March 13, 2026

 I know it'a been a while since I've updated here.. Life has been... challenging.

I'll start with my plastic surgeon appointment on the 27th. Met with my Dr and while I've healed from the double mastectomy well, my thyroid being so far outta whack is a hindrance. That being said, my reconstruction surgery is scheduled for August 11. That should give time for my thyroid to recover so I can heal from the next surgery. This appointment was followed by my PT appointment. I've already met all my goals just by living life, so I was released from PT. 

Coincidentally, my friend Shannon was having her double mastectomy this same day. It was rescheduled from it's previous date and I felt that it was a sign that I should go see her since I was in town (she lives in Richmond, down the road from where I have my care at VCU). After my appointments, I headed over to the hospital she was at. It was nice catching up with her hubby while we waited. Her surgery went well and we caught up a bit in her hospital room. I was able to give her some encouragement, answer some questions she had regarding recovery and reconstruction and so forth. It was nice to be able to provide her some encouragement during this scary and emotional time. 

I'll try to keep the rest of things brief.... Nathan was laid off from his job at the end of January following a brief stint in the hospital... they said "lack of productivity" despite his boss advocating for him by telling the higher-ups he'd been ill and in the hospital. Fast forward thru February while we work on figuring out a new budget plan. I went to work Monday following my recent VCU appointments only to be told they were letting me go because they were doing away with the construction division... not that that was the only thing I did as part of my job, but whatever. There goes income and health insurance. They are giving me 2 months severance pay without benefits. Unfortunately that disqualifies us for any government assistance. But wait, there's more. I found out Nathan's insurance lapsed so I have been trying to figure things out for him too. Unemployment, social services, health insurance.... 

Then Nathan lands back in the hospital. 11 hours in the ER waiting room then he finally got into an ER room. That was a week ago. He's got a variety of things going on so they've been running tests, labs, giving him meds, etc. It was decided that he should be moved somewhere that he could get more specialized treatments, so last night he was transferred to VCU. Luckily, I'm familiar with the facilities there and know they are a good medical facility. 

I had my VCU visit yesterday for my CT Scan, labs, office visit and infusion. Got into town early as usual and fortunately all my appointments were able to get me in early. CT Scan went fine, labs and the office visit, not so much. My labs indicated an elevated bilirubin level so they are running more tests to see if they can find possible causes for that. Needless to say, no infusion this week and hold off on restarting the oral chemo meds. We'll revisit my labs next Thursday and see what happens. Hopefully it's just a result of a crappy diet, running on no sleep and caffeine for the last week. I'll buckle down and try to do better. 

I broke this week. My plate got overloaded and I lost it. Screamed at the top of my lungs at the outside. Told the devil he could move on to someone else because I've had enough. 

Send lots of prayers for us if you would. I know God will get us thru, it's just tough right now.