All’s well so far. Took the bandages off this morning. My mom acted very pleased and impressed with the job my surgeon did. I’m sure considering the circumstances there was no way I was going to look much better. But I looked down and saw this divot on the side of my breast that made me want to cry. I actually did when I stepped into the shower and no one could see or hear me. That’s how reality hits you. Alone, in the shower, as you look at the aftermath of this disease. In an attempt to cheer me up my dad commented that my boobs never looked that great in the first place. Gee, thanks dad. He was kidding of course but tough love ain’t always well placed. Boo hoo. It did look a little better when I toweled off and, in a bra and shirt, you can see nothing different. From head on you can’t even tell I had a piece of me scraped out. Only when you look down, over my shoulder. The skin fold is a bit more prominent. You can also see the crescent incision around part of my areola. I’m told that will heal to near invisibility. When I undressed tonight I noticed that the swelling had gone down a little and the dent was less noticeable. I’m adjusting. Plus, it’s way better than nothing – literally – considering a mastectomy was on the table last week. Just got back from a dinner at Deer Valley for MountainHardwear media to kick off the OR show. At the top of the Wasatch lift in Cushing’s Cabin, we dined on caprese and tofu salads and tons of roughage. Since I vowed to overhaul my diet, this is a great start. I haven’t had a single French fry in 48 hours! I made it through three hours of socializing and the boob’s not bothering me yet. My parents are slightly pissed. They think I’m not taking care of myself. But laying in bed 24/7 just isn’t me. Part of my recovery is getting back to business; doing dinner tonight and meeting with my peers was medicine too. I did, however, back out of the 10 mile hike they had scheduled at 6am tomorrow morning. That might have been overkill. I opted for a shorter walk then meeting up with everyone for lunch at noon. I feel a tad guilty for not being more of an invalid. My parents drove all the way out here from San Diego to help me for the week but there’s not much to do anymore. I’m up and about trying to work and arranging meetings. I’m (almost) as good as new. I’m missing part of my boob and I can’t lift anything with my left arm but other than that I can deal. Emotionally, I’ll have bouts but you can’t schedule those. My mom has been fantastic in the morale department while I was healing but now I’m getting lectured about taking care of myself. I feel like I’m back in high school where I have to hide what I’m doing or what I plan to do so I “don’t get in trouble”. I really don’t want to lie in bed all week. I want to get back to my life. What life will that be now? I can almost black out what the last two weeks brought. But then I look down or move too quickly and I’m reminded of their gravity. My life has definitely changed. I’m different. I’m not like everyone else, and not in a special way. In a way that causes awkward silence or thoughtful stares or false sympathy. I can’t even say I’m a cancer survivor because it’s not necessarily gone yet. Soon, two or three weeks, I’ll be radiating the crap out of it and then, maybe, I’ll be a survivor. I popped two lortab tonight to sleep well. Drifting off as I type…..