visit to USC and upcoming surgery details

Hi all,
It was so wonderful to be in church this past Saturday night. It was packed and the excitement and energy in the room was great. It was just neat to be a part of that. I am so glad that I had the opportunity to sing, too. I really enjoy being able to do it when I can. It was great to see so many wonderful people though I didn't get a chance to visit with everyone I had hoped to, but we'll all catch up at some point.

Okay so regarding surgery on the 22nd:
First the purpose of the surgery is to have the implants put in. I chose saline because, although silicone might have a better cosmetic result in the long run, I feel safer with the saline. I'm going to spend some years with these things inside my body and in the rare chance that they may leak, I certainly would want it to be salt water and not silicone (which is highly immunogenic). Dr. Sherman will access the sites via the same incisions that were made before, which is nice so that there will be no new incisions. I will have drains and be on pain meds and be out of it for a few days. After about a week, they'll remove the drains and then I'll start the rehab process all over again taking about 6-8 weeks to recover. That being said, it's not nearly as rough as the first surgery. For example, I probably won't stay overnight in the hospital. The plan is to do it outpatient so that's great. Also, they won't be accessing my axillary area so that will minimize triggering lymphedema. I should be able to drive as soon as I'm off of the pain meds and that will only be a few days. I'll have the drains in for about a week, and a follow up appointment a week or so after the surgery so I just thought it best to stay in LA for a week. That way I'm close in case there is some kind of complication and also not go to the desert and then have to drive back two days later. I don't really want to go home with the drains in. I'd rather wait until those are out. So that's mainly why I'm staying up there for a week or so. My mom and sister will split up the week so that they are there with me for the first five days or so in case I need help with anything. My sister will be with me the day of the surgery and take me to my aunt and uncles after I'm released from the hospital.
Jenni (my sister) will also call Glynis to let her know how I'm doing after I'm out of surgery and she'll make a post to the blog so that everyone knows what's going on. I'll be able to access my e-mail from LA so you are welcome to email me.
I'm looking forward to the surgery since it's the last major thing in this fight. I think I finally feel like I'm on my way back to being normal, though it's still going to take awhile. It's just really encouraging to see my hair growing in and not needing to take naps every day and just being able to slowly gain more arm strength. Of course, I'll have to go back to physical therapy after the next surgery but hopefully I won't lose too much ground between now and then. My goal in the next two weeks is to be as I can be going into this. I have herceptin the Friday before, so that will be nice to get that infusion done and not worry about it for another three weeks. i'm actually kind of enjoying the time out that it affords to read but also to realte to the other patients that are receving treatment and being able to encourage them.It's exciting that way.
Well I guess that's all for now.
Putting one foot in front of the other...
Julie