Update 8-17-09

Hello All,
Just wanted to give you a quick update and let you know how things are going. Physically, Mom is doing better than with any other surgery! She feels soreness mainly around the incision area and on her sides & right arm. She is very encouraged by the fact that she now has full range of motion without the terrible discomfort of the expanders. That is SO ENCOURAGING to me. It's great to watch her sit in her chair and move her arms in a circle with a surprised look on her face that it doesn't hurt like it did before.

We had a bit of a scare with her hearth arrhythmia yesterday morning and almost ended up in the emergency room. We were almost out the door when her heart medicine must have finally kicked in and her heart finally righted itself. She said that her hearth rhythm hadn't been that good in 3 weeks! We all have come to the conclusion that the heavy pain medication was at fault for the scare in the night she had on Saturday. Her heart did a big thump, then nothing for a bit afterwards. She thought it wasn't going to kick back in again, but thankfully (understatement) it did. She has decided that she'll add the name of that pain medication to her 'Allergies' list at the hospital so she doesn't have a negative reaction from it again.

Emotionally, she is definitely making progress. As I mentioned in the blog from our way home, she has had a difficult time with the outcome of the surgery. Her doctor had been very honest from the beginning about what he would be able to do for her surgically, but she really hoped he was being modest with his abilities. Unfortunately, there's nothing more they can really do with the types of implants that are approved by the FDA at this time for reconstruction. In the years to come, there are some exciting new types of implants the FDA is looking at for breast reconstruction, so we will look forward to see what happens.

I know she's going to be just fine, but it will definitely take some time. I think every bit of what she's going through is completely normal. She keeps apologizing to me for having to see her go through this, but I keep telling her that I'm doing just fine. I really am! I know she needs to feel all of these emotions and get 'em out! Of course it's hard to see her suffer, but I know she's going to be just fine. :)

We go back to the Doctor on Wednesday for a checkup. Right now, Mom is hoping she can 'Keep it together' for the appointment. She has yet to shed a tear at the City of Hope. I keep reiterating to her that their focus is treating 'the whole person' and that if she feels like crying...she should cry! They're not treating robots, for heavens sake. They need to know how everything affects her, that way they can help her get through this-and learn how to help their other patients in the future.

I'll let you know how it goes! :)