Still here!

It has been a long time,  hasn't it? 

I suppose that's a good sign- less to talk about must mean life is getting more normal.   Never a bad thing. 

So- quick health updates-

First,  I had an MRI to follow up on the enlarged spleen  and liver cysts that were seen on earlier studies.   Good news!  Spleen is back to normal.  Liver is still cyst-y (yes, I make up my own words)  but no malignancy.  Also good news!  We will do a CT scan in December to look at the liver again. 

Next,  reconstruction is ongoing.  I have had the next step in the process,  which was another surgery to remove more excess skin and to construct nipples.   Some people decide just to tattoo nipple coloring without the reconstruction,  but I opted to go with a more natural look by doing both.

This was a pretty easy surgery over all,  but I did wind up with an infection in the incision on the left side.  That pesky left side-always causing problems!  It is getting better now and should not create any lasting effects.

Assuming the healing goes well,  the next step should be tattoos to create the coloring.  There is an awesome video online showing a tattoo artist doing this for a cancer patient.  It is really quite amazing.

In the category of getting back to normal,  I made my first business trip is since all this began.  I traveled to a conference in New Orleans and I have to say,  it was great to see everyone and feel normal again.  I missed the normalcy.

Lastly... My hair,  oh my hair.   I know many women  are horrified at the thought of losing their hair for any reason,  including as a result of chemo treatments.   I never felt that way.  It's just hair,  it grows back.   I have to say though that this part of my journey has been about the most enlightening of all.

My husband thinks my super-short hair is sexy. In 32 years of marriage he never told me I was sexy in the same way before.  He always said he likes longer hair.   Who knew?  Not him!

Also- total strangers come up to me to tell me they like my hair.   It is a strange experience to walk into the pizza place or a doctor's office and have someone you don't know tell you they love your hair.   Both have happened and it is always disconcerting.   I am grateful for the compliments,  but wow!

More to come as my journey continues.