The year of gratuitous beautification has begun

So I was going to change the title of the blog as the first year (and what will be referred to as the cancer year) is just about over and I need to figure out when the year of beautification shall begin. I'm thinking it might have started last Sunday, as while some were walking to find a cure for breast cancer (3 day DC breast cancer walk) and others were marching for marriage equality, I was holed up in the Red Door Spa at the Willard Hotel having a facial, massage, manicure and pedicure. It was lovely and neccessary given the tightness in my back. (Thank you Tal.)

I had fun seeing the other folks in town, including my friends Andres and Lisa who were visiting. And it seems like the march was successful and those that participated seemed to really enjoy it.

I saw the physical therapist on Wednesday, who confirmed that my back is a tight mess. Is it nutty that we ended the session with her asking me 1) when was my next massage was scheduled and 2) suggesting I should check with my doctor but maybe i needed to see a chiropractor for realignment?

Today I saw my plastic surgeon and breast surgeon. Besides needing to wait to see both of them due to them being stuck down in the OR (something I'm happy to be delayed for - you want surgeons to take their time when operating on others as well as me). I seem to be healing well and to not totally bury the lead - I'll be having the DIEP surgery on January 7. The DIEP surgery involves harvesting fat, skin and tissue and an artery and vein from my belly area and transplanting it and shaping it into a breast. The timing will be a little under 4 months from the end of radiation and my doc feels the timing is fine.

I am allowed to do whatever I want exercise wise in the mean time but need to understand that the size of breast will depend on what transfer tissues he has to work with. I'm guessing I'll try to stretch and swim, maybe lift some weights, do some other aerobic activities and maybe even do some sit-ups to try and get back some muscle tone and then if need be I can always up my intake of chocolate and pate (and other fat inducing foods). It will make for an interesting holiday season in any case. After surgery I will be in the hospital for 4-5 days and then at home for about a month (they say longer but I'm guessing I might be able to be out and recovered by my birthday).

Otherwise - things look good - my expander was expanded and he does seem amenable to my getting an implant if i would rather go that route. I think I'm committed to the flap surgery as it seems that the tissue transfer will help the other tissue heal. The skin/tissue seems to be healing well after radiation and things should be settled down by December. I also got more valium (needed to relax the muscle for the expansion) but I'm also hoping it might make my back feel better.

I saw Dr. E afterward and besides her being very pregnant (due in 3 weeks) that appointment went well and was pretty uneventful. There is (knock wood) no evidence of any tumors or anything hinky in my other breast and I have pretty good range of motion in my left arm and i will see her again in March. Both sets of folks asked about the mediport and if I wanted it out. I said I'd prefer to keep it until after at least the first reconstruction surgery and everyone seemed fine with that. If I'm in the hospital for a few days I'd much rather have the port than to have them playing with getting iv's into veins.

Other news - i get to add a cardiologist to my collection of pre-op visits. Apparently protocol changed over the last few weeks and if you have had adriamyacin in the past you need to be checked out and approved by a cardiologist before they can give you anesthesia. I guess it's better safe than sorry - though it seems a little silly in that they've already ran an ekg and an echocardiogram since I stopped with the chemo and I've had 3 surgeries since then with anesthesia.

So things look good - I'm happy to have the doctors sign off and to have a date set for reconstruction. Next up I think is to buy a recliner - possibly one with a massage feature built in. It isn't neccessary for recovery but i think it will be good to have.

Now the goal is to get stuff done before the new year - of course, this does make setting New Year's Resolutions easier.