Mostly just me and surgery and shopping

I had to see my reconstructive surgeon on Wednesday the 6th for a vein clipping procedure.  He made two little cuts in my abdomen and then clipped small vessels so that they will die and make the large vessels larger.  Then he stitched me up.

I was all sorts of nervous about it, so my preparation was to drink wine on Tuesday evening the 5th.   I guess this could count as my 40 year and 2 month picture too. Ha.

The waiting room at the office on Wednesday the 6th.  

I didn't want to bleed on one of my robes, so I wore their robe for the procedure.  

I was there for about two hours, but the actual procedure took about 30 minutes.

I survived.  

I needed a much larger glass of wine that night.  

My friend Heather thought this was a coat, so I took a picture to show her it was a dress.  

Spencer's 12 year 2 month picture.  Taken moments before I forced him to go to bed. 

Look!  I'm finally doing regular manicures again.  I think my nails are recovered from chemo.  Finally. 

I like the cute little tie neck on this shirt.  

I had stopped at Ross when I left my surgeon's office on Wednesday and had seen a lovely plum colored sweater coat.  They only had it in small.  The small fit, but it was tight.  I stopped at two Ross stores on my way home from work on Thursday.  I found the sweater coat in

cheetah,  

mustard,  

and peanut butter.  

But NO PLUM one was located anywhere. 

On Friday the 8th I made a new batch of laundry detergent.  I've been making double batches and it lasts for about eight months. 

After the laundry detergent I went to physical therapy.  On my way home I stopped at a few more Ross stores.  I found the sweater coat in black.  I bought it just in case I never found it in plum later.  

I also went to Target.  I was looking at cards for my niece and nephew when I saw this one.  

There, I fixed it! 

Another Ross, and I found it in red.  I almost bought this, but I already have two red coats and nobody needs three red coats.  

There was also teal, which was gorgeous, but not plum.  

And finally, I was demonstrating for a facebook post how far my cording can grow to.  I'll include my post below so this picture makes some sense.  

The post:

I had all of my axillary lymph nodes removed on my left side because cancer from my left breast had metastasized into them. I have not had problems with lymphedema (swelling) in my arm, but I do have axillary web syndrome (AWS). AWS, which is also known as cording, can develop as a side effect of axillary lymph node dissection. I get a web of thick, ropelike structures (cords) under the skin of my inner arm starting at the arm pit and continuing all the way down.

I try to see my physical therapist about once a week and the only thing she does each time is lymphatic massage on my chest and arm, and positional changes to my arm to get the cords to break up and release. Before I see her it feels like a very, very tight rubber band is being stretched inside of my arm and if I move it will snap at any moment. Depending on the size of the cords I can sometimes hear them crack and release. I always feel better after I leave. Last week she released eight cords, because it had been three weeks since my last session. Today she released three.

I kind-of fizzled out on my breast cancer awareness posts in October, because, honestly they were emotionally exhausting. This is a good time to say that every day of the year can be for breast cancer awareness! I also wanted to model for you the farthest point one of the cords has ever grown. It was horrendous.