Free & Clear

Finally finally finally, I am happy to announce that I had my very LAST lump-related doctor's appointment today!!!! I saw my orthopedic surgeon today, and I'm embarrassed to admit that I would not recognize him if I saw him walking down the street. I felt like I was meeting him for the first time today, being that he was never a part of my case until Dr. Khatri had me in the Operating Room. He apparently was in to check on me while I was in recovery, but anesthesia drugs prevented me from remembering that. Anyway, he instructed me to avoid circuit training for 4-6 more weeks (boo), and keep a thick coat of sunscreen on my scar anytime I am in the sun for the next year (yikes). But otherwise, I am good to go!

I also just spent about 30 minutes on the phone with his nurse, getting referrals for primary care doctors as well as helpful suggestions for what to do about some of my recurring health problems (mainly sinus infections). She was more helpful than I could have ever hoped for! Getting some inside info from her on how to address some of my medical issues helped take the sting off the fact that I spent 2+ hours this morning, waiting in the office to be seen by my doctor. Just goes to show that a good nurse can make all the difference.

::insert a shout-out to my awesome cousin Corrine, who is no doubt the best nurse there is in the ICU at Billings Clinic!!! ::

I hope to not have to waste any more of my valuable time in doctor's offices or waiting rooms for a long time to come!

I have chills.

I don't know how many of you are familiar with the show "Crossroads" on CMT. CMT (Country Music Television) pairs a country artist with someone a little more edgy (Taylor Swift & Def Leppard, for example). But they have been promoting a new episode that will air this week, with Jason Aldean and Bryan Adams. They have been playing this video non-stop for about 2 weeks, and I have been frantically searching for it to post on here. I remember loving this song when I was younger, and it really is a beautiful love song (hint hint to my friend Emily who is getting married next summer--perfect 1st dance song). This rendition of this song literally gives me chills. Enjoy.

"Heaven"

You've Been Spoiled

Too all of my loyal blog readers,
I fear that I have spoiled you all with multiple posts per week (and sometimes per day) throughout the Great Lump Scare of '09, as I have had quite a few people ask why I have not updated since last Sunday. It's only been a week, people!!! Plus, there has been few exciting events to post about in the last week, which is just the way we like it, thank you very much. I can see that I'm going to have to wean you all off slowly, as I will have less and less time to post come September. So take a deep breath, and feel free to enroll in a 12-step meeting to aid in your withdrawl in the coming months. It's not going to be easy, but I have faith in each and every one of you.
Find your happy place.

Napa Valley, Minus the Wine-Tasting

As promised, I am posting some pictures of our drive through wine country last weekend. If only we could have stopped to do a tasting or two.

::sigh::

Napa is now high-ranked on our list for places to visit in the near future. When you look at these pictures, it will be easy to see why.

One of the winding, tree-lined 2-lane highways. So quaint.

Rolling hills, palm trees, and vineyards as far as the eye can see. Perfection.

Please ignore the glare. I am still fine-tuning my "photography-in-a-moving-car" skills.

I would give anything to live in this house!

This is the Robert Mondavi vineyard.

My stepmom is planning to spend a milestone birthday in Napa a few years from now, so I guess we have a good excuse to spend a weekend scoping it all out. Strictly business, of course. We do, after all, have to get a feel for the area in order to be good tour guides for our guests!

Let Them Eat Cake!!!

Yesterday Patrick and I celebrated our one-year wedding anniversary. We've had many people ask us if it feels like it's been a whole year. On one hand, it feels like it was just yesterday. Pat & I took the time to discuss what we were doing at certain times of the day exactly a year ago, all throughout the day yesterday. What a day it was! My dad even sent me a text picture of his snow-covered front yard to remind me that the weather in Montana is exactly like it was during the same weekend last year (snowy & cold). For those of you who weren't able to make it, allow me to show you a picture that illustrates my point:

If you look closely at this photo (which also happens to be my very favorite wedding picture of all), you can see the snowflakes falling. Not ideal weather, but it sure made for some beautiful pics!!! One of the things I remember most about that day was not how terrible the weather was in the hours leading up to the wedding; it was how the sky seemed to open up during the few minutes leading up to the ceremony and for a few hours during the reception. It was like God was there with us, his blessings pouring down on all in attendance.

You'd never guess by looking at these pictures that it had been snowing earlier!

I guess the point I was trying to make is that our wedding feels like it was so recent, yet we also agree that we feel as if we've been married for longer due to the challenges our young marriage has endured over the last few months. If these last few months are any indication of what's ahead, we know that together, we can love our way through anything. :)

Now, enough of that mushy stuff. I decided that it would be fun to start having pictures taken of us every year on our anniversary so we can look back at previous years and see how much we've changed and how far we've come. With that, here is year #1:

I guess I'll also throw in some pics of our cake, for good measure. I was worried that we had lost our cake topper because I had not seen it since the wedding. But alas, it was still on top of the cake.

I wasn't sure how the cake would fare after a year in the freezer. But my mom did a great job of wrapping it up tight and, aside from a minor freezer burnt taste of the butter cream frosting, the cake tasted delicious! The fondant roses taste exactly the same as they did a year ago. And this time, we were really able to sit and enjoy the deliciousness of our cake with no distractions. Yummmmmm.

That's all I have for now. We did take quite a few pictures on our drive through Napa over the weekend, but I didn't want to overload this post with pictures, so I'll post a few of those at a later date.

Thanks to everyone who sent their anniversary wishes!

WARNING: Graphic Images!!!!!

**Disclaimer: This post contains images that may not be suitable for all audiences (i.e. those who have a weak stomach). View at your own risk.**

I wanted to post a few pics of exactly what my incision and drain site look like, for anyone who might be interested. If anything positive has come out of this whole ordeal, it's that my sensitivity to pain, needles, blood, and other medically icky things has decreased drastically. I am actually fascinated by the mechanics behind this whole operation (no pun intended), and I figured that there must be others out there who feel the same. So here are a few pics.

Proceed with caution!!!!!

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Last chance...

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This picture was taken on 5/31. At this point, the drain was in place (although I forgot to photograph the bulb into which the drain empties) and the incision is held together by one large steri-strip. ((This picture is of the left side of my back, under my shoulder blade. And that thing on the left side of the picture is my left arm. I realized after the fact that this pic might be hard to make out if you don't know what you're looking at.))

((This picture is the same area of my back, slightly hunched over.))

This picture was taken this evening (please excuse the formatting issues). Although the stitches were removed today, the steri-strip is still in place to hold the skin around my incision together. The drain was also removed today, which was a far more painful process than I was expecting. Yikes! I spent the majority of the day after my appointment resting on the couch, reading, and popping pills to ease the aching/throbbing pain. I am very relieved to be done with the drain!!! I feel so liberated, knowing that I no longer have to walk around at work with my drain clipped to my clothing in a professional office environment or worrying that I'll snag it and begin "The Great Blood Flood, Part II".

Considering all I've been through in the last few weeks, I feel as if today was a huge milestone, and we have so much to be grateful for. God is good.