateral Lat-Flap, but Iorio told me he has great success with radiated skin. I have faith in this guy.

I see one more doctor for consult on the 17th. If he gives me any new information, then I might hold off and just do the lat flap. For now, surgery is on for Feb 2 at JSUMC.