Shermance is looking fantastic today. Her old-person shuffle has progressed into regular, though slow, walking and she has a smile on her face like we haven't seen in a while. Sure she is still in a great deal of pain, and she generally is moving much slower than her usual bustle, but her mind is fully alert and she has her internal sparkle back in her eyes. The other way I can tell she is back to herself is in the shear joy with which she doles out requests for me to cater to her every need, want, and whim :). She takes such joy in her bossiness. For those who know her that is no surprise.
This morning we checked her fluid drains (inserted inside both sides of the surgery sites) and both were under the 30mL limit for their removal. Provided they are less than 30mL tomorrow, she can have them surgically removed. We were told they were required from 7 to 10 days so having them out in 5 would be a wonderful blessing. The doc wants them out as soon as possible to avoid further risk of infection. Shermance wants them out because they pull on her skin and its generally no fun having the two balloons attached to the front of her Ace bandage. Say a prayer for low drainage tomorrow.
We are very happy for her faster-than-expected recovery and now we are anxiously anticipating conclusive news from the doctor on the biopsy. We are hoping with all hope to hear the words CANCER FREE! Plus, as mentioned before, we want to hear that proceeding without radiation is adviseable so we can move ahead with plans for early reconstruction. That would be the best Christmas present ever!
To help along the recovery, Shermance is religiously performing her daily exercises and trying to stay active to keep her blood flowing. She's recovered regularity after much trouble yesterday - no shittin' :). It's a not-so wonderful side effect of anesthesia and the opiate-based pain meds. The plumbing is now fixed. :)
Speaking of plumbing, today is the day Shermance decided we MUST get reverse osmosis installed under our kitchen sink. A work friend's wife, a doctorate-degreed chemist, convinced Shermance and a few others at our house party a week ago that water filtration was not enough for clean water. We bought the system the next day. I turned away the first technician who wanted to charge as much as the unit to install the filter. We expect we can save up to $200 by having a handyman do the install.
We are hoping to get the house back to some normalcy next week (though I will be travelling for work). Parker has been sick with some major stomach pain. We think it may be somewhat linked to the stress in the house leading up to the surgery. His teacher called yesterday to ask if she can bring over a meal or offer any additional support to our family - how wonderful. We simply asked that she keep an eye on his behavior and report anything unusual. She also offered to have him talk to the school counselor, which we agreed is a good idea so he can share what's on his mind without pressure to respond in a way that he thinks we expect.
Logan seems to be handling the surgery in stride. He is almost 12 years old and instead of acting out, he has withdrawn a bit more into reading, but that is nothing new. His major change was his bike being stollen from the school after we left it overnight. The young theif was caught on security cameras, but the police have not yet recovered the bike. We've already replaced it with a bike from craigslist - though it's a bit old and needs servicing.
I extended my Personal Time Off from work today by doing some work from home and continuing to cater to Shermance. Her mom is here and she's been a fantastic help - providing meals, cleaning, and also helping hoowever Shermance needs. This morning Shermance, Dina, and Bonnie sorted through a huge lot of eBay baby clothes that Shermance bought for the price of 2 baby outfits. While I was on my conference call I overheard them laughing and admiring the 87 pieces that arrived yesterday.
That's all for now. Shermance is accepting a few visitors this afternoon, and that is making her so chipper! Smiles help with healing!
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