Mountains and valleys to traverse

As many of you know Heather had a rather unexpected surgery today to remove the reconstruction expander and some dead tissue in her left breast.  This was due to continued swelling due to fluid buildup in the breast which compromised the blood flow to the tissue and the skin became paper thin and it had the potential to open which would have caused the removal of the expander anyway.

Therefore her right breast, the cancer side, still looks great.  The left side is now flat and maybe even a little indented.  Her rebuilding process on the left side will not occur for about 1 year as she needs to get through chemo, radiation, and the residual effects of radiation before they can rebuild.

Heather's sister Katie, the angel that she is, came in from Michigan this morning to join us for the surgery and though we would have preferred this not happen we are pleased that the surgery went very well.  It started at 1:00 and was finished by 1:16.  Katie and i met with the physician, Dr. Butterfield whom Heather and I absolutely adore, and then waited about an hour to see Heather in recovery.

Heather was alert, smiling, and felt great and not just because of the meds.  We were on the way out the door by 4!  Before we left Dianne Stapp stopped by to see us since she works as a nurse at The Christ Hospital.  It was so nice to see her.  She and I go waaaayyyy back when she and her husband, boyfriend at the time, Tod and I worked together at Coney Island.  Heather has been lucky enough to know her since Jackie's dancing days at McNick.

We are evaluating whether or not we will continue with Heather's shearing event on Saturday.  We will see how she feels through tomorrow and go from there.  Thanks to all of you for your love, prayers, and energy today and everyday.  It truly makes a difference in our lives.

As a wise woman (Laura Daniels Graves) said to me once, and I paraphrase "Setbacks allow for comebacks".  So true.  This will slow us down a bit since chemo has to be put off for a week or two but we shall move on and kick the crap out of this cancer.