Veteran's Day

It was a beatiful weekend to honor our Veterans. Maia's Tae Kwon Do class was a part of the community festivities. Jill, Chase and Olivia had the honors of riding in the Wells Fargo Stagecoach. Post parade activities included a community "picnic", music by Chase's school chorus, military flyover and helicopter tours. The weather was perfect...great day for a parade!

Recovering Gracefully

The surgery on Thursday went well. It was a short procedure, wheeled in at 9 AM and was in recovery by 10 AM. A strip of Alloderm was inserted into my right breast. My tissue will heal with the Alloderm and make my skin a little stronger.
I was a little queasy from the Demerol and the ride home was painful. Once again, bathing is challenging. I can't get the bandage wet until I see the doctor on Wednesday. Aggrivation for the next week!

On Wednesday, Roy's had their annual Ohana Tour. The tour is a what most of us would consider a town hall meeting. CEO, Mark Running, and director of training, Leila Whatoff, are the annual hosts. I was finally able to thank Mark personally for all his/Roy's support throughout the past months. I cannot give enough thanks to my boss, Bob, as well. I am proud to be part of such a warm and caring ohana. I also owe Marissa many kudos for picking up the slack while I was out. She did a great job keeping the office organized and my job as simple as it could be upon my return. Debbie..thanks for your patience many miles away! We survived.

Not so easy

After having a wonderful weekend of relaxation, followed by great friends and family, I came to a screaching halt on Monday morning.

I went back to the doctor to have the incision in my right breast checked. This was a follow-up visit from the infection I had last week. The doctor looks at it and tells me the tissue is not thick enough on the right side. They need to go in and insert a piece of "cadaver" tissue so my tissue has something to adhere to. WHAT? I don't care about the cadaver part, I am a donor myself, but I was not expecting to have to go under the knife again. My question was "when do we do this"....answer...tomorrow.

This tissue will work like a retaining wall. My tissue is not strong enough to support what is there, so my incision can burst at any time. My tissue with adhere to the cadaver piece to strengthen the area. I can visualize myself walking down the street.....What was that, oh nothing, just my boob laying on the ground. And before I was worried about nipples falling off!

Scoreboard is as follows: Left side Cancer. Healed fine.
Right side cancer free. Feels left out and want attention and a piece of someone else. Scorekeeper...waiting final match!

Let me just say...thank God for Versaid!

Dinner at Mom's

Or so I thought....my husband and family were up to no good. I walked into Mom's to be greeted by a "Surprise". Shocked the hell out of me. Rich had put together a "kicked cancers ass" celebration. It was a great evening with a great bunch of people. Love you all!

Weekend to Relax

We all look at life and see how quickly it goes by. On the 18th, Rich and I will be celebrating our ten year wedding anniversary. Rich surprised me with a weekend away in Sedona. We left on Friday and returned on Sunday.

We spent Friday just walking around the town of Sedona browsing the shops. No child to worry about and no time to keep. Rich found a really nice pair of cowboy boots...he can't have them until Christmas. We wanted to find someplace different to eat, so we settled on the Barking Frog. As we pulled in the parking lot, we realized it was the same place Chrissy and Rob had their wedding reception...the old Casa Ricon. Food was great and ambiance was wonderful.

Saturday we decided to tackle a hike to Devil's Bridge. I was not sure how far I would be able to go, but determination kept me going. The views along the trail were breathtaking. The weather was perfect, crisp and cool. The last portion of the trail was a little rocky and upward. The natural bridge was stunning. I took the short path over to the beginning of the bridge and made my way out onto the top portion. I thought of my father(who is deathly afraid of heights) as I was standing on the top wanting to look down. What a rush! I was so glad I did not decide to turn around and head back to the car. Determination won again.

Rich and I headed back to the hotel in the afternoon to get cleaned up for dinner. We stopped at Chapel of the Rock before dinner and experienced a stunning sunset. The weather was rather windy and cold, but a sunset in Sedona is worth seeing.

Rich made reservations at Dahl & Deluccas for dinner. We had the pleasure of meeting the owner before dinner in the wine shop next door to the restaurant. Dinner was impeccable! I can't even go into detail or I will begin to drool. Highly recommended!

Sunday morning we took a short hike through Oak Creek Canyon and stopped at Tuzigoot National Monument. Rather impressive set of ruins outside of Clarksville. They had rooms with a view...even hundreds of years ago!

After a trek through Tuzigoot...we headed back to Anthem to have dinner at Mom's, or so I thought.....

Unknown Part II

It has been almost six months to the day I had my mastectomy. Waking tomorrow, I will have my final phase of this battling process. So, this evening I ponder the thought of what my body will look like this time when I wake up. I will awake with boobs. What if I don't like the shape or size? What if they feel funny? The expanders in my chest hurt some days, will the actual implants hurt? Such questions to consider...womanhood!

I must give many heartfelt prayers to the women I have met who are not this far and still have a long way to go in their recovery process. We all have our own stories and timelines. We met due to an unpredictable circumstance, but we become stronger by those who have entered our lives due to the unknown. We can share our stories and never feel envy, jealousy or comparison. We know this is where our own paths may go, so we absorb it, learn from it and pray for health.

I can come home tomorrow and tell Maia that Mom's hard chest has been replaced and prove to her the new ones are not "long and squishy!"

Getting back to normal

Yes, it has been a few weeks since I have updated the site. The family took a short trip the other weekend to Lynx Lake in Prescott Valley. Maia has never slept in a tent, so we opted for one overnight stay at a campsite. We rented a boat and enjoyed some time on the lake. Maia was not to happy when the boat rocked the slightest bit. It was "freaking me out", as Maia would say.

Behind the dam is a short hiking trail that runs along the creek. We took a short hike to the bottom to try to pan for gold. I decided to take off my sandals and put my feet in the water. Upon slipping on a rock, I fell butt first into the creek up to my armpits it the water. It was rather hilarious. The softball size bruise on by butt cheek did not find it quite as funny.

The evening was splendid. We took a short hike around the lake, went back to camp and cooked a few marshmallows. Great ending to a perfect day. I can't wait until the weather cools off to take a few more hiking trips.

I forgot how much solitude lies within the forest. Crisp pine air, thousands of stars and even a crescent moon. And the hoot of an owl to make it surreal. Natures therapy.