Two down, two to go...

Today has been a great day! I actually got to go out of the house and do things! The morning started rough because I have been trying to cut down on the pain meds. But, we changed those today and now I can get more relief with less pills and that's always a good thing. Thank you, Debbie for fixing that problem! I also got to go to the plastic surgeon's office and get two of my four drains removed. Now, if you've never had surgery requiring drains, it's quite the experience... (THIS NEXT PART IS NOT FOR THE SQUEMISH...)

Basically when they take things out of your body, your body tries to fill that space back up with something else, like blood and other fluid. So, they have to get that stuff out of there or it can cause problems. So, the answer is to poke a hole in you with a tube coming out that attaches to a bulb-like thing on the end. Each of those bulbs has a little plug in it, like a blow-up beachball where you can empty it a couple times a day, and recollapse it to create suction again. Thank goodness I have always had a 6 year-old boy living in my head who thinks gross stuff is cool because as nasty as it is, I kind of look forward to seeing how much I can get out each time. (I know that's gross, but still kinda cool.) The idea is to get it down under 20 cc's a day. Then, they can take the drains out. So, when you have four it's kind of like a race to see which ones you can get out first. I'm happy to report that Drain #2 is our winner with a close second in Drain #4. Drains #1 & #3 need to get with the program. I'm about tired of having them hanging out of my sides.

So, after that Dr. appointment I talked Mom into taking me out to eat and to Target so that I could buy my nephew a birthday present. He turns 1 tomorrow. Happy Birthday, Aiden!! It felt pretty good to do normal activities. I marched into Target with my new "starter boobs" and 2 hidden drains and got to feel normal for a brief period. No one even looked at me wierd. It took a lot out of me though. I had to take a 3 hour nap to recover, but it was worth it.

I want to say a special thanks to all of the wonderful people from church who have brought us dinner for the last few nights and for those who are bringing them in the coming days. The meals have been wonderful and we so appreciate them. I have brought my share of meals to people in the past and my mom has done the same my entire life. It seems like she's always making a meal for someone. But, neither of us ever knew what that actually meant to those recieving them until now. Besides prayer, there's just about nothing you can do that means more. Thank you, thank you, thank you! You are all such a blessing.

We should have the final pathology results soon. If that goes like we think, step 2 will begin early September. I think step two will be the hardest because chemo scares me to death. Thankfully, I won't be doing it alone. The Bible tells us that, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." Philippians 4:13 I'm counting on that.