Summer fun

      I haven't blogged in a bit, I have been too busy having summer fun! I made a conscious decision that my child's summer wouldn't suffer because of my cancer. Of course, we have limitations on this one.  I can't go in the water, I can't carry the beach supplies, I tire fairly easily, car rides make my skin crawl and induce muscle spasms. The toughest parts of my day are going to sleep and waking up. It seems close to impossible to get comfortable in bed with surgical pain and tissue expander pain...even with muscle relaxers and pain meds. Then, waking up after sleeping on my back all night is very painful. It seems to be mostly sternal pain. Crushing, stabbing, tearing sternal pain. Sleeping in my amazing recliner seems to help quite a bit. But, during the day I fair pretty well, other than some occasional muscle spasms. 
     This week brings 2 big appointments-oncology and plastic surgery and they both happen on Thursday. I see plastics every week, so that is nothing new.....but this week I should get rid of my final drain. It will be very odd to not have to worry about hiding my drain. Then, next week I can begin fills of my tissue expanders! That brings us a few steps closer to having boobs...or 'foobs' (fake boobs) as I call them! If every person who wanted implants had to go through tissue expanders, there would be a whole lot less silicone in this world. They are hard and they hurt and there is nothing fun about them! The oncology appointment should bring a chemo decision. I am truly hoping I don't need to have it, but only time will tell. This decision is based on a test called Oncotype DX. It looks at your tumor, it's markers and your age, etc. It creates a numerical score of 0-100. Anything below 17 means you will not benefit from chemo (the risks outweigh the benefits), above and you will. I have no worry or anxiety about this appointment because the chemo decision seems pretty cut and dry. My oncologist is also a hematologist, so he will manage my blood thinner as well. So, until then we will enjoy sunshine, ice cream and Del's frozen lemonade! We can also begin to count the days until my sister visits from Texas-yeehaw!