Medical update

We returned home two weeks ago from a month long trip. It was nice to warm up a bit in the SW and see family and friends. The trip pushed my endurance at first, but I took advantage of a treadmill and the ability to walk outside without fear of falling. It was a great help. We so appreciated discovering how many people were praying for us, what a powerful blessing prayer is. Last week was my 12 week follow up appointment with the plastic surgeon Dr. N. I stopped by my oncologists office first as I'd found a lump under my left arm towards the end of our trip. I was pretty sure it was surgery trauma related, but since it was on the cancer side and I've been diagnosed. I reserve the right to be cautious. She checked it and did an ultrasound as well. It's a sernoma, a collection of blood and fluid as the result of surgery. Both of the docs feel it will go away on its own as its not infected. Dr. N is really happy with the results of my initial reconstruction. At this point, I have options. Do I want larger implants, do I need fat grafting to cover any wrinkles or dimples? Do I need incision revision. What about nipples and areola reconstruction? I looked at Dr. N and said, you are the artist, you tell me what you think I need to put my body into proportion. She decided that I need some incision revision and the nipple/areola cosmetic reconstruction. Hurrah! Nothing major. With surgery scheduled May 30th, I hope to be backpacking the end of June or early July! Now to lose that 10 pounds. I'd lost 4 before the trip. It came back...now I start over.

How doI describe it?

Sunrise, sunset, sunrise, sunset swiftly fly the years One season following another laden with happiness and tears. Lately I find myself contemplating the seasons of marriage. This is a tough post to write, its taken a month for me to tackle the ideas and try to find words to express the thoughts. This is a rough draft! At the moment I find myself perched on a ridge in time. DH and I are processing in sickness and in health and savoring each extra day of life God has given me to be a wife and mother. On one side of the ridge I watch young people I dearly love seeking God's wisdom in their lives. Some are entering into relationships that will blossom into love and marriage. I remember when life was young, full of promise and marriage vows were spoken, words of commitment...yet untested by time and life circumstances. Then turning, I look in the other direction. Yes, there are those in my life who have faced or are currently facing that phrase, "until death do us part." whether you've been married 1 day or 60 years, those are tough words to speak when life doesn't turn out the way you dreamed or planned. We are dealing with in sickness and in health. I'm supposedly cancer free, BUT we know there is much more to being and staying cancer free than a clean pathology report. Endurance ...hmmm, that is one character trait necessary for a marriage to survive the peaks and valleys of the marriage vows. But it is only one. A marriage based strictly on commitment or endurance in which the love has died is is but an empty shell. We've seen those kinds of relationships, it's NOT what we want. One of the commitments we made at the start of this process was that we wanted to be drawn together, by God's grace, we are experiencing that. We are blessed.