Camping at the coast...

It's FREEZING!! Technology and camping have joined together. I'm fighting off the ash from the firepit as I'm updating my blog. My neighbors.....the "LOUD" family have been joyous to be next to. I have never heard such a noisy family 24x7 as these people are! Since it's a private campground, no one seems to care that these people should be on reality TV. Favorite new phrase: "TIFFANY!!!!! GET OVER HERE!!!!" OMG people. Keep it down!!

Teenagers. My son took off today with his dad in preps for his triathlon tomorrow. First one!! I'm really proud of him and the work he's done. He's becoming quite the athlete. Last week he decided he wanted to be blond. Didn't want any help, just wanted to be blond so he did it himself. Doesn't matter that SENIOR PICTURES are coming up soon. Teenagers. Love 'em or love 'em.
I had to bribe him with 20 more computer minutes to get his picture. He HATES getting his picture taken. What a Mom will do for a little attention...

Thanks for reading...

I got one!!!

Well, it wasn't easy but I found bras that didn't have an underwire and didn't come in a box. I had NO IDEA how OVERWHELMING bra shopping is!! I have been going to the same place and buying the same bra for over 10 years. I didn't have to think about it. There was only one style that fit. I can finally wear a regular bra so I went to Kohls yesterday and about had a heart attack! There were THOUSANDS of bras to choose from! Underwire. No wire. In a box. Out of the box. Bali, Maiden Form, Playtex, Candies, I could go on and on. How was I supposed to wade through the sea of bras and find the one that FIT and that I liked????
I had a very nice lady at Kohl's yesterday helping me try them on. I won't tell you how many I had to go through before I found one that FIT, but I found one! (and bought it in two colors). I am SOOOOOO excited! It's been a month and that &!*^(%^$ Sports bra is coming off. No more sleeping in it, no more 24x7 wearing it. WHEW!!!

It's finally happened. I'm almost healed. Not fully, but certainly past the "I need to get better" stage. Bruises are gone. Incisions have all but healed. I am finally looking "normal"....whatever that is. It's a new world for me.

Thanks for reading.

Dum dum dum daaaaaaaaaaa.....

Next week is a big week for me! It will be a month since the surgery and I get to go BRA shopping!!! I realize to the average woman this may not be the most exciting thing to do but for me...WHOOPIE!!! So, to be ready for that I need to know what size to buy. If you looked at me, you'd think I went from an "F" to a "C". I don't look like I'm a "D" cup and that's what I asked for from my surgeon. Makes me a little worried.....today I went to Frederick's of Hollywood (where I've bought my bras for the past 10 years because they sold a decent looking size F) and got measured. (insert happy dance here). I'm a D!!! Unfortunately for me, Frederick's doesn't sell bras without an underwire. Until I'm completely healed, no underwires for me. Who cares?! I get to wear a D!!!!!

Since I was in the mall, I thought I'd hit the bathing suit section as well. I bought two bathing suits last week and sadly had to return them. I tried them on with my sports bra on because I was fearful of taking it off to try them on. Stupid mistake. I got them home, tried them on and realized that they were too low cut and they both showed off my new scars. Crap. So I returned them figuring it would be yet another summer without a bathing suit. JC Penney ad to the rescue! I walked into JC Penney today and found my new suit. I LOVE IT!!!! I can't wait to get to the pool or the beach!!! Here it is!
I am NO MODEL, this CERTAINLY isn't a picture of me, but the suit and the cut are flattering. I'm the average size woman and I found a swimsuit. Yay!!! When I get the nerve....I'll post the pic of me in it.

The Perks!!!

So many things are different now. So many little changes that the average person doesn't think about but I'm finding each day. LITTLE things that mean a lot!! So, what did I find?

Things about me that have changed.....

1. The napkin. I hadn't seen it in 20+ years and apparently it's been in my lap the whole time.
2. Powder. A large breasted woman's best friend. In the summer when the girls are rubbing against your skin, powder helps with the chaffing. I threw away my bottle today.
3. Same size. I bought a medium short to go with a medium top. I thought everyone bought those in different sizes.
   
4. Swim suit. One piece! No more buying three sizes too big just to fit the girls!
5. Slimming! With the girls at their appropriate size, I can look down and see a weightloss. When they were big, I mentally didn't see the weight gone.
6. Running. No more black eyes when I run!
7. Walmart has my bra size. You think this is funny? Try special ordering bras for 20+ years. I personally wouldn't buy a bra at Walmart... but the fact that I COULD, says something.
8. A medium. Yes, a MEDIUM! Did I say medium?
   

Don't get me wrong, I have more weight to lose but my life has changed so much. I am so excited for the future.

And thanks for reading.

Human Race and I'm not running...

Last night the EB softball team had our first game. We played "Da Freaks" and won 5 - 4. It was really exciting to win the first one. The best part of the game was when Lenny took a DIVE into home to score a run. He was running and tripped and tripped and tripped (I'm sure you can picture this!) and fell a couple of feet short of home....then crawled to hit the plate. He made it and SCORE! I can't play this year so I'm playing manager. I haven't done that before and I'm learning a lot but glad to be part of the team.

Today is Sonoma County's Human Race. I have walked the Human Race every year (but one) for the last 17 years. I love the Human Race because it's a charity walk/run and WE get to chose our own charity. My company has been Corporate Champion for more than a decade. I'm very proud of the money we've raised for various charities around Sonoma County. This year was different. I don't feel well enough to walk so I didn't. I went to cheer on my fellow co-workers but felt a little remiss by not walking. Since I couldn't do it, I had my son run for me. This year he's really been gung ho on running and doing a great job at it. He ran the 10k this morning in 59 minutes. I'm really proud of him!!! (that's Ian in the yellow hat)This is as close as I can get having my teenager pose for a picture.... :)

As for my daily stuff, I'm still healing. I'm almost 3 weeks post surgery and starting to look more normal. Stitches are healing and falling out, bruising is becoming less evident, sore appears to be healing and I'm finally used to sleeping on my back. I'm still tired everyday and nap for an hour and a half to three hours. Can't seem to shake the "wiped out" feeling after working. I am looking forward to the future.

Tomorrow, some of the perks!

Thanks for reading.

it's almost TGIF

Fair warning: This may be TMI for some people. I'm just sayin'.

Last night I discovered I had a little 'problem'. I thought I did a good job before my surgery of researching the complications, plusses and minuses, etc. Yesterday I was changing my gauze and discovered I'd had a blister and it popped. It's the size of a nickel and OMG is it painful. I wasn't expecting blisters!! I emailed my doctor today and he told me to treat it just like any other blister. I was a little worried because it's right where the "T" scar connects but as long as it doesn't get worse, it'll be ok.

Today I ran into a few friends who hadn't seen me since my surgery. Some of them didn't notice a change others were surprised how small I looked!! All I know is I'm happy with the change. I'm blogging so that I can educate other women on this surgery if they're contemplating having it done. Got questions? Just ask. Happy to help.

Heigh Ho...heigh ho. It was off to work I go!

Today was my first day back to work. It was tougher than I thought it would be!! I came back to 900+ emails. Not surprised, but it's a lot of work to get through that many emails. I could automatically delete about a fourth of them, the rest need addressing.

After a couple of hours, I was hurting. Sitting UPRIGHT isn't something I've been doing a lot of and my body reacted harshly. Tomorrow I'm bringing my pain meds and taking them BEFORE the pain sets in. Just means no driving for four hours. I think I can handle that. I think I'll also put up a "NO HUGS" sign in my office window. :)

I have so much to do, so much to look forward to, so much to change.

This is a recent picture of me and Brenda Iniguez. The two "Bren's". She got me into HDI and on the San Francisco board. I just love her.

Monday came and Monday went. Tomorrow we WORK!

My two weeks is over. Today was my last day to recuperate. Tomorrow it's back to work. I'm glad for the part time because I'm not sure I'd make it all day!!

I decided I needed a new top to wear to work tomorrow. ALL of my shirts/tops/jackets are now too big and I didn't have enough time to get anything altered. Not to mention trying on clothes woulda hurt!! So today I went to the mall and walked around a bit. How hard could that POSSIBLY be. I was only there for an hour and a half and I was DONE. TOO much walking, but I found a new summer jacket (size MEDIUM) and a new summer shirt (again a MEDIUM!!!). Oh what fun that was to try those on. I'll wear the jacket tomorrow but it wasn't what I was looking for. I guess my body isn't quite ready for a long afternoon of shopping. It better get there soon, I need new clothes again!! :)

Looking forward to my new adventure at work tomorrow. Hopefully I've had some blog readers from work. Otherwise, I got some 'splaining to do tomorrow on my new appearance!!

Thanks for reading!

Sunday....a day to relax.

I don't know why, but I'm more sore today than I've been all week. My chest feels like I've run a marathon. Weird!

Since I won the Derby pot yesterday, I got a very relaxing pedicure today. Came home with pretty red toes. Ahhh....such a lovely way to spend an hour.

Next week I'm back to work. Doctor kindly gave me part-time orders which will probably be good for me. For a day or two....I'm sure I'll be antsy to get back to work. The first few days I have a feeling that I'll be in home for a nap by 2pm. Since I'm still not sleeping well, that will help a lot.

For now, I'm relaxing on the couch and I'm rooting on Margie & Luke on Amazing Race. I love to see an underdog win!!

Thanks for reading.

Saturday already.

This morning I'm finally updating my blog. It's tough to do daily when you're busy! I'm sure when I get back to work this will be more of a once-a-week update again.

Today we're going to the SCAYD Volunteer Awards Gala. Their theme is Kentucky Derby. Appropriate huh? It's a long event from noon til 5 and I'm sure I won't last the whole event. I'm glad JT is taking me because by going it helps with my stamina. I start back to work on Tuesday working 5 hours a day and I need to see if I can last that long!

Looking at myself this morning I'm looking better. I still HATE wearing the sports bra but the incisions are healing well and I'm sure it's due to wearing the bra 24x7. I can't wait to buy a new one. I can't wait to buy some new tops! New jackets! Get things altered! Oh the new life. This is so amazing to me. Seriously.

I really had no idea how much my large breasts were holding me back.

Thanks for reading.

What happened to Friday?

I had a lot to do yesterday. I had to get my release paperwork from my Doctor, had to deliver it to my HR department, needed a form signed by my son's Orthodontist and that was just in the morning. It required a bit of running around which of course tired me out. I got home and rested for a bit then we left for SF.

It was Ian's weekend with his Dad so we drove Ian there. I can't drive long distances for quite some time so Jeff did the driving. While we were there, we had dinner at the Daily Grill. I LOVE the Daily Grill! We went a couple of years ago for the first time because good friends of ours recommended the mac-n-cheese. I thought that was a strange recommendation for a nice restaurant but we went anyway. It was OMG fabulous! I just loved it. Now we go back as often as we can and ALWAYS have the mac-n-cheese!

We got home at 9pm and I was so exhausted I went straight to bed. Wow, I have a lot of energy to get restored.