A late “Happy New Year”!

TL;DR:  Happy New Year, we hope everyone is well!  Physical healing from the surgery is going well, insomnia is much improved, and my mental health has been improving.  Lots to be grateful for.  

We hope everyone is doing well and having a great start to the new year!  Things here are pretty slow but healing is progressing.  There’s not a whole lot to report, but it has been a while since I posted and so I wanted to give everyone an update.

Physical healing is going well.  My incisions are looking great and there is no sign of infection which is wonderful.  The soreness is lessening and I’m getting more used to the areas that will likely be permanently numb.  At the 3 week mark I also started a more rigorous set of PT exercises and those are going well and I can even reduce them now that we’re past 6 weeks since surgery.  As far as I can tell, my range of motion is very good.  I’m grateful I can reach over my shoulders which means I can get into the upper kitchen cabinets and into the dryer to help with laundry.  I saw the plastic surgeon last week and he was happy with how I’m healing.  I’m going to see him again this week and hopefully we’ll be able to finish the near-term tissue expansion then.  (We didn’t do anything last week because I’ve been having some localized nerve pain which is good in the sense the nerve graft is working but bad in the sense that tissue expansion likely would have been painful so we decided to hold off.)

On the insomnia front, that is going much better! I’ve been grateful to be sleeping more along the lines of 7-8 hours a night which does a world of good for mood and mental health.  It’s medically assisted but I’m hopeful in a few weeks I can start talking to my doctor about weaning myself off of the medications to sleep more naturally. (There are the occasional more sleepless nights, but they are rarer than they were for which I am grateful.)

My mood is also definitely improving which is an incredible relief.  I’ve been trying to be much more aware of my feelings and be more consistent with journaling. I’ve also been doing meditations through the “Calm” app to help with relaxation and working on some breathing exercises for that as well.  It all seems to be working and I couldn’t be more grateful for that!

I also saw my oncologist last week and talked about starting the Keytruda (immunotherapy) again.  We’ll be starting that basically as soon as the new insurance approvals come through.  I’m ready to get going so that I can be done!  One sad bit of news is that my Oncologist is leaving City of Hope so I’ll be switching to someone new which bums me out a little bit. 

This week is another “big” week with doctors appointments as I’ll see the surgeon doing surgery #2 (oophorectomy & likely hysterectomy) and I meet with the radiation oncologist for the first time.  

Not really much else to report, I’m healing, and grateful for that…we hope you all are well! We continue to be so grateful for your continued support during this slow surgery recovery! We are still grateful for all the help with meals, checkins via email, text, FB, comments here or FB, phone calls, visits, all of the prayers, love, and support mean so much! It’s so wonderful and it’s made a world of difference having you all as part of our “village”. Have a wonderful week!

The now “standard” note at the end of posts for website navigation help:

Thank you for taking time to keep up with us and see how we’re doing as well as all the help!  Because, I think like me, much of the world does nearly everything on their phones…I’m adding this note to the end of posts to make website navigation easier if you are on a phone.  If you’d like to read other journal entries, please click here (oldest post is at the bottom of the page).  There’s also a “hamburger” menu in the top right of the webpage that can help you navigate between the journal, ways to help page, stay in touch, and welcome pages.   Please know that reading this page and thinking of us is help!   Thank you for your support in all forms! If you have any issues, please email [email protected].