Thursday, July 18, 2013

Gone running, new baby, and the case of the spitting stitch

Big news: this week I went running... and I didn't fall! I made it all the way around the neighborhood, ran for about 20 minutes without stopping, and stayed on my feet the whole time. Small victories, but I felt pretty darn good about myself. Then of course we delved into a horrible, oppressive heat wave and that was the end of running for the week. (I know, other people live in much hotter and more humid places, but Rochester, NY and its people are built for cold, not hot!)

Then, I got an email about playing on a soccer team in the fall... and I said I would like to! She's going to put me on as a sub, since I won't be able to play the whole season anyway. But I loved that I felt like I could play soccer. Yay, feeling normal-ish!

Yesterday, my best friend (finally) had her beautiful daughter!! I am beside myself, and if I weren't still waiting to hear about our house closing (argh!), I would so be in a car on my way to Cleveland to meet my new goddaughter (I've been this child's godmother since about three years before she was born!). I did get to meet her over Skype last night, mere hours after she was born, so that's pretty amazing. I couldn't stop looking at her. I cannot wait to hold her sweet little self. It was apparently an extremely difficult labor (36 hours!), so I am exceedingly grateful that both my friend and her daughter made it out okay. I was promised the whole story when everyone is less exhausted. I can seriously hardly contain my excitement about meeting her soon.

Today, I had a check-up with Dr. Skinner. I honestly didn't remember why. I guess it was just a, "Hey, come back and see me," sort of a check-up. It was at the end of the day, and I must say, Dr. Skinner was hilarious today. "It's been a long day," she said, "I'm getting punchy." I was super late, and when I walked in and was having my vitals taken, I heard someone start humming, "Here Comes the Bride." I looked up and there was Dr. Skinner! She wanted to hear all about the wedding plans, what music we were having, what my dress looks like, etc., and I showed pictures and told her all I could. When nurse Sherri finished all the info gathering and left us alone, Dr. Skinner said, "Okay, have a seat, show me your boob. Take off your shirt." I laughed. "I guess we're not being polite anymore?" She said again, it's been a long day. I love her. So I did as I was told. 

A few days ago, one of the dissolvable stitches pushed its way out of my skin, and I was unable to just pull it out like I could the other exposed stitches. I ended up having to cut it because it was scratching me in the shower. I asked about it. She said, "Ah yes, a spitting stitch." Huh? Sometimes, she said, rather than dissolve the stitch, the body finds it easier to just sort of spit it out. Hilarious image, I thought. She went to get her glasses so she could see better, and came back with a plastic surgeon. "I brought a plastic surgeon. I've been telling him about these spitting stitches, and he didn't believe me. See??" she said, pointing. "Told you!"

As the plastic surgeon tried to figure out this stitch, I commented how funny I have found it that now that I have a muscle in place of a boob (my chest muscle covers the implant), I can sort of flex it. I demonstrated, and we had a good giggle over that. Dr. Skinner told me a story about a friend of hers who did that to mess with people, just randomly flex and twitch her fake boobs. The plastic surgeon kept working on this mysterious spitting stitch while we told boob stories. Sort of a bizarre thing, this scene; in addition, I couldn't really feel anything, so as he was yanking on this wayward stitch, it felt more like a charlie horse than the sort of skin pain you might imagine. He pulled it about an inch out (I asked if he was going to just pull the whole implant out through that little hole, and Dr. Skinner guessed Dr. Langstein wouldn't be too happy about that!), and then just cut it as short as he could. Perhaps it will spit more later, Dr. Skinner said. So, I will stay tuned for more on The Case of the Spitting Stitch.

Before we were done, I mentioned the week I'd like to schedule the next mastectomy, and she said she would work on it. I also asked how long after the mastectomy I should wait before trying to get pregnant. "Oh, right after is fine as far as I'm concerned," she said. I joked, "So, in the hospital that night, or...?" she said, "Well, you could, but you know, those rooms don't have much privacy, just a curtain, so, I wouldn't recommend it..." and the plastic surgeon piped up, "Although you'd be surprised." I said we could probably wait until maybe the next day. :) (By which I mean a couple months at least!)

The whole appointment was about 20 minutes, and probably half of that was spent looking at pictures of my wedding dress and talking about plans and house and all. Everyone wanted to hear about it. Everyone was so excited, and wished us well. Again, I'm so grateful that I love my doctors and nurses so much. I'll be so excited if Dr. Skinner comes to our Rochester wedding. (Celebrity sighting!)

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