6 Days To Go

I pre-registered at the hospital yesterday for my surgery on March 7. I told David that it sure brought back some old feelings as I was walking the halls of Medical City Dallas to the familiar desks and rooms where you answer lots of questions and get blood taken from you. Fortunately the lady who took my blood, didn't argue with me when I told her I wanted to lay down and she didn't hurt me at all, even got the vein on the first try. I told her she was good!

We have to be at the hospital at 6 a.m. next Friday for my 7:30 a.m. surgery. At some time between now and then we've got to meet Dr. Hodges for him to draw on me again. He said it wouldn't be as extensive this time like it was in May 2007, but he would have to draw on me before I was lying down on the operating table.

This is day surgery, so I should go home that day, but the check-in nurse told me to pack an overnight bag just in case. We'll leave it in the car and David can get it if it's needed. Dr. Hodges said I probably would have drains in again. He said that he will have to remove some scar tissue from the breast where the tissue expander has been prior to inserting the real implant. Then he'll work on the left breast again to reshape it and insert a real implant in it. He will also build a new nipple from extra skin on the side of my mastectomy site. Later he will give me my first tattoo (there will NOT be digital pictures on this site) to match the right breast to the left breast. That will be done in his office later. It is just mind-boggling at what they can do today. And Dr. Hodges is just the best!

I am so not looking forward to this. I've enjoyed having my life back and being me again. BUT this is the last thing. This will officially mark the end of surgeries to get rid of the cancer and to get my body back to a semi-normal-new-and-improved status. I've had lots of women tell me that they were jealous of me, for getting new boobs at 55. But everyone of them said they didn't want to get new ones like I've got new ones. They told me there was an easier way to do this. Ah yes, but Blue Cross & Blue Shield is paying for mine. . . . now that's a positive!!!

Wobbly Legs on Deck

We're a Netflix family. Yes, we have TV trays beside both of our recliners so movies can be watched while we eat. Today Sandy learned to jump up in the recliners! Are we excited or what!!! So while we were eating supper, I look up and he is in my recliner, standing on top of my TV tray.

But how can you not love this face!

We just got finished with a bath tonight----just him in the tub tonight. He loves it, but his coat is hard to get it to soak up the water. After the bath, then he's ready for playtime before he goes outside for the night.

Every Dog Needs Stairs

Sandy's newest trick today is climbing our stairs with his squirrel or rabbit in his mouth. That's a real treat just watching him accomplish this, since he sort of hops up the stairs one at a time with both front feet and then both back feet. He discovered this morning that it is fun to drop the toy and watch it tumble down the stairs. Then he takes off after it. He is too cute chasing the stuffed animal down the stairs. And when he hits the tile floor at the foot of the stairs, he goes spinning out. He only cried a little bit tonight when we put him out for bedtime. So maybe that is getting better. He loves his dog house.

And he LOVES bread. I fed him 1/2 slice last night and he just about attacked me when I sat down on the floor with him. He got the other 1/2 tonight after his supper and he was so excited. Kowboy loves bread, too. Maybe it's a Golden Retriever thing. Our other dogs would eat bread if you put some grease on it. Sandy doesn't like Gold Fish crackers. Learned that last night. Just spits them out.

David had to put bricks around our fence this morning. I looked out the kitchen window and he was digging for all his little paws are worth and in no time he would have made a hole big enough for him to go through. People are just no fun. Ahhhhh, babies---eer, puppies!

No Means "Keep On Chewing"

Sandy is fascinated by throw rugs. They are just so much fun to sit on and chew. They are fun to drag through the house. Today has been the test of wills. The rugs were finally put on top of the island in our kitchen. We took him outside to go potty and what does he do? When he's been a good boy and gets to come back in the house, he stands at the back door and holds up his foot because there's no throw rug there to step on.

You can see one of his favorite poses on the stairs, as he sits on one step and has his front feet on the next lower step. And then there's his naptime pose in the corner of the dining room. The tile are cool on his belly. He's just too cute!

A Bath for Two

Our new alarm clock (named Sandy) woke me up this morning barking & whimpering at the backdoor. 6:54 a.m. on a Saturday is sleeping time, but he thought it was play time. I got up, grabbed my long housecoat and went outside to rescue him from the horrible tortures in the backyard. I brought him back upstairs to our bathroom and let the water run in my garden tub. Immediately Sandy starts standing up by the tub and whining.

There was nothing else I could do but get in the tub and put Sandy in there with me! He loved it. We hadn't been in the tub long until David got up and caught us. Sandy then wanted out to play with him, but he stayed in long enough to get him clean and then we got out and dried off.

And NO, I didn't smell like a dog all day. He smelled like a person!

Sandy Smith

We are the proud parents of an 8 week old Golden Retriever named Sandy! We drove to a little burg east of Dallas this evening and picked him out from his 4 brothers and one sister. The guy was just picking them up and handing them to us from their little cage they were all in, but I told him that I wanted to get in there with them. I wanted to see how they all responded to see which one we wanted. David watched from outside the fence and we both agreed on the same pup. There was another one that was the darkest colored one (which was my favorite as far as color) but he was really hyper and wasn't a people person. He just ran around in the cage and didn't come over to me a whole lot. Now he was a character, but not the type of dog we wanted.

Sandy is a light color blond/brown and has huge brown eyes. He is just too cute. His first car ride went very well. We got him home and put him down on the floor and he immediately had to tinkle. He was on the kitchen tile, so that was OK. I bought some of the new puppy pads that are supposed to attract them so they go tinkle on them and you gradually work them out the door to do their business. I've heard good things about them.

He did not smell really good, living with the other siblings in the cage. So we gave him a bath tonight. He was really, really good. Didn't cringe or try to get out or anything. In fact he just laid down in the tub at one point. The water was nasty! He was a whole lot better, but still a little smelly so I rubbed some baking soda in his coat and he smells so much better now. He is just too cute. Pictures are coming!!!

40 CC of Pain

Here's my plastic surgeon with the saline tissue expanders. He put in 40 more cc today. We have pre-op Tuesday, the 19th and he says he will probably put in more then.

You just gotta love this guy! There is no loose skin on the right breast now, that's for sure. It's as hard as a rock. He says it has to big larger than the implant so the skin will snap back and form around the implant. I'm sure he knows what he is talking about, but boy am I tired of this. It's nearly over though! March 7 is so close!

40 More CC

Every Wednesday we go see Dr. Hodges, who puts in more saline into the tissue expander. I just thought this thing was hard before------it's like a brick now and is expanding to the side of my body a little. Dr. Hodges says it is doing good.

We're all set for surgery on March 7th. I asked how much time I would need off from work. He said at least 2 weeks. I had already asked for one week off, but he said that was pushing it a little. Said he could always release me early to go back to work if I was really doing good.

Most mornings now I wake up sleeping on my back. I start out on my left side because it is just awful sleeping on the right side because it is so hard and sore. One day I'll be able to do that again!!! We're getting closer to being finished with all this go-round.

It Just Keeps Getting Better

I called yesterday and got an 8 a.m. appointment to make up for not seeing my plastic surgeon. Dr. Hodges asked this morning if I had problems with the amount of saline he injected on January 8. I told him yes that it really hurt this time, so he decided to only put in 40 cc. And he told me to come back every week now until the surgery in March. Just what I wanted to hear! In one sense this will be easier on my poor skin because it will be less fluid, but closer together so it will get it stretched good before surgery. He has explained this as that the skin needs to be larger than the implant so it will then shrink to cover the implant nicely. He's going to insert an implant in the left breast also at surgery so that the two breasts are shaped the same.

I asked him about the medaport and he said that he will remove it. He said I need to stop taking my cumadin 7 days before surgery. Fortunately I have just the right amount of pills left to end up just right for surgery and not have a bunch left over.