The past few days have been pretty rough. All of the infection and hormone mediation that I have been on has made it hard for me to eat or drink much thus making me really shaky, weak and just over all crumby feeling. Yesterday I saw my surgical oncologist and my plastic surgeon among a few others and all were very worried that I was a tad too malnourished and dehydrated so I after talk of admitting me again they decided I could just do outpatient fluids with IV medication however right as I finished that part up and got ready to head home I started experiencing VERY severe pain in my left breast that was almost shooting through my chest. Read More

I was released from Spectrum Blodgett Campus tonight, but was in a way released on red alert because my infection is not 100% out of my system. After surgery infections do not happen often, however they do happen and unfortunately I fell into that small statistic. Both my goal and my surgeon’s goal is to take care of this infection without having to remove my left breast tissue expander/spacer, so I left the hospital with two VERY strong antibiotics and a very determined mindset. It is my job to now become the “hypochondriac” that I have never wanted to be for the next 48 hours and call my surgeon if I notice or feel anything different before I see her in her office this Wednesday. The worst-case scenario would be for this infection to get worse and require the emergency removal of my expander so please keep your fingers crossed for me.

It’s good to be home and in my own bed, but I must again send a huge “thank you” to Dr Timek for making herself available to me on her weekend and to all of my doctors and nurses at Spectrum Blodgett for taking such amazing care of me over the past few days

They have been continuously pumping me full of very strong IV antibiotics. The good news is that my infection has not worsened; however it also not improved much, which is somewhat concerning. The plan as of now is that my surgeon will re-assess in the morning on whether or not I need surgery. So I’m here for at least another 24 hours. If it hasn’t gotten better by morning I will be having surgery tomorrow to remove the expander/ spacer. And if I get lucky and it has improved I will be released on high level alert to watch for any signs of redness and/or pain so I can get back here to have it removed. Fingers crossed it improves.

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Everyone is going above and beyond to make me feel both and supported right now, but especially this wonderful brother in law of mine! He was already traveling from Atlanta to Indiana for work but he went a good 4+ hours out of this way to stop in and surprise little old me. My sis hit the jackpot with this one, but then he did as well. I love you Pauly.

I cannot tell you how many messages, texts, and posts I have received in the past few days that have not only given me hope, but also given me more strength and determination to kick cancer’s butt. (In fact I have not even gotten through them all) However this message that I received from a dear friend of mine today hit home on a lot of levels and lifted me in a way I didn’t think possible.

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A former bridal client turned amazing friend sent this to my personal page and it just seemed fitting to share it on here as well. I still have not broken down and fully cried since the start of this journey, however hearing this song reminds me of the all the amazing people I have surrounding me right now and I will admit my eyes did well up. Jessica Thornton you truly are one my rocks. I cannot thank you enough for being such a great friend. Love you to pieces.