Day 5 Monday Afternoon

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Thanks to Shannon Raap’s braid, my hair is fun and kinky!! Also, Niki + Steve Aab brought over a delicious supper of Chicken Pot Pie with lettuce and yummy brownies. Oh so good!!

Day 5 Monday Morning

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Feeling blah, but surviving! Glad kids and Chadly are here...they're entertaining.

Had super strange dreams last night and woke up a couple of times trying to rotate to sleep on my side (which is a big no-no)! I took a nap in the recliner at 8 AM with no shame. :-)

Medically: stopped taking oxi as of yesterday a.m. and still feeling ok w/ Tylenol + Advil rotation and pain relief. Changed draining the drains to 2 x's per day vs. 4.

Restrictions:

No lifting <5 lbs.

Sleep elevated on my back for 4 weeks.

Keep arms hanging straight down at sides to "t-rex"/bent at 90 degrees. No lifting them higher than waist level. Chad gets to give me showers He's so lucky. lol

Feeling:

There's soreness where each drain is coming out of my body, which is located on my sides (last pic in the gallery, so don’t look if you get queazy!). Knew these drains, named "Happy" and "Grumpy" would be the worst part after surgery.

My bandage consists of strips of white where the incisions are. The first thing they removed was the lymph nodes, which are kind of under my armpit. The larger bandage is what I consider clear Saran Wrap. Literally a huge see-thru Scran Wrap from one side to the other side of my body. At times it feels heavy and tight. And it itches... can't wait to peel that off!!

Because of previous surgery, incisions are across the boobs instead of under them.

I have some bruising but don't feel them at all. One spot is where a nurse tried to put an IV in. Two others were where the nerve blocker injections went (these really helped me not need as many pain meds after surgery).

Next Steps:

  • Plastics will call me for a 1-week follow-up appt. This is when they'll remove the Saran Wrap and fit me into a tight bra.

  • 1/4/22 Oncology appointment. I'm already anxious to find out the final pathology report from surgery!

Hugs, Trish

Day 4 Sunday

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Per the schedule, Chad woke me up for my 6 a.m. drain release (we'll call it).

Easily fell back to sleep and woke up to a yummy breakfast burrito + coffee delivery from Chad! (oh my heart)

Still felt tired so slept until 10ish.

Got up and took another shower, thanks to Chad, and feel human, again!

Walked around the house trying to figure out what I could help with, which ended up being setting up Bell's Xbox that Kade handed down to her.

At 1:30ish Chad + Kade had a bonfire, so I fell back to bed for a nap.

And if you're wondering where puppies Remi and Layla are? They're typically with me!

Got up at 3:30 to talk a walk outside. Yah... I made it 15 more feet than yesterday!! Goals! :-)

We're reducing the amount of pain medicine today and I'm still feeling ok. I am going to alter the drain release times, too, so Chadly can get his sleep and not have to wake up at midnight and 6 a.m. to ensure I'm doing my job. ;-) Every 12 hours to release them is just fine… we were probably doing overkill.

I'll be posting a bit more details about the procedure/surgery and the next steps.

Cheers to you, loves!

Day 3 Christmas Afternoon

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Despite the tightness and feeling sleepy, it was oh so good to see Trae, Belle + Duncan this afternoon!!

Chad had all the delicious fixings for a scrumptious lasagna meal.

After the blessing at the table, I cried a little. Got emotional thinking of all the blessings with each individual at the table.

Was up for a walk and made it to the other side of the neighbors’ house before I got winded. It was a beautiful day out with little wind!

Stayed awake the entire time T, B + D were here, then crashed. lol :-)

Bella fed me supper (that’s how tired I was) she’s a good nurse, too! And we (more like “she”) watched The Star, while I took some more naps.

God is great! Life is good!

Including a video of my sanctuary + recovery room!

Day 2 Friday: A little more tough, however expected.

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The good meds, which was an injected nerve blocker, has worn off. It was injected into me via ultrasound just below my shoulders and lasts about 24 hrs. I don’t remember the injection at all, however, there are two marks to remind me. :-)

Ate a light bfast in bed and used an ice pack. Then got up at 10 AM to move around for a couple of hours.

Showered at noon, thanks to Chad…I feel human again!!!

Slept like a baby until 4:00.

BIL Troy, Shannon, Kelty + Kenly came over with supper, games and presents!

All four Raap kids organized a very special church at home this year! I’m so in awe and proud of them!! It was a great service and included my most favorite tradition from our church… singing silent night with only light from candles (in this case, our phone light)!

Supper was DELICIOUS and prepared by Dostal Catering!

Managing two drains have gone good so far.. going through the process of emptying them every 6 hrs. (Midnight, 6 am, noon, 6 pm). I have named them Happy (left side) and Grumpy (right side).

Here are some pics from our Christmas Eve night.

Sweet dreams + Merry Christmas to you and yours!

My Favorite Nurse!!!

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Seven (7) medications, at different times and different quantities. Chadly is the best nurse keeping track of it all! :-)

I was released from the hospital at 9:30 AM. It’s crazy to think I was in the shared hospital room for only 12 hours, however, I am excited to get home and see all my babies! Today is the first day of holiday break for the kids, and SIL, Shannon, has so many fun plans for them while Chad comes to pick me up..

For prescriptions, my nightly rockstar nurse said they can fill them all there at the UIHC, so we won’t have to stop anywhere on our way home. She said it’s “great” and “awesome” because they’ll have a little bag with my name on it as I’m being wheeled out. How COOL, I thought!

Yeah, no, that is not what happened at all. Unfortunately, the morning nurse didn’t submit my drugs until I left my room, so when I got to the pharmacy they had just gotten the request. Just a 30 min. wait and we were on our way!

Morning After

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I’m doing good! Thank goodness for meds! ;-) Just pressure and some burning feeling.

Sharing a room with another patient… we have many similarities (i.e. Same doctors, type of breast cancer)…it’s fantastic!! She had her surgery first yesterday and was up in room ~5. I’m a bit jealous of that. and wish I wasn’t 4 hours behind her in being slower and still waking up from surgery. However, it’s been super refreshing to get to know her and her story while we wake up this morning. I’ve been calling her my “surgery sister”.

It’s weird because in this shared room we both have different nurses (mine ROCKS, by the way). After she called in her breakfast order, I asked her, “Are we allowed to talk?”. LOL. That’s how it all started. Once we were prepared to leave, we had both curtains pulled back and chatting. I wish we had more time together!

Dr assistants came in ~7 a.m. to check the new boobs and said everything looks good!

Prior to them arriving, my rockstar nurse had mentioned “my expanders”, and I was like “WHAT? They had to put expanders in?”. She said there are no notes from the Reconstruction/Plastics Dr., so she wasn’t sure. I thought I was going to have implants done since radiation wouldn’t be needed. Not that having expanders mattered… they got the cancer, I can deal with the aftermath. It was a little … no… It was a LOT annoying there were zero notes from Plastics on the surgery for my nurse to know. So it was a relief to see the assistant, Dr. Dan, to the Plastic’s Dr. and hear that they were able to put implants in.

Now to choose my breakfast!! I’m famished!! Last meal was supper 2 days ago :-)

Vitals Checked + I Passed!! (Yay)

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It is dark in here, but this phone is amazing for pics!!

Anyway, I’m super duper comfy. Got a pillow under my knees. Compression that feels like a massage on each calf to prevent blood clots.

  • IV drip has been removed.

  • I walked to the bathroom with a walker.

  • Now I’m going back to sleepy land.

But before I do…guess what?!?

Only 2 drains are attached to me!!!!! Yippee!!!!

Sending love and prayers right back to each of you, too! I’m sure you are going through some shit, too!

Totally a ‘nesting’ weekend here at the Raap’s!

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Ya’ll I was vacuuming + conditioning the couches !! It was like Spring Cleaning! So much fun!!

Another big item…We lowered our bed so I can roll out of bed instead of jump down (best way to describe it). And by “lowering” the bed, we had (yes, “had”, I’m a little OCD) to move the bed, vacuum + dust + wash 4 sets of sheets.

The hospital gave us tons of printouts for pain management, pre + post-surgery info. Those are now all organized and in their respective places (ie pain management in a bin for the drugs + thermometer. How to clean out drains in our bathroom, etc.)

And I reorganized my office! It feels so great!!

Now, where should I place this latest purchase my lil’ sis created and sells?

Should it go in the bathroom or in my office?

Emotional Roller Coaster

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Until I started this page + shared this progress more openly, I felt I was living a double life at times. There was our reg. day-to-day activities, strategizing for my coaching business (by the end of this year I couldn't wait to get a course created online to help empower other women), and then WHAM a doctor's appointment with all discussions of "cancer" would knock me back to reality.

A new + temporary reality.

There's a Change Curve we used in the Corporate world. I created something similar to document the emotional coaster of the past few weeks.

It's ok. I'm ok. I promised to be transparent on this page and as soon as the tears started, I knew I got to capture it. Unfiltered.

While we have had many good moments, there are a few not-so-good moments, and I felt it's important to show that here on this journey.

Also, if I could pick a specific time in my life to have been given this diagnosis, it's now.

I am the strongest I've EVER been mentally and emotionally!

I won't back down!

I'm stronger than my problems!

And I firmly believe He only gives us what we can handle!

#unfiltered #iamstrongerthanmyproblems #Heonlygivesuswhatwecanhandle