Any October 2011 Surgeries out there want to wait together?
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Oh geez, it is October 1st isn't it. I'm having such a strange mix of emotions - just wanting to get it over with and wanting to curl up in bed with the covers over my head. I'm sure the lack of sleep is not helping the situation.
Anyway, was thinking about denial and it's my new favorite! A bunch of posts ago, a few of you gals were talking about your ideal place to think of packing for and wondering if anyone else wanted to share. We could start a "Happy Place" list. Here's mine: a little farmhouse in Tuscany, close enough to town where I could bike in for a bread, cheese, and, of course, a bottle of wine!
Love to hear if you want to share.
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Did ANYONE geta good night sleep last night? I woke up in a panic about 4 a.m. thinking that this was my surgery week and that I only had 2 days to finish two big work projects. Thank goodness there's an extra week in there that I wasn't thinking about! If every night is like this for the next 12 nights I'll be a basket case by surgery!
My escape place would be somewhere with water -- maybe a cruise or even just a nice lounge chair at Orange Beach. Something about the water is just so relaxing. My husband spent almost a year in Iraq and informed me then to go to the beach while he was gone because he never wanted to see another speck of sand so I don't think that is where I'll get to recover in the real world. But I can go there in my mind -- with the right drugs and a fruity cocktail!
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A beautiful tropical island with a stunning house on the beach all to myself. A big sailboat at my disposal just offshore. Waitstaff who fulfill my every wish. That would make me happy!
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Hello to all the October ladies!
Kellleyod - thank for the prayers for Survivor11 and myself! Regarding my hair, my hairstyle looks like that of Aeon Flux. Have you seen the movie? Perhaps, it'll give me a sense of courage and strength! lol
Judy67 - thank for thinking about Survivor11 and myself as well. She and I are walking this walk together, holding each other's hand.
Groovygirls - so kind of you to join the October group and give us support and encouragement. Thank you!
And, my exotic destination (that I''m packing for) is Belize ... It's been on my wish list for some time, so why not go there now (in my mind of course)! lol
Sending out thoughts and prayers for the entire October group!
Love~Peace~Joy
Trinity
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Danadane - how was your haircut? For me, it was kinda "empowering" ... taking control of the situation ... it actually helped me quite a bit ...
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I'm sitting here laughing about the movie quote from "Finding Nemo" ... "find a happy place, find a happy place, find a happy place" ... I think it's been used in other movies, but that's the original movie, I think ... anyway, I'm going to try to think about my "happy place" for the next few days ... lol
great idea Danadane! everyone needs to find their "happy place"!!!
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My happy place(s). . . . St. John's in the Carribbean. . . . Quiet little cove where I sat all day and relaxed, with DH and several cold cocktails. . . . nnniiiccceeee . . . . usually on the beach, I'm chasing kids . . . . ha! I sat and didn't move.
Sleep? What is sleep?
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Lack of sleep-check. Something abou the 4am mark, witching hour when all good witches rise.
Trinity-okay now I'm starting to think waaaaay tooo much about Mon. I have found it best to be brain dead in these last few days-no thinking=no anxiety. Will check back with you Sun evening before I get packing done-will be with you til that last min.
Thanks everyone for the best wishes, support and love for Trinity and I for Mon-it will be right back atcha on your days.
Vacay spot-Thailand, always wanted to go. Hicking mountains and taking in the beauty of this crazy world we live in.
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I love everyone's happy places! I hope you don't mind but I may be visiting your happy places too..they all sound so great!
And, I'm definitely not sleeping and the weird thing is I'm not even tired.
Trinity- I do actually feel a bit more empowered after the haircut. I've never had my hair colored professionally (its usually a box of clairol from the drugstore) so I said pick out a color for me and surprise me with the cut. She convinced me to go shorter than I thought I wanted but I love it!! I was sortof dirty blond with shoulder length layered hair before and now I'm auburn-ish with a very short bob. At least now when I look in the mirror I'm looking at my hair and not thinking about my boobs!
Hugs to all!
Dana0 -
Hello October friends - since it's Oct. 1, I went looking for this thread. I had my BMX on Sept. 19th and wanted to pop over here to let you all know that for me, the waiting (from June to Sept!) was the worst part. While I would never say surgery and my two weeks of recovery have been "a breeze," the experience has been so positive in so many ways - very little pain, a HUGE sense of relief that it's over, and a sense of excitement in getting "on with the show." I wish you all the best with your surgeries and recoveries - and I'm sure you know what I mean when I say that having each other here to lean on is one of those most wonderful and helpful tools in your toolbox.
Take good care of yourselves,
Sarah
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Am back from the Susan G Komen race for a cure. We had 16,000 participants and 1,000 of those were survivors. With all those people there I am surprised I ran into my QOBGYN, ONC Dr and BS. It was an up lifting and emotional day. I am glad I did it and plan to do it next year.
My happy place is either a villa in St Martin or Negril Jamaica. I love both places. I day dream about them when getting test and plan to be thinking about them when at the hospital Tues.
Hi Sarah -- thanks for popping in and share with the Oct sisters.
Have a good Sat evening ladies. I am off to dinner with DH and my best friend and the drinks with friends.0 -
Hey Kelley. I am scheduled at 11:30 CST. I think you may be an hour ahead of me, so if that is the case, I go in a little before you. I am not good with time zones...but that is what hubby told me. LOL. I want you to know I AM GOING TO BE HOLDING YOUR HAND THROUGH THE WHOLE THING!!!!!!! I will be praying for you, and all of our October sisters on here! God bless!
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Finally, October! Only 25 more days to go for me. Good luck to everyone set for this coming week.
Dana - Good idea on the hair. I just got to thinking that my pre-chemo cut should be short, sassy and chestnut.
I'd love to travel to China at some point. But right now, I'd have to say my happy place would be Antarctica - I was there in February, and the peace, quiet and beauty of the place was breathtaking. To say nothing of the penguins! (Those are the black and white splotches in the background of my profile pic). Not the lightest trip to pack for - but in comparison, a few days in the hospital will be a cinch!
Happy weekend everyone.
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Here's to October. I wish each and everyone of you the best of luck... I am sorry we all have to do this. Thank you to all of you for making it a little bit easier.
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I am scheduled for Monday, Oct 3rd. BMX and Recon
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I just lost my whole post of Personals~~~ ARGGGGGHHHH!!!
For now, I'll just have to wish everyone calming thoughts and a solid night of sleep. I'll be back tomorrow to respond in more detail.
Hugs!
AJ
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Dukes up...that kept happening to me. The solution I found is to frequently hit "preview." This saves what you've written, even if the site locks up... Maybe this will work for you.
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I'm going to have BMX with DIEP or Free TRAM on OCT 25.
-LA
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Good luck to all you October women, especially all of you who are scheduled for this week.
The uninterrupted sleep never really happened for Mrs Clams yesterday or today, basically b/c it's just hard to sleep in a damn hospital after you've had major surgery. Neverthless, Mrs Clams is sound asleep right now and she appears to be on the verge of going home tomorrow. Oh, she's still really tired and sore, but you really can see improvement with each day. Walking more, eating more, learning how to deal with all the tubes and drains sticking out of her body, etc. She did have an issue with not peeing and having to be re-catheterized last night, but that seems to be resolving. Today I went home and brought the kids down for a 30 minute visit which was nice b/c they've been dying to see her. AFter that I went to their soccer and football games while my mother in law stayed with Mrs Clams. Now both kids are at sleepovers so I'm back at here at the hospital for the night.
So here's today's piece of advice: if at all possible, have someone stay with you in the hospital for as much of the time as possible. I don't know how a woman could get through these first few post-bmx days on her own. Even the simplest tasks - drinking water, walking into and going to the bathroom, putting on underpants, cleaning yourself, brushing teeth, standing up, getting into and out of bed, reaching for a phone, walking the hallway, you name it - would be really hard if not impossible on your own. My advice is to do whatever it takes to have someone (parent, spouse, son, daughter, friend, cousin, coworker, etc) with you as close to 100% of the time as possible. It really does make a difference.
Again, good luck to all of you this month. Since the Mrs is a few days ahead of you guys, I'll try to post periodically to give you an idea of what's on the horizon...
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Hi 9911 - Welcome to the October Sisterhood! It sounds like you've had a long road getting here. It's an amazing group of women - totally supportive. And I think we're all experts in various stages of losing it!
Hang in there..we'll help hold you up!0 -
Welcome Rockysg, you'll be joining Survivor11 and Trinity for the first surgeries in October. Hope everything goes well and I'll add you to the prayer list.
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Thanks Clams, for all the updates and good advice. I know the days after surgery won't be easy, but I'm feeling more optimistic about it now. I'm glad to know your wife is making good progress every day. It makes me happy to know she may be going home tomorrow. I hope everything continues to go well. Also, hearing from the husband of someone going through this surgery helps me to know how my husband may be feeling about all this. Thank you.
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It is amazing to see how different we are, as well as our hospitals. I had a bmx with one step implant reconstruction . My hospital was super quiet and the nurses and/or aides were very responsive. The aides helped sponge bathe me, get me to the bathroom etc. Once I was out of bed, which I needed help for initially, I had no problem with most self care aspects but if I did, help was readily available. My family spent a lot of time with me but I was glad to have them leave at night. Flap surgeries seem to have more complex recoveries. Regardless, it really does get better, day by day. Best wishes for an easy recovery to all October ladies. Caryn
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Rockysg and 9911 - Welcome to the October group! You're joining a wonderful and supportive group of women who you can chat with about anything and everything!
Rockysg - Survivor11 and I are scheduled for surgery on October 3rd also ... we will all be holding each other's hand through this ... sending out my thoughts and prayers for you!
Survivor11 - I'm leaving for the hospital tomorrow afternoon at 3 PM ... I'm having surgery out of town, and I have to be at the hospital at 5:30 AM on Monday ... so, my family and I are staying overnight in a hotel ... I'm taking my computer with me, so I'm sure I'll be online the night before ... I'm assuming I'm going to have a restless night ... LOL ... so, I'm sure I'll be sending you a message Sunday evening also ...
Sarah - Thank you for all the support and encouragement for the October group!
Dana - I'm happy to hear you love your new look (haircut)! It does seem to help take the focus off "other things" ... lol
Clams - I've been reading all your posts ... I'm happy to hear that Mrs. Clams is on the road to recovery ... and, I do thank you for sharing news with the October group, and giving us updates on her progress ... I really appreciate you taking the time to share information with us ... extremely kind and thoughtful of you!
And, if I counted correctly, there are 14 surgeries scheduled for this coming week ... my thoughts and prayers are with each and every one of you ...
I will definitely let everyone know how my surgery went (as soon as my arms and hands allow me to write) ...
And, my thoughts and prayers are with the entire October group! May God bless you all!
Love~Peace~Joy
Trinity
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OK, I finished all my packing and ready to leave for the hospital tommorow afternoon ... I have my toothbrush and two bottles of wine in my suitcase ... that's all I need, right?
Although, there might only be one bottle of wine left by tommorow afternoon ... I'm so wired at the moment that I don't think I'll be sleeping much tonight ... HELP! I don't wanna go! Mommy!
My mother is actually sitting right next to me at the moment, and she's looking at me like she thinks I'm losing it ... she may be right! I actually have so many thoughts and emotions happening at once that I don't know how I feel ... it seems to be changing from minute to minute ... my emotions are running the gamut from grief to joy ... I'm actually unable to express exactly how I'm feeling at any given moment ...
Survivor11 - I think I may follow your lead and be brain dead ... as you stated "no thinking = no anxiety) But, how exactly do you do that? I think I may need a book for Dummies on "how to not think about anything"
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Trinity - I think your suitcase is packed just right! Maybe they can start the IV early with a little wine in the drip.
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All I can say is I'm there with you in spirit. As you know, you're a day ahead of me and I already feeling like I want to run down the street screaming. My mom and dad arrive on Monday and I'm looking forward to having them here but I'm also a little nervous. I totally won't be able to keep up this chipper facade that I work hard at during the day/outside the house in front of her. I definitely will just want to curl up right then and there. I guess that's what moms are for!
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Hi all - I'm from the September group - I'm about 1.5 wks out of BMX with NSM on R, aerolar sparing on L, fat grafting recon. Just thought I'd sign on to offer feedback as needed, as I know a few ladies did that for our Sept group, and it was much appreciated!
Trinity - hope you were able to get some sleep! <Hugs!>
Best wishes to you all - you can do this!!!
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Rockysg, Trinity and Survivor...Thinking of you...Best of luck tomorrow...
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Trinity and Survivor11 - my surgery was on a Monday too (9/19) and a friend wrote me an email the night before and called it "the Sunday night that was like no other." How true. It was one of the more surreal evenings of my life. Safe travels today, Trinity - your packing list sounds perfect. Good luck to you both, and to all the other October women!
Sarah
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Big week ahead for our little group. . . . hang tough and know you are all in our thoughts and prayers. . . Good Luck!
I'm taking notes from all of you and thinking of following Trinity's lead on packing! hahaha . . . after I follow Dana screaming down the road. . .
Hang in there . . . .I'm trying!
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