Progression!

When I write this title, in my head I'm singing it to the tune of "Tradition!" from Fiddler on the Roof.

I'm a weirdo.

That's not new, so here's what is...

Progression is the theme of post, and it's because I have progressed, in nearly all parts of recovery!  I had mentioned to my friend Alexis about my super cool surgical bras I was wearing and she reminded me I hadn't posted any pics of them.  Well, here it is, in it's thick cotton glory...

 

It's a Velcro front and Velcro straps.  While bulky, the ease of getting it on and off was pretty amazing, and I will say that it was pretty comfortable.  While I had my drains it, another helpful piece of apparel was this lovely camisole:

 

 

Again, the heavy cotton leaves something to be desired, but the built in pockets for drains and Velcro front was pretty damn clutch.

 

But I've progressed!  I started with a Moving Comfort sports bra with detachable straps from the running store that was easy to get out and super supportive (aka smooshes the full boob down enough to make the imbalance not very noticeable). 

 

Yesterday I wore a REAL bra for the first time since surgery!  It actually fit ok, but I did purchase a non-underwire since the tissue expander sticks out a little weird on my side.  It's true sometimes, it can be the little things, and being able to wear the normal stuff feels good.  I will say however, I tried to put in a regular racerback bra that required to go on over the head...not my best idea :)

 

Changing topics (men, if you're still with me, congrats!), but I had bedhead this morning!

 

Look at those messy sides! The hair is continuing to fill back in and soon, I may have to "do" something with it.  Unfortunately, there's a lot of grey so may break down and dye it.  Or, I could just rock the silver vixen (is that the equivalent of silver fox?  Is there an equivalent?) look.

 

I was cleared for "exercise" last week by plastics.  I put the quotes because I still can't run/bounce (though I'm so out of shape I wouldn't really want to run..) and can't lift much, but walking, biking etc are all allowed.  To try to take advantage of this time before radiation to get back on track towards a healthier weight, I've been doing well tracking calories and getting some workouts in...

 

4:00 workouts at the college rec center makes for pretty entertaining people watching as well, though I wouldn't necessarily associate that with progress. 

 

I've progressed in my treatment team, adding an occupational therapist/lymphedema specialist.  While I'm not currently struggling with lymphedema, swelling of a part of the body (often arm/leg) resulting essentially from fluid sitting in the tissue rather than circulating back through the lymph system, I'm at increased risk to develop it, given they removed my axillary (armpit) lymph nodes.  Radiation will increase this risk as well.  So I have some lifelong changes to make like being diligent about skin care, avoiding cuts, not taking blood pressure on that arm, having blood drawn, avoiding hot tubs, etc.  In addition, during air travel (woo hoo for an upcoming trip to Phoenix!) and even just while exercise, compression garment can be helpful.  It's pretty cool though, a company Lymphadiva makes sleeves and gauntlets (the gloves) that are pretty stylish, so I've got the ones below on the way!

 

 

Work has been quite busy and I'm grateful I've had the energy to pull some late nights (much to the displeasure of Mom who no longer is here to encourage me to come home!).  I appreciated having a delayed start this morning due to the frigid wind chill to be able to get some work done from home.

 

This afternoon I went to the plastic surgeon for the first of my "fills".  The best way I can describe it is (Caution, sound is NSFW):



 

Kidding.  Sort of.  Basically the doc uses a magnet to find the spot (the expander has a stainless steel backing to the port) and marks it with a marker.  Nurse rubs some iodine to clean.  He fills a big (60 cc, actually just like the movie) with saline and a regular, not jumbo long needle.   It's probably one of the few times I'll be glad that the skin in that area is deadened, but then he inserts the needs and gently injects the saline.  I didn't really feel anything, though the first ones are supposedly less uncomfortable than when you get closer to the end, which makes sense.  It kinda also makes me chest feel a little like these (in honor of #throwbackThursday):

 

So lots of progress in the past week or so.  I see the oncologist next week and I'm anxious to hear whether he wants to do any sort of imaging given that there was cancer in the lymph nodes, despite all the chemo.  It makes me a little concerned that perhaps it could have spread since my original clean scan.  But, I can't really worry about it until I'm told to or have any more information, so I do my best to keep on keeping on.