I'm Back!

Phew...I just went through a 5 month adventure with breast cancer, which culminated with a bilateral mastectomy in the middle of November. The excellent news is the cancer was non invasive and therefore wasn't in my lymph nodes. By choosing the mastectomy route I avoided radiation and possible chemotherapy. The choice turned out to be a good one because the post-op pathology of the tissue from both breasts showed several masses of precancerous cells. I bounced back very fast from my surgery and now that the holidays are over I am itching to get back to my regular life. I have two messages for you:  get your mammos (I couldn't feel my lump and the cancerous mass was found in my routine mammo) and if this happens to you, keep a positive mental attitude. A negative attitude won't change your situation and a positive one will help you heal better.

During this ordeal my friends provided an amazing amount of support. I was flooded with cards and flowers, home cooked meals and received numerous rides for follow-up doctor visits. I received two beautiful handmade quilts from friends (I am a quilter myself) and several pink stuffed animals plus one sock monkey who stood watch over me. So, I used my enforced sofa time happily writing many, many thank you notes. And no matter how effusive I am in my thanks I simply can not thank everyone enough for the support that my husband (who was also amazing!) and I received during this time. It brings tears to my eyes just to think and write about it.

Fortunately, I foresaw the need for thank you cards and made some up ahead of time.  But once I was able to get in to my craft room a again I made a few more.  Here's one that contains the breast cancer ribbon:

And here are pictures of the two quilts I received. Thank you to my Sew Sistas and to Carol Webb of Bear Cabin Inn in Show Low for showing me the love: I enjoyed being wrapped up in their love, as did both my husband and my cat, Savannah.