Praising the Lord

My praise report starts out this morning with the appreciation for The Center and the class I attended on Friday.  It was the Look Good Feel Better class and it was so informative.  Makeup tips I had forgotten.  I've been in Mary Kay for 13 years and all the things I learned early on eventually just slip right out of your mind over time.  Alice, the cosmetologist offered great reminders for me and tips for all of us ladies who were either going through chemo or getting ready to go through chemo.  We had a wonderful homemade soup and salad lunch prepared by Caroline, a survivor and volunteer at The Center.  We also got a lesson on how to take a T-shirt and cut the bottom off and make a really cute head cover that can be embellished with a scarf or pins.  Here's a few pictures that I took with my iPhone of the T-shirt head cover process.

First you cut the bottom off of a large T-shirt.

                                                     Then you drape the T-shirt over your head.

                                            Then you  start twisting outwards the remainder of the T-shirt. 

Above is what it looks like twisted.  You criss-cross those those strains of twisted T-shirt.

You then take the twisted part and make a halo over your head.

And this is what it looks like when finished.  You can barely see the halo part but you can weave a scarf in there or embellish with cute bling. 

This class was absolutely priceless for all of us.  I'm so thankful for the opportunities that have come forth in the last several years for cancer patients and the need for support. 

My port is healing and it is taking some getting adjusted to as far as being where it is and of course the soreness hasn't helped. The bruising is turning yellow so that's a good sign of healing.  There is no redness or anything that looks like infection.  I did however have a bad reaction to the antibiotics they put me on.  It was Keflex and it tore my stomach up to the point that after two days ... Friday and Saturday ... and the incredible stomach pain it caused, I didn't take it yesterday but am calling Dr. Bayouth's office this morning to see if they can change it to something I know I can take.  Please pray they can give me something else.

Other things going on.  Oh the drain ... the beloved remaining drain.  I refuse to say anything bad about these drains because they have served a very important purpose in being here for me and my body.  The drainage is down to about 30cc or less per day now for 4 days now.  Praise the Lord and thank you for your prayers.  The drain will come out tomorrow.  I do have mixed emotions about this and ask that you continue to pray that the drainage doesn't build up but rather ask God that my body can handle the fluid and absorb back in to my system.  Below are some pictures I took ... they are not graphic. 

When I came home from the hospital with the four Jackson Pratt drains (referred to as JP drains), all the drains were numbered ... 1 through 4.  There are collection cups for each drain also numbered as 1 through 4.  There are large cups and small cups that would be used to measure the drainage.  Boy was I happy when I got start measuring with the smalls cups as the drainage decreased. 

These are the collection cups. 

This is the collection bulb where the fluid comes down from my body and collects.  This is the bulb without the suction on it. 

With the suction on it, it pulls the fluid out of my body down the drain tube.  I didn't take a picture of my side where the tube is inserted.  It's just a round disk around the tube where it is inserted in my body, a piece of gauze underneath that because I've had leakage issues and a Tegaderm, clear adhesive patch that covers all that.   

I safety pin the suction bulb to my shorts, jeans or pjs to function daily.  I have a lanyard that I hook it to around my neck when I shower.  It's all a process and takes me a little longer to do things like shower and ready myself for bed or to get dressed in the mornings. 

When these drains are removed, the nurse cuts the sutures that are holding it in my side and she tells me to take some deep breaths and she starts pulling.  Here's a good description of what it feels like when the drain is pulled out.  (More info below as to where I got this description). 

I had been under anestheisa when the drains were put in, but unfortunately I was not when Gerry began pulling.  He grabbed the end of the first tube with both hands, grinned, then ran toward the back door.  The scene reminded me of pulling a tooth with a string tied to a doorknob -- once the door is pushed, there's no going back.

When Gerry yanked out the first drain, it felt like a rottweiler had grabbed the end of a garden hose that happened to be an anchored under my skin with barbed fishing hooks, then had taken off after a squirrel.  I felt "a little pressure," as we doctors love to say. 

Yep, this pretty much describes how it feels to have drains removed but I would like to add, the barbed fishing hook is blazing red hot.  When the drain is being pulled out, it burns like there is a fire in my body ... the very tender part of my body.  I know that it has to be done, I'm asking you to pray that the part of the drain that has been in my body for four weeks hasn't decided to take up residence and started growing in my underarm where my lymph nodes used to be. 

Now for the quote I used above in italics.  A well known gynocologist in Fort Worth, Dr. Alan Johns, found himself with breast cancer in 1998.  His book, The Lump, is Dr. Johns journey through breast cancer as a a male.  His journey is amazingly similar to my journey and probably most everyone who has walked this breast cancer journey.  I believe the proceeds from this book benefits the Joan Katz Breast Center at Baylor-All Saints Hospital.  The book made me cry at times but for the most part it was very humorous.  Breast cancer sucks were his words and I have to agree with him. 

I believe I have caught up on everything since Friday.  I continue to feel better and I continue to Praise the Lord.  I continue to live moment by moment and enjoy the moment I'm in.  I don't think about the next moment because I may not be there.   I challenge you today and every day yet to come to live in the moment and do not worry about the future. 

A quick little story about yesterday ... my dryer went out.  Yep, just went kaput!  I think back as to how old this dryer is and if my memory recalls, we (my ex-hubby and I) bought this dryer after we had Alicia, my oldest daughter who is 29.  It came from Sears and it has been a great dryer.  Now when the dryer went kaput yesterday, I could have fretted and worried and blah blah blah ... oh woo is me ... sort of thing but I didn't.  I threw the wet towels back in the washer, shut the door and said to myself, "I'll call my beautiful friend, Greta, and ask her if I can borrow her hubby, Bruce, today to come take me to Home Depot and buy a dryer".  Now in the old days ... you know those days before breast cancer, I would have fretted my head off.  Not any more.  My belief is that stress caused my cancer and I will no longer allow stress in my life. 

So today I leave you with the following scripture to aid you with not stressing ....

Matthew 6:26  (NIV)

²⁶ Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?

YES, we are so much more valuable to God than the birds in the air.  He will get us through any and everything that comes along in our lives.  He rejoices when we rejoice and He weeps when we weep.  He picks us up everytime we fall down, He walks beside us in the dark valleys and He protects us.  He loves us more than any of us can imagine.  Thank you Father for walking with me today and every day protecting me and loving me even when I am so unlovable. 

Blessings to all on this magnificent Monday.
Gena