More Out Than In!

This has been our mantra every December for many years!  Obviously, this year is a bit different.  I don't think I have ever been "in" so much. 

However, I have been doing so well that "my girls" (not to be confused with "the girls" -- see below for definitions) are taking me out tonight!  Yippee!  We plan to do our gift exchange and enjoy a lovely dinner!  I can't wait.

Of course this means a shower.  :-( Again, mostly anxious not too painful.  But I am sure will be well worth it all. 

Then tucking back in for a cozy weekend at home.  Steve is feeding me oh to well!  Shauna brings my lunch! Sharon makes me delicious brownies! And Gail and Steven brought a wreath for the front door and a spaghetti pie (yummy and interesting).  I think (I actually know) I am getting spoiled!

Have a great weekend everyone!  War Eagle!!!!  

Definitions:
"My Girls" - Lisa, Sharon and Shauna (girlfriends / sisters)
"The Girls" - My new "Super B" additions
"War Eagle!" - Auburn fans use as a greeting -- watching Auburn play in the SEC Championship game tomorrow afternoon (college football US style).

The "Wheels" on the "bus" go round and round

NOT!  Moving these implants every six hours is enough to make me sleep the other 5 hours and 55 minutes.   If you were thinking yesterday - ouch.  You were right!  My guess is 60% is me being nervous about it and the other 40% is real ouchiness (hard to call it pain when it just doesn't compare to the last surgery). 

All I can say is these things BETTER look good when this is said and done!  :-)

Today is good though.  I am dressed, cleaned up, haven't napped yet and just easing my way around the house.  Supposed to walk at least 10 minutes every 2 hours and it is too darn cold to go outside so laps around the house will have to do. 

Who said "rabbit rabbit" this morning?!  December 1st!  Not me, I forgot.  Hopefully, the bag of salt I threw over my shoulder in its place will make up for the good luck!  ;-)

Happy December!!!! 

Hello it's Me!

Yes, I am able to do my own post the day after surgery!  A huge difference over the last one. 

Surgery went well and we were home by about 430PM.  The details....implants (Super B's as we like to call them) went in successfully, she opened the previous incision and increased it for a couple of different reasons, and she loosened things up in there.  So the pain I am feeling today is in the middle and in the pectoral muscles (probably where the nerves are in tact).  Slept very well on Valium and Percocet.  After a day of nausea yesterday, it was good to eat a banana this morning and drink some tea.  Overall, on a very positive path to recovery!

After this post, I plan to take another Perc in preparation for moving around the implants.  Yikes!!!  Every couple of hours I am supposed to move them around in circles, up and down, right and left, and towards the middle.  Yowsa....not looking forward to that!  A nap will follow immediately! :-)

I am so glad to have this surgery behind me.  For some reason it had me really frazzled, anxious and emotional.  Thanks to everyone for your calls, comments, emails, texts!  Always appreciated and they definitely make me feel better.

Have a great day!  Think of me in about an hour doing my movements! :-0  I'll update you tomorrow on how that goes!

Out With The Old....In With The New (Again!)

My next surgery is scheduled for Monday, November 29th!  This is where they take out the tissue expanders (aka "bricks") and put in the implants.  While it is under full anesthesia, it will be out patient surgery -- which is great!  And the doctor says should be much easier than the last surgery (since a lot of my nerves in that area are gone).  Hopefully she is right!  Physically, I have been feeling great!  My stamina is good and strength is returning.  As a matter of fact, she emphasized how important it will be to follow orders (no lifting above 10 lbs, no dishwasher, no cooking, no laundry, no repetitive motions, etc.) because I will be feeling "so good".  Doctors do have a way of understating things but I am really hoping she is right on this one.  So she is figuring two weeks off work to be safe. 

This surgery comes with mixed emotions.  Mostly, I can't wait to have it done!  But it is a little depressing because I feel like I was just getting back into the swing of things again.  My hair has bounced back, I am cooking meals, doing laundry, grocery shopping, making beds, loading and unloading the dishwasher......wait, why did I want to bounce back (other than the hair thing)?!  :-)  The absolute great news is that after this surgery, the other adjustments will be minor (spread over the next six months).

So I have been preparing meals (did the Dream Dinners thing and loved it), shopping for the holidays, and organizing the house and my office.  I also returned to work for a couple of weeks which was a good "toe in the water" experience.  I lost a few (maybe more) brain cells over the past few months so needed to crank up the brain and get it back in gear.  It is like the Tin Man (Wizard of Oz) and how rusty he would get, then the oil can would come out and help him get loose. 

Okay so physically I am doing great!  Mentally (wa wa wa) there are good days and bad and you really can't explain it or know when to expect them.  Could be the medication, the Big C fog, the physical limitations that I do still have....who knows.  I just push through those days or hours the best I can and remain focused on all the good things. 

Which of course brings me to Thanksgiving!  To list all the things I am thankful for would be impossible at this point.  But I would like to highlight the really big ones...Steve, my sisters (Shauna and Sharon), my entire family (Buring's and Hoffman's), my friends (among them Lisa, Marilyn and Joanna) and the many many many people who have helped me along this journey.  And that is you! 

I hope everyone enjoys their Thanksgiving!  If you are outside the US....enjoy the quiet.  And let the holidays begin!!!!!

More Birthdays!

http://morebirthdays.com     by The American Cancer Society

I like the idea of celebrating life and lives!  It is like that Tim McGraw song, "Live Like You Were Dying".  The meaning and lyrics are great.  But do we always have to get a "wake up call" to make us realize and appreciate how special life, love, family and friends are?   And what if we turned that song around and lived our lives and treated our loved ones as if they were dying (I don't mean this in a harsh way).  Say what you mean and mean what you say!  Every day!

I know life goes on and everyone can't stop and go sky diving.  :-)  So put your reminders up, your sticky note on your mirror, your daily calendar quote, the top priority on your daily task list.....  And be the person YOU want to be.  Live the life YOU want to live.  Have no regrets!

Today is my birthday and it is QUITE special and emotional this year!  I want to hold on to my lessons learned throughout the past few months forever!  And make certain I follow my own advice above! 

Have a great day!  I know I will!

"Live Like You Were Dying"
by Tim McGraw

He said: "I was in my early forties,
"With a lot of life before me,
"An' a moment came that stopped me on a dime.
"I spent most of the next days,
"Looking at the x-rays,
"An' talking 'bout the options an' talkin’ ‘bout sweet time."
I asked him when it sank in,
That this might really be the real end?
How’s it hit you when you get that kind of news?
Man whatcha do?

An' he said: "I went sky diving, I went rocky mountain climbing,
"I went two point seven seconds on a bull named Fu Man Chu.
"And I loved deeper and I spoke sweeter,
"And I gave forgiveness I'd been denying."
An' he said: "Some day, I hope you get the chance,
"To live like you were dyin'."

He said "I was finally the husband,
"That most the time I wasn’t.
"An' I became a friend a friend would like to have.
"And all of a sudden goin' fishin’,
"Wasn’t such an imposition,
"And I went three times that year I lost my Dad.
"Well, I finally read the Good Book,
"And I took a good long hard look,
"At what I'd do if I could do it all again,
"And then:

"I went sky diving, I went rocky mountain climbing,
"I went two point seven seconds on a bull named Fu Man Chu.
"And I loved deeper and I spoke sweeter,
"And I gave forgiveness I'd been denying."
An' he said: "Some day, I hope you get the chance,
"To live like you were dyin'."

Like tomorrow was a gift,
And you got eternity,
To think about what you’d do with it.
An' what did you do with it?
An' what can I do with it?
An' what would I do with it?

"Sky diving, I went rocky mountain climbing,
"I went two point seven seconds on a bull named Fu Man Chu.
"And then I loved deeper and I spoke sweeter,
"And I watched Blue Eagle as it was flyin'."
An' he said: "Some day, I hope you get the chance,
"To live like you were dyin'."

"To live like you were dyin'."
"To live like you were dyin'."
"To live like you were dyin'."
"To live like you were dyin'."

Just when you start to feel pretty good.....

Another doctor appointment today with the plastic surgeon.  And even though we were convinced it would just be a "check up" type of visit....they were equally convinced I would get another "fill".  Yes, another 60cc per side.  And of course she said I would probably be uncomfortable (that's because it really didn't seem like there was room for any more fluid!). 

So what is my actual status?  VERY UNCOMFORTABLE! 

If you get queazy, stop reading here.  If you want the details, it's like having two bricks inside your chest.  These things do not move.  I have to move my arms around them.  And for you gals out there, there is no scooping or pouring into the bra at this stage.  This is what I would call a true "over the shoulder boulder holder" situation. 

Can't lay down, can't slouch, can't walk....just sitting in a semi-reclined position thinking about watching Oprah (when all I want to do is take a nap).  And this doesn't happen very often but there are tears in my eyes! 

All I can say is OUCH!

So, what is next?  Meet with the plastic surgeon again in two weeks to discuss the details of the next surgery.  And it seems the next surgery will be the week of November 15th. 

Yes, I am definitely keeping in mind this could be worse.  I could have all this AND chemo.  My goodness, my heart goes out to those!  So what is my mantra -- EARLY DETECTION.

Team Buring Raises Over $1,000 for Komen for the Cure!

What a day!!!!  I am still very emotional just thinking about it!

First of all, a HUGE thanks to Team Buring (pictured above - L to R Bottom Row -- Charley and Ethel Hoffman (My Amazing In-Laws), Me, and Bill Lampe (Brother-In-Law/Shauna's husband) // L to R Top Row -- Steve Hoffman (my hubby), Jake Lampe (nephew), Sharon Stuard (sister), Lisa Donnelly (friend/"sista" from birth), and Shauna Buring (sister). 

Second of all, an ENORMOUS THANKS to all those that donated to the cause!  At this time, we have raised $1,075!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Which is pretty darn amazing considering we didn't even start until Thursday!  Donations are accepted through October 31, so it's not too late! :-)

Over 18,000 participants for the day (over 700 of those are Survivors)!  You can ask any of us girls in the group....it was emotional to say the least.  As I had mentioned, my plastic surgeon had instructed me not to walk (with drains just out) so Steve (my "co-survivor" and "rock") hung with me while the rest of the Team enjoyed a beautiful morning walk of 3.1 miles!  You may think Steve got the easy duty, however, given my emotional state he actually ended up with quite the challenge. :-) 

As we waited at the Finish Line, we saw my breast surgeon!  (see picture below)  Clearly, I am a survivor due to her skill in manually detecting the lump that started it all.  I have been seeing her for about 9 years and grown comfortable with her very direct style.  So it only seemed fitting that she told me "you could have walked it" and told Steve "what's your excuse?". 

We all crossed the Finish Line together (they said it was okay for me to cross the finish line since I was only 45 days post surgery) and again....very emotional.  I will just say, the volunteers who make this race and fundraising event (over $1M was raised in total) happen are amazing! 

After the race there was an official Survivor Celebration that took place inside Great American Ball Park (GABP).  The survivors sat together, were honored and then filed onto the field for a group picture.  We spelled out "hope" with a ribbon outline above it (I'll post the picture once it is published).  Funny comment - of course most of you know me very well and that I am a fairly organized and methodical person.  So the first thing my sisters said to me when we rejoined was "were you going crazy that they couldn't organize the picture any more efficiently?!"  To which I said "YES!"  So just imagine about 500 people filing onto the baseball field (not in single file of course) and being loosely guided to stand on these ropes that spelled something (but we didn't even know what at that time).  It all works out in the end but I really think I could have shaved about 10 minutes off the exercise with a little instruction and discipline.  :-)

At this point, I know you are thinking...."I want to do that next year with Team Buring!"  Well, you can!  I'll let you know when and where and we will strive to grow our Team and have even more fun celebrating, walking and crying together than we did this year! 

To cap the event, we had our own private celebration / luncheon (thanks to Steve) at Rock Bottom Brewery!  Our friends James, Carrie and Quin joined us (they had walked in honor of Tracy who lost her battle with breast cancer this past year) and it was great to catch up with them!  It was very enjoyable and certainly a memorable day for me!  To think I am at a 45 days survivor status (actually not really officially a survivor for five years I think but what the heck else are you supposed to call yourself?) is quite amazing.  My nap was a great one yesterday and my 12 hours of sleep even better!  Taking it very easy today!

Again, thanks to all!  Each and every one of you are helping me get through every day and to continue to heal and grow in all ways!