It's been one month since surgery, and Jill is physically doing very well now. She's able to care for Lainey and Peyton at almost 100% capacity. She has to hold Lainey away from her body so that Little Miss Active doesn't kick her in the chest, but she's able to feed her and do the basics. Peyton can sit on her lap and love on her now which is a big asset, I must say. Unfortunately, Jill has been dealing with shingles for the past couple weeks. Very itchy and painful bumps appeared on her neck and face, but they seem to be on their way out now. There's not anything to do but apply Benadryl and wait it out. The dermatologist said it's not an unusual thing for people going through chemotherapy and other stressful events that cause the body's immune system to be compromised.
On the up side, Jill got 70 cc's injected into the expanders this week, and that seemed to help the chest pain she'd been having. Next week, she gets another 125 cc's injected, so there should be a noticeable difference then. Very encouraging to know that reconstruction is moving along toward normalcy. There have been some ups and downs, and we are so thankful for those prayers, calls, and cards. You never know when you send a card that it helps, but I'm telling you that it does.
Jill, Peyton, and I went to the mall today to do Build a Bear (my Christmas present to Peyton) while Daddy watched Lainey. Peyton had fun choosing her "bear" (Clarice, Rudolph's girlfriend), putting in her heart, stuffing her, and choosing her clothes and shoes. I highly recommend the experience if you have $50 to spend on a stuffed animal. Haha! The things we do... We also went shopping at WalMart today for groceries and toiletries. Who would think such a mundane and generally irritating outing would be such a pleasant chore. Jill bought hairspray today for the first time in over 6 months! Her hair is coming back and is now about a half inch long and very soft and dark.
THANKSGIVING
Thanksgiving was such a nice time with the family. There is really nothing better when you get down to it - food and family you've known for umpteen years. Cousin Erin (and I'm sure a lot of helpers) put together a nice environment for the turkey dinner complete with entertainment (kazoos) that we all enjoyed.
BRCA1 GENE - FAMILY
Now on another note, we found out that Aunt Barbara does have the BRCA1 gene for breast/ovarian cancer. So the conclusion is 2 siblings (my dad, Ivan, and aunt, Barbara) WITH the gene and 3 siblings (aunts Mary, Cindy, and Linda) without. We are very happy that 3 do not have the gene, and obviously very disappointed about the 2 that do. Since it's a 50/50 chance, I guess the odds were slightly in the family's favor that 2 of 5 have it. Aunt Barbara is ahead of the game in a way since she does not have ovaries now. That's literally half the battle. Without ovaries, people with the rogue gene are 40% less likely to get breast cancer and almost certain not to get ovarian cancer. Jill will have a hysterctomy some time in the future, and I'm still contemplating when I'll have mine. While it sucks (sorry, that's the best word), I still maintain it's better to know what the score is than not.
This was a long one, but the payoff is the pics, eh?!!
L,
Amber
P.S. Congratulations to cousin Ann and hubby Troy on their new baby girl, happy and healthy Teagan Nicole, born 11/29/07.
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Peyton filling up Clarice the reindeer at Build a Bear - See her foot pushing the peddle to stuff her...
Lainey was all agog at a recent outing in the chilly weather...
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