Pizza Rolls

We loved these pizza rolls! I rolled pizza dough into a rectangle. Next, put on the pizza sauce (light layer), pepperoni, basil, and grated mozzarella. Then, roll the dough up, just like when you make cinnamon rolls. Cut the roll into 1 1/2" slices and put on a greased cookie sheet. Bake at 400 degrees till slightly brown and baked through. Serve with extra pizza sauce for dipping :)

Parfait

Yogurt parfait for breakfast :) Plain and vanilla yogurt mix, chia seeds, strawberries, bananas, and pumpkin seed granola. 

Each One

This is truth! We each have different roles to fulfill in this life. But none are more important than another. If we can find the purpose and value in what we do each day, and not compare it to others, we can find joy. No ones purpose is better or worse, just different. 

Winter!

2 week post op

I had my two week follow up appointment with Dr. Chen yesterday. Overall, we're happy with the results and my progress. No signs of infection. The incisions looks good and are healing well. My pain is decreasing. I'm more comfortable with the silicone implants than I was with the tissue expanders.  This is all really good!

One side (I don't feel like I can say one "breast". They aren't breasts.) is a bit higher than the other. It's not extreme, just slight. The volume from the implant is sitting higher in the capsule. This changes the position and angle of the nipple, as well. Dr said that with time, the implant could drop down. But, to help things along, I have to massage/push the upper area to try to stretch the interior capsule and encourage the implant to drop. This doesn't always work. She wants to see me back the first of December. If they still aren't even, and the higher side hasn't dropped, we will consider revision surgery. The thought of having another surgery makes me sick to my stomach. I'm really hoping it's not necessary.

In the mean time, I don't have to wear the surgical compression vest anymore. Yippee! I went bra shopping and was able to wear a normal bra for the first time in 5 months! It was a good day. Although I do have more incision pain in a normal bra. It doesn't hold me in as securely. 

I am supposed to sleep on my back for the next 3 months. That might just kill me. She doesn't want pressure on the implants, as the capsule is forming/healing. I've been trying out this side lying position, where I put a pillow behind my back and lay back against it. It's sort of like sleeping somewhere between my side and back. It kind of helps. I'm also supposed to keep wearing a supportive sports bra at night. To keep everything where it's meant to be. After 3 months, she says things are pretty much healed, and won't be as likely to shift. 

So that's that! We will massage the heck out of this implant (she says the pressure will not damage the implant), and hope for no surgery at Christmas! 

Leg MRI

I was finally able to have the MRI on my right leg. I had to wait till after my breast tissue expander surgery. Those had magnets in them, so it would definitely not be safe to have an MRI with them in my body. Now that they're removed, I had the MRI last week. My follow up appointment was today, to go over the findings. Sadly, the MRI showed nothing unusual. I'm completely bummed. This means we still haven't found the reason why my (inner, lower) right leg hurts when I run.

The things we look into next are muscle compartment pressure, nerves, and veins. Here is a good video that explains what compartment syndrome is:

https://youtu.be/4lKKBWWErHM

I scheduled the compartment pressure test for two weeks from now. I'm not supposed to do any intense exercise till then, since I'm still recovering from the expander/implant exchange surgery. I'm NOT at all excited for this test. It looks really painful. Lots of needle sticks. Basically, they stick a needle into each of the muscle compartments in the leg. There are 4. The needle is connected to a pressure gauge. This lets them read the amount of pressure built up in that area. After testing my resting pressures, they will have me run on a treadmill. I run until it really hurts. After the exercise, they stick me again in all the same spots, and read the pressures. Here's a video that shows part of the test, pressure readings. 

https://youtu.be/FLuKA5nmgxQ

If my resting pressures are above 15, that's high and means this is likely the source of my pain. If my pressures are above 30 after the exercise, this is also too high. I know it sounds strange, but I just want them to find something wrong with me! So we can fix it! So I can eliminate this leg pain. So I can run more easily. So I can get this long term problem off my mind!!! Here's hoping. 

If the pressure readings are normal, I will go see vein and nerve specialists. I don't know much (yet) about what that entails. Hopefully we won't get to that point. 

Pills

Don't mind me! Just getting ready to take my pills 😝! Yuck!

1 Day Post-Op

I'm home!!! I hate hospitals (at least when I'm the patient), so I was thrilled to not stay overnight this time. Everything went as good as we could have hoped, which is such a relief!

My checkin time was 10:30. That makes for a hungry day. But it was nice to have a "normal" morning with the kids, and not have to find someone to come early in the morning and get them off to school. We checked in at the hospital, did all my vitals, changed into hospital gown, and went over the procedure. Oh, and I had plenty of warm blankets, because hospitals are freezing! I had an amazing nurse!!! This really makes such a difference. She has been a nurse for 40 years! Such a positive personality and she got my IV in on the first try :) That is a good day! I don't do well with IV's. They put fluids and antibiotics running in my IV, which made me need to waddle to the bathroom. What a pain IV cords are! Dr. Chen came in and wrote all over my chest with surgical marker. She discussed post op care and medications. I will continue to take antibiotics when I get home. And we opted to not fill any pain medication, because I still have plenty of pills left from my last surgery.  

Then we waited. The Operating Room was scheduled for me to start at 11:40. But the previous surgeries in that room went long. We stayed in a tiny room and watched TV, trying to distract myself. The anesthesiologist finally arived about 1:20. I discussed with him my major nausea issues. He put a patch behind my ear that helps nausea, but also creates blurry vision, groggy feeling, and major dry mouth. Always trade offs. He also ran a few different anti nausea drugs in my IV. I walked back to the OR about 1:30, put on a hair net, and got situated on the table/bed. That's the last thing I remember. 

Surgery lasted a couple of hours. It was 4 something when I remember being sort of awake. It took me a long time to become even slightly alert. But, no nausea! I was so grateful. 

Dr. Chen said everything went really well. She is so good at what she does. I hung out in post op for awhile and ate Lorna Doone's. I texted my dad and told him that this is the ONLY good thing about being in a hospital. 

  

Somewhere around 6:30, i checked out. I got a sweet ride in a wheelchair to the car. I was still super groggy, dizzy, and tired. We drove to Appolo Burger, because I had heard they have good onion rings (my favorite) and I was starving. Cookies only take you so far. 

We brought our food home and ate in a quiet house. My mom was so kind to come after school to take care of the kids. When we got home, they were still out at Pizza Pie cafe for dinner. Spoiled rotten! And they all had homework, piano, and reading completed! They said if I take them to Pizza Pie cafe for dinner every night, they will work that quickly for me too! Ha ha!

The worst feelings so far are these sharp, burning, shooting pains from my incision lines. Each breast has about a 4-5 inch incision. 3 layers of dissolvable stitches, followed by this crazy glue stuff. That area is definitely the most bothersome. And I have this crazy deep itch inside that I cannot get rid of! It's driving me nuts! Because I have no feeling, just numbness, (all over my chest) itching doesn't really help. 

And my throat is ouchie! The breathing tube during surgery really irritates it. Plus, the nausea patch makes it dry. And I can only sleep on my back, which dries it out, too. This too shall pass. 

My next appointment with Dr. Chen is in two weeks. I will wear a compression surgical bra at least until then. I'm so grateful that I didn't need drains again! I was able to shower easily this morning, though with some pain. The most difficult thing is getting to and from laying down/sitting up. And I'm on lifting restriction for awhile, which is annoying. 

Overall, I'm overwhelmed with gratitude and feel so blessed. My husband is amazing. My kids are so thoughtful and caring. I have wonderful doctors and hospitals at my disposal. We've met my out of pocket max for the year, so this won't cost us anything additional. I'm healthy and seem to heal well. And I'm almost done with all of this!!! 

Now I just need some sleep. I can't seem to get more than a couple of hours in without being restless and choking on my dry throat. I hope that will improve soon :)

Peaches

There is nothing quite like fresh peaches. Nothing. I am just always bummed that their season is so short. Here's to savoring each and every one! Thanks mom and dad for sharing from your tree :)

Birthday Dinner

Our oldest child just turned 12! I can hardly believe it. He loves meat, so we spoiled him with Tucano's. He had never been. I checked him out of school, met dad downtown, and ate meat till we were sick. Literally. We were still so full at dinner time, that I couldn't bring myself to make an actual meal. Birthday boy had requested Caesar salad as part of the dinner menu, so I made that and called it good. Because, you know, we still had two other kids that hadn't eaten an entire cow for lunch. They were hungry. 

I had already made his cake earlier in the day. He always chooses the chocolate cake with the caramel and sweetened condensed milk poured over the top, and whip cream with Heath bar crumbles. 

This was dinner. Ha ha! Then we opened presents. Fishing will be in our future. What more could you want on your birthday, when you're 12?