Moving On......After the Flap
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Oh Bailey, the picture of your dad moved me to tears. Thanks for sharing it! He looks happy, and pleased with himself as he should darn well be! With his resolve and perseverance I'm sure he'll be walking around in no time. What a special, courageous man, and what wonderful children you and your sister are to your parents. Keep us posted on his progress, please!
Marty, that Yellow Ribbon song is an old favorite of mine too. So interesting to read a little history about it from the horse's mouth, so to speak. Thanks! Totally agree with your bra theory too. I myself would go bra-less if I could, but seeing that we wear bra's every day, we can just as well buy the most comfortable we can get, no matter what they cost.
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Oh you guys are the best. Making me teary. I will pass on all your well wishes on to them.
It's still cold and plenty of snow on the ground.....with more expected this week....BUT the sun is shining....I'll take that.
Good days, all.
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Fierce - you hit the nail on the head - the struggle to get back to life "before". We have a lot of perceptions of what life was like before DX and not all are really correct, but they are ours. I have know many women, and heard many on these forums, who "just want to get back to what was". They seem terribly upset that it doesn't happen and may be hypercritical of their recon because of it. Like everything in life, each day is a bit different from the last. It alters our "normal". What was yesterday and what will be tomorrow are still our "normal", just different - evolutionary. The trick is to embrace the new normal and not fight it. We need to think of this as an opportunity - an opportunity to be different, better, other. It is kind of like wishing to be 20 again, or 30 (40 or 50 or 100) pounds lighter - sure that may have been our normal at one time, our old self, our "getting back to me" - the person I was before cancer. But really, I can never be 20 again. I can be XX pounds lighter. In my new normal, that is what I am working towards. And to regain the use of muscles that were invaded by implants for 25+ years. And to be more active. That was me before DX when i was 33. I was very active, 30 pounds lighter, on the go, with divergent interests. As I write this, I guess I am trying to get back to that physical me plus the wisdom of 29 years of life post DX.
Bailey - your daddy's walk may not be pretty yet, but once he gets the hang of rockin' and rollin' on those bio-legs he will be something to keep up with. His new normal may not be the legs he had, but these may actually be the best yet!
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bailey,.....your dad is absolutely, spectacularly awe-inspiring and gorgeous......as are you. When he gets home, please give him a hug from me..I no longer have my Dad to hug...your's makes a pretty wonderful substitute.
marty....per usual....wise, compassionate and spot on....."evolutionary" exactly the right mindset. Thanks for sharing that.
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Bailey, what an inspirational and moving photo of your dad! Thanks so much for sharing it with us. I will be thinking of him as we walk around Green Lake this afternoon, a long walk for me.
Marty, "not fighting it" resonated with me. We are always changing, FBC or not. The one " constant" in life is change. I try to go with the flow and decide what is in my control and what isn't, then try to relax. Gratitude is a big deal for me. There are a million things to be thankful for every day and they all add up to feeling much better about life.
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Marty, profound words of wisdom, as usual! I particularly connected with your remark about this being an "opportunity to be different, better, other". I think that accurately describes why I have chosen to keep my hair pixie short. I suppose I am making a statement that this is the new me. I am not the same person I was before this journey, and almost everything is different, inside and out. When I lost my hair to chemo, I had a wig that looked just like my real hair, but I never wore the wig again after my Stage I surgery. That hairstyle and the consuming thoughts about my hair were no longer a part of my life. There was no room for such things! My minimalist hairstyle reflects my minimalist attitude about life. There are few things that are truly worthy of my worry, and hair is no longer one of them. Don't get me wrong, I still care about looking nice, I just don't waste as much time doing it. I am embracing the new me!
Oh, my hair is slightly longer than my avatar, but not much...
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Darn, Zen, I thought you had it pulled back in a bun
. You have wonderful features for a pixie and I would be right with you if I could. Last time I tried a really short cut I got caught on the golf course in a rain storm. By the time I made it into the club it was a mass of curls. My DH just looked at me with a very puzzled expression. Neither of us knew just how crazy it would get. As it got whiter and whiter, the curls began looking like some kind of strange halo (not in a good way). I'm a pull it back and go kind of girl much of the time.0 -
Does anybody else live for NCAA March Madness or am I the only basketball girl here? One of my favorite times of the year!!!
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Sorry, Bailey, no. Sometimes we watch our local teams.
I just realized I have a lot of pictures of my bare boobs on my PHONE! Without nipples, nipples healing with bandages, without bandages. Maybe someday I will post them on picture forum, I don't know. I like to look at them to see how far I've come, I think, but it is dangerous! You know, you're looking for a pic of your granddaughter and someone looks over your shoulder....it's kind of funny, really.
Sure enjoyed our walk around Green Lake today. Chilly breeze but beautiful.
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Green Lake
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Ah, the thought of Jeannie sitting on that beautiful bench admiring pictures of her beautiful new boobs. Hope no one looks over your shoulder:).
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Jeannie. Those are beautiful pictures. Are they from today? If so I'm jealous of your weather. For the photos you don't want people to see unexpectedly, there is a free app called Private Photo Vault. You import photos into the app and then delete them from your photo roll. I just started using it, because I have a few surgery pictures on my iPad that I didn't want popping up at the wrong time!
Bailey - that is such a sweet photo of your Dad. He looks happy and confident in his decision. I expect your parents will be happy to be home after all they have been through.
Ridley
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It's so lovely and GREEN, Jeannie...I love green.
I miss green.
Green is a long lost love lol!!!!
I have the same thing on my phone , Jeannie, and I was going to show Thing 1's FRIEND a picture I took of him and he started leaning in to look and I said, "NOOOO!!!" LoL! Oops!!! I need to get them off the phone and onto the computer!
Thanks, Ridley!
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Wow, ladies, I have missed a lot! Warrior Fiercebird, I'm wishing my brain worked as well as yours does. You are one great woman! Lots of love and prayers coming your way. See you in September. Jeannie, love your smiling face! I hope the pictures on our phones stay safely out of sight. Bosom, it is so wonderful to hear that things are finally going your way with your legal woes. Good triumphs evil, again! Bailey, I love your wit. Thanks for sharing your father's story with us. His courage is remarkable. Nihahi, this yoga class could go viral on youtube, but probably not for our grace and elegance. So sorry for your less than stellar start to spring. Sbe and Liefie keep those grand baby pics coming. Sweet, your picture is great. All of us would recognize you. We are so fortunate to have each other because most outside this elite circle don't get it like we do. Let it make us all the more compassionate and understanding. You are all in my thoughts and prayers. Good night. ...Julie
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Ridley, thanks for the photo hint! I didn't take the lake photos but they look like today. I was wearing a tank top with a sweater and sweatshirt over it---and jeans! The breeze was cool but it was so lovely! We don't usually have great spring weather and we've had so much rain, we all run out and enjoy the sun when we can. I do live in the Evergreen state!
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Jeannie - about 15 years ago I spent the summer working in Seattle for a client. The first time I visited, I could not believe all of the green. It was so fantastic. I will never forget how beautiful it was.
I walked to church today in my parka, that I love, but am really really ready to put away. It was minus 20 with the windchill! We still have piles of snow with patches of brown grass. Thankfully the sky was bright blue.
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Lovely, lovely photo of Mt. Hood in the morning..... sigh.....I don't want to wish away spring and summer, by any means, but I am so looking forward to September!
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Ridley - thanks, you made my morning. Private Photo Vault. Yippeee!
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I am by no means a yoga person. Meaning, I know people who faithfully do it daily. But after my riding accident I needed to get some mobility back and started yoga and continued for awhile but stopped years ago. During this recent brain injury, I lost much of my balance but if I concentrate on grounding myself using tree, mountain, or Sun worship type pose, my balance comes right back. I can even stand on one leg!
My physical therapy people were amazed in the hospital.
Everyone should try yoga even if it's just to learn to focus your brain body harmony.
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fierceblue...
. Core strength also helps reduce the risk of falls...aka....the dreaded hip fractures as we age.jeannie....Now THAT would have been a LOVELY walk to do!!!! So glad you got out and enjoyed it. Dance between the raindrops gal!
W3 Weekend......179 days and counting!!!!! (Movie....I won't need snow clothes will I)
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Marty - hope it works. I just downloaded it on the weekend. So far, so good.
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bailey- your dad looks awesome! Tell him I said go bulls! I dont follow march madnes anymore but I went on a last minute road trip from Iowa to Kansas to watch my college team play. That was a fun time!
Raising hand, ducking head, I am guilty. I want the old skinny me back!!!! I dont even want 20 back.......just 32.......:-) I will continue to fight the weight issue but overall I am pretty cool with who I am today.
I want dh to build me window boxes too but I am not holding my breath. The carpenters wife can get nothing built! lol
Marty- is that the bridge is Charleston? It looks familar.
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This just in from our friends at the IRS....Nihahi may not exist but I exist twice
Can't file online because my SSN has already been filed under.....grrrrrr.....fraud forms to fill out on top of having to file on paper.
Based on my experience the IRS has it out for bc survivors......snort
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bwhahahahaha......ooohhh bailey....I can so sympathize!!!! Honest....your duplicate isn't me, trying somehow to crawl out of the darkness....!!!! How many hoops do YOU now have to jump through??? Do you only have to play with the IRS, or do you get to spend some lovely, memorable moments with SSI??? Hint....start compiling all your documents, back to pre-utero.....with duplicates, official notarized stamps and official signatures, of course.
As for the IRS....
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Bailey, sounds like you are having the same life I am having!
Feck the IRS! We should make up T-Shirts....I wonder how long before we'd end up in jail?Someone wrote (not too long ago)about the PS coming back to them for more $$ because their insurance didn't pay enough.....I remember thinking"Wow! I'm so glad that I have good insurance!".....Fast-forward to last Friday, when a letter appears in my mailbox from the insurance company.....someone representing the Surgery Center where I had all but my DIEP done, had filed an appeal to try and get more $$, as the Insurance had literally paid pennies on the dollar.......said letter contained a sentence that made my blood run cold......"If we cannot get you to bring your payment to the Surgery Center up to reasonable and customary (at 60%-this place was out-of-plan) then we will have to pursue other means of getting reimbursed. Your member(me) is NOT going to be happy when she gets slapped with an additional $15,000 in costs).........*Shit* That did nothing to bolster the weekend spirit! Besides the fact that I have had two siblings come up to visit my 97 year-old mother on her birthday (today).......(and neither one of them can be bothered to watch her so I can leave town for Palm Springs the end of April....they"re "Too Busy".....I don't know with what.....they are BOTH retired!)........ I thought my head was literally going to explode by this morning.....hence this:
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Ha! I THINK I have resolved the insurance thingy.....but my siblings are still jerky!
Bailey-your dad is amazing! I am really impressed! Will try to remember that others are dealing with so much more than I am...AND he's doing it with a SMILE on his face!
Marty, I like the way you think! I saw this and thought of what you said......
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Did someone here mention YOGA? I am the Queen of Wonky Yoga!
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I am feeling just a bit crazy this afternoon.......Love you all!
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Good Lord Movie.....What the "hey" is going on????!!!!!
Honestly, I couldn't cope with the insurance issues that you US gals, have......talk about stress!!!!!! How can they go "back" and try to get money from you???? Hope it stays sorted out.
re: mom...your siblings are scared (maybe), unfamiliar with what needs to be done (could be taught) and selfish....DEFINITELY!!!!!!!! So sorry they are being such toads.
btw....I do LOVE your new avatar...."MWAH"!
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Why, Thank You, Nihahi.......I MAY reconsider and just do this........
Oh man...I HAVE gone over the edge.......
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New phone blues! OK, here goes. We went for a lovely ride yesterday and I documented it for you.
At the top of Sycamore Canyon is a nice mock-up of a Chumash Indian dwelling:
And then we headed down Sycamore Canyon. This area burned big-time last year, and it's just now beginning to green up.
Here's what the trail looks like:
Some struggling California poppies:
And finally, the beach! The little cottage you see on the far left side of the photo is a lifeguard shack, but it's been used in a lot of TV and movie shoots. If you watch NCIS, it was Mike's house in Mexico!
And looking forward to the 8-mile grind back UP the canyon--
Bailey, bless you dad's warrior spirit! We are so proud of him to go to the lengths necessary to experience this new improvement in his life! Give him a huge squeeze from all of us.
And the IRS def knows we're alive, kicking, and earning money. Here's the form we got:
"How much money did you make in 2013? Send it in."
Love you all!
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Yep, Sweet, that is the Arthur Ravanel Bridge over the Cooper River.
Movie - love that crying little girl. I feel that way sometimes. Maybe I should enlarge the photo, print it on card stock and attach a stick to the back so I can wave it whenever the need arises.
SBE - it's starting to green up, really? Wish I had your endurance.
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movie, crazy looks good on you....
Bailey, so sorry for your hassles. I'm thankful we got a good-sized return. They took out too much, it appears. Weird.
Ridley, I am afraid I wouldn't be able to figure out how to post the boob pic to the forum from that app. But maybe I won't anyway. I am feeling more modest these days.
Ha, I learned a Pilates move today at the Y. It felt good but I felt like a klutz. And I'm supposed to remember it and practice at home? What memory??? We also did just a taste of a spin class. Ouchy bum!
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