Major Win

This weekend brought a huge win for me. I am officially allowed to pick up Channing!!!!!!! It's hard to explain how amazing this is for me. I essentially didn't get to pick her up for a month. Yes, I was able to hold her while sitting down. But I couldn't hold her like a mom should. And I can now. She's 5 months old now and she's all mine! Tonight I carried her to her room and rocked her a bit before I laid her down to sleep. It felt like one of the most amazing things in all of my life. Those 5 minutes were magical and I doubt I'll ever forget the feeling.

I also hope that I never lose track of how easy it is to take something for granted. I sure don't think I will for a long time.

On another related/unrelated note, I'm planning to walk the 1-mile 'Race for the Cure' this coming Sunday if anyone is around. Second, I DVRed the Stand Up To Cancer program and highly recommend viewing it on YouTube (or any network site) if you missed it. Good stuff - research is the key to beating this miserable cancer mess and 100% of proceeds to directly to help. You can check out www.standuptocancer.org if you aren't interested in watching the one-hour special.

3 Weeks Post Surgery

I passed the 3 week mark on Friday and I'm doing better and better. We went on our first big outing yesterday, heading to Autzen Stadium to watch the Ducks play New Mexico. Ducks won 72-0 - - wow! Anyways, I was thrilled with how well I felt being out and about for such a long period of time. I wasn't in any pain and just got to enjoy the day and all the beautiful sunshine (and of course a Ducks win!). When we got home, I was tired but that was expected.

My biggest pain points remain sleeping and showering. It's laughable but I was excited this week when I could shower without sitting down even once! ha ha. Small milestones mean a lot these days. And sleeping is still kind of on and off. Some nights I still need a pain pill and other nights I don't. I imagine it will be that way for a while.

We've had one minor set back in that my right side incision has come open. I swear it's horrible and will kill me but my doctor says it's ok and we'll be able to fix the scar later. Meanwhile, I get super ill just looking at it and trying to apply the medication. I've never been one to handle medical stuff very well and it's no different with this stuff. It's just gross. I'm hoping to see some improvement in the next few days.

I also am happy to report we got the final pathology and it was CLEAN! I'm done done done!!!!!! Seriously, I'm DONE with cancer!!!! We are thrilled beyond belief.

This week I also had my blood drawn for the genetic testing. We're looking to see if I have a mutation of either BRCA 1 or BRCA 2 (or Chech, sp?) which is an indicator of future cancers in my future. The hope is that I don't have either. If I do, there will be other screening needed as well as one more potential surgery. The wait is about 3-4 weeks. The real goal with this is to be able to know about cancer risks for our kids. If I do have the mutation, the kids will need screening when they grow up as well. It's pretty heartbreaking to know you might have passed something so horrible like cancer onto 3 amazing little people but I'm glad there is a way to prepare them in being super agressive about screening.

I'll keep you all posted as I learn more!