Two more weeks have passed already?? Today I received another 100 cc’s of saline in my tissue expander and that will be the last time! I’m not sure if I’m feeling exhausted because my body is trying to heal up all that expanded tissue, or because I just haven’t slept that well this week. Dr. Storm says everything looks really good though and he can put the permanent implant back in no sooner than four weeks from now. That would put the surgery date two days after Kylie’s high school graduation, so I’m trying to decide if that’s when I want to do it or not. I asked if there was any time that would be too late, and his example was a patient of his who still has her tissue expanders 12 years later and doesn’t really care to get her permanent implants put in. So really, no! Ha ha!

Dr. Corum’s nurse reached out to me yesterday to see if my joint pain was getting better after stopping the Letrozole. I told her that my left shoulder is very much improved, but the right one still aches quite a bit. She said she would call me in two weeks to see how I’m doing, but Dr. Corum would like me to start a different hormone blocker (Exemestane) then if possible. I asked Dr. Storm today if he knew why my right shoulder was achy and he didn’t really have any answers for me, although when I asked if it could be lymphedema, he dismissed that entirely. He did say that every time the tissue gets expanded, it is pushing on my ribs, and last I checked, my skeletal system is connected! So hopefully when we’re done messing with all this, that pain will settle out.

This past Monday night I had a super fun time at the Mom’s Night Out at one of our church’s campuses on the north side of town. The student pastor’s wife was organizing the event and he knew that I made soap, so he encouraged her to reach out to me. She had found some instructions for making a lavender melt and pour soap online and asked my opinion. I gave her suggestions for the supplies, and then offered to come help out and bring some of my own scents and additives for the project. There were 20 ladies who came and made a bar of soap and wrapped them for gifting for Mother’s Day. (Not everyone made it into the photo!)

My friend Patty was there, and I’ve known her for a long time. She prompted me to tell some of my story that night, so I talked about how faithful God was to lead me to the ladies who would become my mentors several years before my diagnosis. I told them how crucial it was to already know how to hear His voice through this journey, and especially when I felt like it was all my fault and I was going to die! It’s amazing how easily I can still let my thoughts wander to the worst possible situation. Fortunately, I catch myself doing it sooner and get the Lord’s perspective before I get too far down the road. It’s still a journey – one I will be on for the rest of my life!

I’ll let you know when I decide on a surgery date so you can be praying for me. Thanks for keeping me in your thoughts and prayers as my body continues to heal!