Post-surgery restrictions lifted!

I had my 8 week follow-up appointment with the plastic surgeon today.  He is thrilled with the way the surgery went and how I look (and feel; yes, my appointments do include a groping).  He has, in the past, had to have his memory refreshed on which side I would have/did have radiation on, which I just chalked up to him having way too many patients to remember that kind of stuff.  But today he said it was remarkable that you could not tell by looking which side I had irradiated.  He said I am the first of his patients (and he's been doing this a long time) that didn't have post-radiation skin darkening.  It's especially odd, given that I both freckle and burn so easily.  It wasn't until I left the office that I began to wonder if it was because I slathered on so much aloe vera during radiation (minimum of 3x/day) that I didn't have permanent skin damage...

So anyway, I still have to wear the Spanx for another month, which is kind of annoying, but the weather is getting a bit cooler, and it's only one more month.  I am cleared to reach over my head, to exercise, to sleep on my side, and even to get my breasts tattooed (next month).  Hooray!  

Life has been busy these last few weeks.  We took a mini-vacation Up North to see my mom and my brother and his family.  The older kids moved into their dorms/apartments to start the fall semester.  Mira began her reign as an only child.  

It's been a long journey since finding my lump over 21 months ago.  I'm not completely done with all my treatments,  I'm still experiencing my fair share of side effects, and I know I'll never be able to not think about recurrence.  But I've also come a long way and that's something pretty important to remember. Perhaps it was best summed up by Dr. Sterkin's response when I asked if I could run, bike, do sit-ups...  He said, "You are free to do any of those things.  It's time for you to start living your life normally again and put all of this behind you."  And that's exactly what I plan to do!