Well, it was yesterday. But I wrote this yesterday.
Yes. Exciting. It was the pre-surgery paperwork to have my salpingo-oophorectomy, full hysterectomy, remove my cervix - all that fun stuff. I really like my surgeons, though, so although it’s odd that they’re going to cut me open, I don’t mind as much because they are good people.
Although one or both surgeons might be younger than I am. That’s fine.
Just as a random aside - not as random as some of my asides can be - please check out this site:
Sarafina is a BRCA previvor. What on earth does that mean? Well, she knows that she has the gene, so she’s decided to take action now instead of waiting to see if cancer forms. She has had a double mastectomy and reconstruction with implants. She will eventually have a salpingo-oophorectomy as well, but she is much younger than I am. She hasn’t hit the age where they start freaking out about ovarian cancer in BRCA patients. That’s 40, by the way.
As another aside, my 40th birthday is going to be very… interesting?
In other news, I’m back to working out. The first day, I did the breast cancer DVD that I was given. It is so relaxing that everyone else in the house fell asleep on the couch. I did all the range of motion exercises, the stretches, and then took a break and later did the weight lifting exercises. With no weights. I was sore the next day.
Frustrating, but I need to wrap my head around the fact that I will have to regain my range of motion after my surgery. This is a good place to start. Anyway, I’m about 6 days back into working out! I did yoga on day 4 because I hurt so much, but I’m gaining back strength quickly, so I’m happy about that. I’m not anywhere near where I was in the past - deadlifting 85 lbs; benching 75 - but that’s okay. Those are things I can make as goals for the future.
Because after my surgery? I’m going to be at a higher risk of heart disease. Which is way fun because my Mom had her first heart attack at 48. So, I will need to continue to exercise and clean up my diet. I’m hoping that with my tatas gone exercise will be easier. I went down to do some crunches a few days ago and almost choked myself with them.
Yes. The struggle is real. And honestly? I won’t miss how hard they make it to do everyday things. Although not having tatas will make me much more aware of how big my belly is. Working on it!! Abs every day from now until surgery.
And last note. Several people have donated to me via my donation link on my blog. Thank you. For now, I’m going to sit on that money. I still hope to someday get a foundation up and running, but in the short term if we end up not needing it, I will pay it forward to another cancer patient who does. The need is real.
Also, I got some money for participating in the trial! They can’t give you a lot, but it’s enough to buy the Ikea couch I’m planning to use to convalesce on. It’s good to get some return on investment after months of being poked with needles and felt up because the trial required me to be examined one to two times per month.