Cody Updates by Mom

I honestly cannot list out the multitude of things that I have learned in the last two weeks.  It is hard to think back to just 20 days ago when none of this was real.  Today was a hard day.  Being strong and facing the unsure future, the unending stress, no real good news and lack of sleep has caught up to me.  The trip to the plastic surgeon was not entertaining at all.  It was actually very sobering.  Again, learning about the truth and replacing assumptions or just the not knowing can be very, very sobering.

The reconstruction will be very painful, difficult and time consuming.  Don’t get me wrong, I am still going ahead with the plan but now I understand more of what this decision means.  By doing reconstruction now I reduce my surgeries by one surgery.  I however do expand my recovery at this time and will have to stay in the hospital an extra day.

If you do not want to know specific details you can skip this paragraph.  After the breast cancer surgeon removes all of the tissue (including the nipple area) my plastic surgeon will come in to start the reconstruction process.  The entire process will take up to 3-6 months depending on whether or not I have to have chemo.  If I have chemo the entire process could take up to a year.  Basically on Thursday the surgeon will pull a muscle up from my chest to put in the temporary implant.  The implant has some magnet that helps them find the spot to put water into it.  For the next several weeks I will go in many times and they will gradually increase the amount of water in the implant.  This will help the muscle and skin stretch accordingly.  When we are at the right size, I will have surgery again to replace the implant with the permanent implant.  If wanted I can have another surgery to do more cosmetic work to make them look more real.

Basically what this all means is that I will be in the hospital for 2-3 days and my first week or so at home will be pretty rough.  I am very appreciative of the amount of direct discussion that we have had with both surgeons.  I appreciate the blunt caring way that the medical people have provided all of the information necessary.

So many people have asked what they can do.  Right now we need your prayers and positive thoughts.  My entire family needs your prayers to get through all of this with me.  I see the stress in their entire beings build daily.  Please say an extra prayer for them.

I have been informed that if I even try to work during this time that the network guy at work is simply going to change my password so I am unable to get in.  Since he is the same guy feeding me and driving me to countless appointments I have promised to be good and be in complete recovery mode.

As for how we are all doing?  Well, we are coping.  Surgery and more answers are right around the corner.  Good, bad or otherwise.

Thank you everyone for your prayers.  We appreciate it more than we can ever say.

Comments:

Jean Champagne|Apr 2, 2014 5:24pm