- Mike
Thursday, August 25, 2016
Surgery Update
Surgery went well. Stephanie will be in the hospital until tomorrow. Thanks for all of the prayers and support.
Tuesday, August 23, 2016
Surgery Day is Almost Here!
It's been a while since I've updated the blog. We've spent the last 4 weeks enjoying the closest thing to normal we've seen in the last 5 months. Wow. 5 months. How does it seem like a second ago and a lifetime ago that all of this began?
When chemo finished up I had the obligatory 2 weeks of "I feel lousy", but then I started to see the symptoms subside and the fog begin to lift. Yippee! I had days where I didn't take a nap; I was cracking jokes that actually made sense. Sure, I had days where I didn't feel so great, or where I could tell that the kinks we're definitely not worked out of the system just yet, but I was moving in the right direction.
But after 4 weeks of quiet and a little bit of normalcy, the pre-party festivities leading up to surgery began last week:
When chemo finished up I had the obligatory 2 weeks of "I feel lousy", but then I started to see the symptoms subside and the fog begin to lift. Yippee! I had days where I didn't take a nap; I was cracking jokes that actually made sense. Sure, I had days where I didn't feel so great, or where I could tell that the kinks we're definitely not worked out of the system just yet, but I was moving in the right direction.
But after 4 weeks of quiet and a little bit of normalcy, the pre-party festivities leading up to surgery began last week:
-phone calls from the doctors' offices asking if I have any last minute questions,
-phone calls from the doctors' offices going over the schedule for the next week,
-phone calls from the doctors' offices going over the schedule AND asking if I have any questions (this isn't a typo, folks).
Needless to say, I've got all the prefixes to the Community Health Network phones memorized.
Toss in a few calls from the financial folks and the insurance folks, a Physical Therapy appointment, and lab work, and you've got a sense of my last week.
Did I mention that we started school last Monday?
So just about the time I thought I was really starting to feel like myself again, the 1-2 punch of school and surgery showed up. How was I doing by the end of the week?
Folks, I left my cell phone in the grocery store freezer Sunday night.
Not in the freezer section.
Not in the freezer section.
In the freezer.
The only reason why I found it is because the grocery list was on the phone...and because my husband called my phone and the freezer rang.
It would be completely discouraging if it wasn't so completely hilarious!!
So, prayers for my sanity would definitely be appreciated. :)
The real "party" kicks off Thursday morning. Someone must have gotten the memo that I'm a morning person, because I have to be at the hospital at 6 a.m., and surgery begins at 7. Apparently there is such a thing as tag-team surgery, and I'm about to experience it. The first two hours of surgery will be the mastectomy with the breast surgeon, followed by 2 1/2 hours of reconstruction with the plastic surgeon. Technically, the surgery will be considered outpatient, which means that as long as I am responding well after surgery I will spend no more than 23 hours in the hospital.
Lots of you fabulous people have asked how you can help out. We'd certainly appreciate your prayers that 1) surgery would be successful, and 2) recovery would be uneventful. Practically speaking, meals would be a great help. Mike and all 3 kids are in the thick of cross country season - the kids' first meet is this Saturday! Cross country = late evenings multiple nights a week = Mike doesn't get home until after 8:30 pm and the last thing he wants to do is cook. :) The link to meal signup is:
http://www.takethemameal.com/meals.php?t=VNDU1107
If for some reason this does not take you to my page, the login @ takethemameal.com is:
Username: Estes
Password: romans828
We will keep you posted if there are other things that come up along the way. Thank you in advance to all of you who will be helping with meals, teaching my kiddos, hauling my kiddos around, babysitting me so that I behave myself :), etc.
On surgery day Mike will do his best to get an update posted here to the blog. We know not everybody is connected in the social media world, and we want to make sure everybody gets the message about how things went. Once I'm weaned off enough pain meds that I can string some sentences together, I'll send out a message to the masses.
We are so thankful for each and every one of you! We feel your love and support, and are so thankful we aren't walking this journey alone!
Love,
Stephanie and the gang
The only reason why I found it is because the grocery list was on the phone...and because my husband called my phone and the freezer rang.
It would be completely discouraging if it wasn't so completely hilarious!!
So, prayers for my sanity would definitely be appreciated. :)
The real "party" kicks off Thursday morning. Someone must have gotten the memo that I'm a morning person, because I have to be at the hospital at 6 a.m., and surgery begins at 7. Apparently there is such a thing as tag-team surgery, and I'm about to experience it. The first two hours of surgery will be the mastectomy with the breast surgeon, followed by 2 1/2 hours of reconstruction with the plastic surgeon. Technically, the surgery will be considered outpatient, which means that as long as I am responding well after surgery I will spend no more than 23 hours in the hospital.
Lots of you fabulous people have asked how you can help out. We'd certainly appreciate your prayers that 1) surgery would be successful, and 2) recovery would be uneventful. Practically speaking, meals would be a great help. Mike and all 3 kids are in the thick of cross country season - the kids' first meet is this Saturday! Cross country = late evenings multiple nights a week = Mike doesn't get home until after 8:30 pm and the last thing he wants to do is cook. :) The link to meal signup is:
http://www.takethemameal.com/meals.php?t=VNDU1107
If for some reason this does not take you to my page, the login @ takethemameal.com is:
Username: Estes
Password: romans828
We will keep you posted if there are other things that come up along the way. Thank you in advance to all of you who will be helping with meals, teaching my kiddos, hauling my kiddos around, babysitting me so that I behave myself :), etc.
On surgery day Mike will do his best to get an update posted here to the blog. We know not everybody is connected in the social media world, and we want to make sure everybody gets the message about how things went. Once I'm weaned off enough pain meds that I can string some sentences together, I'll send out a message to the masses.
We are so thankful for each and every one of you! We feel your love and support, and are so thankful we aren't walking this journey alone!
Love,
Stephanie and the gang
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