Enquiring minds want to know...

hey everyone! updating you on my health:

i had two doctors appointments on tuesday and two on thursday:

tuesday i went to the general surgeon who did a breast exam and asked questions and said everything was good and would see me in three months for my year follow up...i will have a mammogram of the left side then and blood work to check my liver...

i also saw the reconstructive surgeon who is going to tweek the original work she did last year on my right breast that the general surgeon removed...she is also going to do a breast lift on both sides to even things out and my dog flaps from the tummy tuck will be going away...all this is follow up and is considered part of the legislation that requires insurers to cover women to have work done to restore them to as close to before the cancer surgery as possible...the abdomen is where the tissue came from to reconstruct the breast after the mastectomy...this is currently scheduled for april 21st but is contingent on blood work that will determine if my body is ready after having chemo...also pending an answer to how long after surgery am i able to have a mammogram, so it may not take place until after the may appointment with the general surgeon and radiologist...

thursday i saw the podiatrist...this has been an ongoing process for a couple of months as i have plantars faciitis and a pinched nerve in my right foot...he has been giving me injections and they have been helping, but i am not yet 100%...getting there slowly but surely...i will see how things are in about three weeks for further treatment by him...he also pumped up my orthodics and that has made a difference...

i also saw the oncologist and she did a physical examination and blood work and said she would see me in SIX months...that made me very happy to know that i am doing good enough to go that long until my next appointment with her...

my current blood work includes checking my a1c level to see how i am doing with my diabetes; testing for hiv, hepatitis and any other blood borne illnesses due to my transfusions when i was hospitalized back in october with an e coli infection; and checking my white cell count to see if my plastic surgeon can go ahead with my procedures soon...

all my doctors have given me instructions to not hesitate seeing them if i think i am having any trouble, though, and i am not to wait until my next appointments to have anything checked out...early detection improves the odds of treating and curing a recurrence and i am going to get my kicks on route 66 in about six years so i am taking every chance i get to stay on top of this disease!

i have to thank everyone for their prayers, vibes, thoughts, love and words of encouragement as i travel this road...being in utah without family or friends close has been extra difficult, but mark's work crew has shown so much support it has helped tremendously...facebook has been instrumental in me getting the word out en masse to everyone and keeping everybody so far away up to date...

i am not embarrassed or ashamed to say 'i love you' to you all!

family is everything

they make us who we are...or who we are not...nature versus nurture...can you be like your relatives if you were not raised with them? who knows, but i get to find out this summer when i meet long lost family members at a reunion in virginia! i am so excited to see people i have not seen in a while, but even more geeked to meet people i never knew existed, much less were related to me!

my only sadness about the whole event is that there are not going to be family members there that would have loved to be...the ones that have passed on...mom, especially mom, she thought funerals were social events, she lived such a sheltered life and lived far away from her loved ones...she only got to see some of them on a hurried trip to bail out one of my dad's brothers from jail or to see his dying mother in the hospital, only to find when we got to west virginia, mammaw was standing in the kitchen cooking!

ned, who died way too young, at age 27, from kidney disease...he would have been a hoot! and everyone would have loved him!

rick, who also died way too young, at age 52, from brain cancer...he is still the family hero with his kindness and unselfishness passed down to his children, sara beth, who is organizing the reunion, philip and chris.

and granny roten, mamie dell austin roten...i cried at her viewing because i was staring at her hands and thinking about all the crafts and clothes and other items i would sit and watch her make in her resale shop down on the main drag...baby brother john and i got the joy of spending the summer with her in 1976...she never made us feel like we were intruding or being in her way...she loved us because we were her daughter's children.

there are numerous and sundry others who will be missing, and missed, in june, as at all times, and i can't wait to learn about them!

love while you have them with you, because you will miss them when they are gone...FAMILY!