6 Weeks Post Surgery

Good afternoon everyone! I figured it was about time to post another update. Today I am officially 6 weeks post op. I am feeling pretty good! At this point, all of the surgical drains are gone, I am just about non-dependent on the walker, the incisions are healing nicely (unfortunately not quite finished yet though), and the muscle spasms in my abdomen have calmed down a good bit. I am no longer on any pain medication of any kind. Honestly I wasn't really taking any pain medication when I stayed in the hotel either. I have been able to resume some of my normal around the house activities like doing the dishes, cleaning up in general, laundry, etc. I actually just cooked my first dinner for the fam since the surgery last night! The doctor said to get good protein, so steak works for that right?

This morning I had my first appointment with my new oncologist Dr. Ruben. He was really nice and very thorough. We talked about the timeline of how everything has occurred so far, and then he explained to me what he thought would be good for my adjuvant therapy. Luckily for me, he thinks that taking Tamoxifen over the next 5 years will be sufficient, so I no longer need to worry about being put into medicinal menopause! I did ask what screening looks like from here on out considering I had bilateral mastectomies and the DIEP flap reconstruction. He said that is really going to be a Dr. Durden (plastic surgeon) question. Dr. Durden could have me do mammograms to screen the flaps used in the reconstruction, but he said that it is more likely that he will do MRI's. I will be seeing Dr. Durden tomorrow for my 6 week follow-up, so I figure I can ask him then. Dr. Ruben also asked me to see if Dr. Durden will allow me to start taking the Tamoxifen again since he had paused it after the surgery. So all-in-all, everything is looking great! Dr. Ruben actually said my case is kind of boring because everything is going so well which is exactly how they want it to be, lol! I'm really glad it is all coming along as well as it is.

I was able to return with everyone else to the Carrollton Wind Ensemble this past Tuesday at our first rehearsal of the season. This group is definitely one of my happy places! Everyone there is so kind and compassionate, and I really feel like they are family now. The amount of support I have received from this wonderful group of people astounds me ❤. And speaking of the Carrollton Wind Ensemble, be on the lookout for the next blog post about our Italy trip we took in June. I plan to hopefully get that posted this week!