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| Me with my brothers Matthew and Wade at The Race for the Cure |
I thought it was time to update the blog, in case anyone is still following my progress…
I will begin with the Race for the Cure - what can I say? I had an incredible group of family and friends who found time to come and support me on the walk. A big thank you to my good friend Morry for putting the website together and designing the cool boot logo for my team (Giving Cancer the Boot). I am one lucky girl to have such incredible friends!! My doctors were proud of me for walking the full 5k, and I have to admit... I was pretty proud of myself too. If you haven’t ever done a Race for the Cure, at the end of the race, they do a Survivor Walk, which is so humbling to see hundreds of other survivors, and hear all of their stories. I was in the front of the group due to my new diagnosis, but got to walk with my brave dear friend Mary. Walking through the crowds there were people crying, cheering, waving... I had to hold back my tears so that I could take in every moment of this special experience. The best part was getting to my family and friends. The love I felt was overwhelming and a feeling I will never forget. I am blessed to be a Survivor and I will never take that for granted. I can’t forget the incredible Pink Ribbon cookies that my good friend Kelly Stapley made for us; we all enjoyed every single one of them.
The day before the Race for the Cure, my sweet Grandpa passed away on his 73rd wedding anniversary. Due to my reconstructive expander appointment the Wednesday before, I was off work, in major pain and having my own pity party when I got the call from my mom telling me we needed to get to see my Grandpa soon. Tony got home early so the whole family could get to the Care Center to see my Grandpa and for the kids to say good-bye. I count my blessings that we could all be there with him in his last days; all three kiddos told me that night that they felt the strongest love and sense of peace when they said good-bye, and knew that Grandpa was headed to see Grandma to celebrate their lives. Since I was off work, I decided to spend as much time as I could with my Grandpa on his last days. We were anxious for my brother Wade to get home to see my Grandpa. He made it late on Thursday night, so we stayed at the Care Center with my mom, Aunt Sally, Aunt Nancy, Uncle Jim and Cousin Amy. We all laughed a lot, and cried a lot, as we watched one of the best men in the world passing on. I was overwhelmed with love when my mom, aunts and cousin all showed up to join me for the walk. I knew they had things to do, and that they were exhausted. But, there they were, ready to walk and run and show support to me on a really tough day. That is what family is all about, and my Grandpa and Grandma would have been proud of us for carrying on.
So, I am now done with the dreaded skin stretching (expansions) and preparing myself for the next big surgery June 14th. Dr. Self told Tony and me that this surgery would take 4-5 hours and a few weeks of healing. For this surgery he will open up my incisions, take out the expanders (or as we all joke: the BOULDERS), clean out all of the scar tissue and input the new fancy gel implants. I am not looking forward to another surgery. I know this one will be easy compared to the last one, but I am still scared to death, and am anxious in anticipating the pain. Being confined to our recliner chair and HGTV all over again is going to be maddening. But, it is time to get the boulders out and time to move on. There will be one more major surgery in three months, but I am not thinking about that one yet. Just taking one day at a time, and enjoying every day I have to work in the yard, walk with my friends, and being with my beautiful family. Keep Tony in your prayers, he needs them too!! It is tough job trying to help me through all of this.
Thank you to everyone for your continued prayers, and for all the support during this winning battle with Breast Cancer. I am winning and Giving Cancer the Boot!!!
Pictures from The Race for the Cure
Seeing all of your race pictures made me a little sad that we didn't do it this year. I love the pic of you and Mary. The race is a really cool experience. I will have to plan on doing it next year.
ReplyDeleteI do have to say though, the next surgery won't be nearly as bad as the mastectomy. At least in my case it wasn't...everyone is different though. I will keep my fingers crossed that it won't be too bad.
Hopefully we can figure out a day to do lunch before your surgery, but if not...I can always come to you and give you a break from HGTV. :) Love ya Jenn!