How Do You Heal?

A quick update today on my physical healing. Last week's follow-up with my plastic surgeon, Dr. B, went well.

• For a little over a week before the appointment, I had a tiny area on my right (radiated) scar that looked a little bothered. It got red for a couple of days, but never got too inflamed. Turns out it was a spitting stitch. Because of all of the breast tissue being "carved out" and only a thin layer of skin remains over the implants at the scar line, this stitch wasn't wanting to be absorbed into my body. So Dr. B grabbed a couple of tools and pulled it out. Easy-peasy. There's now an indented hole where the stitch was that I'll have to put Neosporin/gauze on daily and keep an eye on. It should fill in over the next month. 
• Because of the above happening, I'm still a no-go in pools and hot tubs. Pfft!
• Got a near complete (b/c of stitch mentioned above) go-ahead to gradually begin ramping up my activity.
• Time to go bra shopping - yay! I may still be a teensy bit poofy on my right side, but that has drastically decreased over the last few weeks, so it's time to get fitted. Looking forward to not wearing the surgical bra and Warner's bras all the time. 
• Dr. B says I'm free to roam about the country, although he said I'd probably get some fluid build-up in my breast and trunk. I think I'll hold off a while longer so I'm comfortable when I do travel. I could tell when driving in the mountains at 10,000-12,000 feet that my body reacted to the altitude. Good thing I remembered to wear the lymphedema sleeve and gauntlet!

Guest Blogger: Aunt Sandy and the Alkaline Diet

Aunt Sandy has visited us throughout the entire BC journey. She's seen the effects of chemo/surgeries/radiation on me and the mental struggles we've gone through. She is also a witness to how our eating habits have shifted and has become quite a knowledgeable balanced pH lifestyle supporter! I asked Sandy to guest blog about her own nutritional experience this past year.

Take it away, Sandy!

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Eating better…and feeling better thanks to Joshua and Laura! During my trips to Colorado these past several months, I have been exposed to food choices I had never tried and ingredients I couldn’t even pronounce! While visiting, I wanted to honor the diet that Laura and Joshua had adopted to help Laura put her body in the best cancer-fighting position possible!

One of Sandy's omelettes...
with home grown sprouts!

What I have learned is a great, healthy way to eat and live! Even though I have valued healthy eating and exercising most of my life, I realized I had more to learn. I purchased the book, The pH Balance Diet, by Bharti Vyas & Suzann Le Quesne, after coming back to Oklahoma to learn more about the “hows and whys” of the alkaline balanced way of eating. The word “diet” in the book’s title sounds very restrictive, but really…it is not! I am eating my fill and feeling better; I also have more energy and have lost weight by adjusting what I eat!

It would be impossible to explain all I have learned in this single blog post, but here is a summary:

Eliminate Toxins, Lose Weight, and Increase Energy
When naturally balanced, your body is alkaline. A diet high in meat, dairy, and sugar overwhelms your body with acidic waste, resulting in weight gain, low energy, poor skin, and brittle bones. An alkaline diet also helps with fibromyalgia pain and chronic fatigue.

The pH Balance Diet explains how to correct imbalances, eliminate toxic overload and reverse acid buildup. It offers a gradual, healthy approach to restoring your body's natural acid-alkaline balance, including:

• Easy-to-follow, three-phase program
• Tips on how to eat fewer acid-forming foods
• A handy list of the top 80 alkaline-forming foods
• Information on free radicals and antioxidants

In a Nutshell…
I have tried to avoid (or severely limit!): sugar, simple carbohydrates, refined and processed foods, dairy food products, processed salt, saturated and other unhealthy fats, alcohol, caffeine, artificial sweeteners.

Tofu and Veggie Stir Fry

I have eaten (in generous amounts): dark green & yellow vegetables and fruit. I don’t think I have ever eaten so many veggies! I have enjoyed trying new recipes and exchanging ideas with Linda, Laura, and Joshua.

The book includes over 40 quick and delicious recipes featuring alkaline-forming ingredients such as avocados, cantaloupe, eggplant, kiwis, lentils, mushrooms, peppers, rye bread, salmon, soymilk, turkey, and wild rice.

I would also recommend reading Eat to Live, by Dr. Joel Fuhrman (really good!) and The pH Miracle, by Robert Young & Shelley Redford Young.

I am so thankful for all this new information and am excited about the good results. I am convinced it is very worthwhile to give this book … The pH Balance Diet … a look!

Meeting New Peeps

Kris and Karen - another strong couple who have
worked through cancer together. They're avid travelers,
have huge hearts, and are great snowshoe buddies!

It feels great to forge new friendships that will be cultivated for a reason, season, or lifetime.

Thanks to breast cancer and my being open to getting to know folks, I've met and hope to continue to meet new people near and far. There's something different in the air when you meet other peeps who are also walking along a different life trajectory because of cancer. You can cut through the surface-level talk quickly and dive deep. You can feel a sense of understanding. Of empathy. Of sisterhood.

Don't get me wrong - just because two people have/had cancer doesn't mean you're going to be besties. It's just like everybody else; some gel with you and others don't. However, what a rewarding experience when a budding relationship comes along because of something not-so-great in life. Another silver lining.

Earlier in 2012...
Me, Dakota, Stephanie, and Jo - Officially known as the Can-Can girls!
(for more than one reason)

Jo multitasking at Dakota's workplace.

Me, Dakota, and Stephanie hamming it up at Dial Global.

The Can-Can girls are a breath of fresh air. We talk about anything and everything...so long as we can remember what we're talking about!  :)  Anything goes and nothing is taboo. We get silly, talk serious, and have lots of belly laughs together. Interested in learning more about these other fantastic women? Good! Jo and Stephanie both have blogs (click their names and you'll be transported to their sites).

Vicki's wenis.

At a bigger group gathering recently, I met a gaggle of women that were engaging, intelligent, and fun. And nearly all of us are cancer survivors. One of the women taught us all what a wenis is...and there were a TON of belly laughs when we all started comparing wenises/weni. Oh, the jokes just kept on coming!

Didja know?
wenis: the extra skin on your elbow

And, of course, there's a bunch of "dependables" -- peeps near and far who have been courageous enough to share the suffering with me. These are family, friends, neighbors, pen pals, acquaintances, and some individuals that I've never met in person. You know who you are. 

Some of my nearby dependables: Sarah, moi, Denise, Chana
So creative! They brought 2 "jugs" of flowers to celebrate Laura, version 3.0!

Thanks to ALL you peeps for your support and friendship!

Early September Roundup

Joshua: dead or alive? Even I wasn't sure.

Wow. Is it September already? That's what the trusty calendar says, but I'm having a hard time believing it. My 2nd stage reconstruction surgery was 5 weeks ago. I've been given the green light to slowly start increasing my activity. Which doesn't mean jogging...no, I'm not there yet. But it does mean I can walk more, increase my heart rate some, and begin stretches and movement that I was not supposed to do the previous 4 weeks.

Adam relaxing on the hammock. 

My brother came for a quick visit over Labor Day weekend. I enjoyed seeing him and getting caught up on his life. It's weird sometimes living so far apart. I had planned to visit Adam and Jeney in New York this summer, but those plans didn't work as we had expected. So I hope to go sometime next year after we've/they've thawed out. I'm glad Adam decided to come visit and check in on us.

Oot and aboot in Colorado together.

Adam's dish in progress.

Adam cooked a quick, easy, and YUMMY meal while he was here that I plan to make myself in a couple of days. Ever heard of tomatillos? That's one of the main ingredients. Curious little things! Helping him prep this meal was the first time I'd "met" a tomatillo up close. His and Jeney's blog has his Baked Shrimp with Tomatillos recipe + instructions. If you try it, please leave a comment with your review!

Adam served the dish with whole wheat tortillas. You could also serve over quinoa for a non-wheat alternative. Quinoa cooks in ~10-15 minutes and is a great source of complete protein. Check out this math: every 3.5oz of uncooked = 14 grams of protein! Give it a try - you might like it.

Adam and his nips
encouraged us all to be silly.

Adam's not telling what he just did...

Oh, look! A good picture!

Coo Coo for Coconut Oil

What’s the deal with coconut oil?
With Costco carrying vat sized barrels of organic coconut oil we are seeing an increase in popular demand for what used to be a specialty health food item. Whether it is the versatility, healthful aspects, or simple hype that is driving more people to try the switch to this plant-based fat, we jumped on the bandwagon and want to share our experiences since making the switch.

Image courtesy of Wikipedia

Why did our family start using coconut oil?
After reading about the dangers of using oils with low smoke points and the toxins found in hydrogenated GMO oils, we began researching what oils we should and shouldn't be using. Time and time again organic coconut oil appeared in our research and its uses are many.

Like the other health aware changes we have made in our lives, things happen incrementally for us and there is generally a “getting used to the change” curve. Being open to the process of trying healthy alternatives and stepping out of the status quo are empowering paths to tread upon. Our goal is to restore as much of the natural balance to our lives as we can, while continuing to live in the modern world.

Healthy change is an iterative process and should be explored with an open, malleable mind. We try to take it easy on ourselves when embarking down a new path and keep our judgements balanced when doing our research. Unhealthy food is big business so there is sometimes trickery going on to get us away from simpler, healthier alternatives like minimally processed, locally grown organic foods. This broken nutrition cycle is lightheartedly demonstrated in the below image, but carries a serious message:

An inconvenient truth.
Courtesy of Joseph Jenkins, "Humanure Handbook"

We like to keep things simple when it comes to nutrition and try to choose the most direct path from plant to mouth. Common sense and good judgement are always handy to have around when trying something new. For example we limit our usage of coconut oil, because it is a saturated fat and is new to our diets. We currently have about 1-2 tablespoons per person on a daily basis as a substitution for where we used to use butter or vegetable oil. Extra virgin olive oil is still a regular staple in our house, but generally only as an after cooking drizzle or dipping sauce.

How do we use coconut oil?
It started with stir fry. It was the first recipe that we replaced our [insert highly processed GMO oil] in favor of coconut oil. As we got used to the slightly different taste of cooking with the new oil, things really took off. Eggs, cookies, popcorn... Coconut oil turns to liquid at 76F degrees, so depending on our house temperature it may be in liquid, solid, or a mixed states. It even goes camping with us in a little Nalgene container.

What kind of coconut oil is best?
There is a little bit of a variety within USDA organic coconut oils, but the short and skinny is to avoid any hydrogenated, refined product and get the virgin, organic, unrefined stuff.

When I bought our first bottle, I thought "Holy cow! The refined variety is way less than the unrefined kind!" and I let price drive my purchase. You have to be driven by putting your health before your wallet when buying more expensive healthier alternatives. So after learning what refined coconut oil, also labeled hydrogenated, or partially hydrogenated, really was it went back to the store in favor of the unrefined variety.

We choose to support sustainable businesses valuing human life above shelf life with our dollars.

When people talk about refined or hydrogenated product they are saying, “This here food turned rancid, so we are going to mix it with some chemicals to make it edible again. We can even put in some chemical coloring, flavor and preservatives to make this food unnaturally addictive and last forever."

I want to know more! What are some good resources?
Read Clean Cuisine & More: Is the saturated fat in coconut harmful? and this Coconut Oil article from TreeLight, a great health information resource.

Wondering what all you can do with all of your coconut oil, check out Crunchy Betty's: A Millionish Uncommon and not so Uncommon Uses for Coconut Oil and Hybrid Rasta Mama's 333 Uses For Coconut Oil.

And some more technical articles from Mercola: Coconut In support of Good Health in the 21st Century and The Truth About Saturated Fats.

Breast Reconstruction with Implants 101

For those wondering, curious, or underinformed: here's some information about the process of breast reconstruction with implants.

My plastic surgeon used AlloDerm to help support my future breasts. The AlloDerm was placed during my first (double mastectomy) surgery and some additional AlloDerm was used during my 2nd stage reconstruction surgery. What's AlloDerm? Watch the YouTube video below to find out what it is, why it's used, and how it works:

from: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2KcXt3dJI_w

I'd like to call your attention to the placement of AlloDerm and also the placement of the implant - it's nestled between pectoralis muscles. Sounds nice and cozy...and it is...for the implant! Not as comfy for the muscle that's stretched OVER the implant. Those expander fillings I experienced late last year and this year were sometimes difficult to take (muscle relaxers helped on a few occasions). From time to time, I still feel twinges of pain from the muscles - especially on my right (radiated) side. The right side has a different battle because of the radiation. The daily morning massages and mashing is an effort to counteract radiation's lasting effects.

New to the mix as of last week: introducing arm stretches that work on increasing my range of motion and help loosen the pecs. They are painful to do right now and I can't stretch nearly as far as I was able to before my 2nd stage reconstruction. But I've been in a similar position before - after my 1st stage reconstruction last October - so I know it'll take time...months...to work on getting the pecs, shoulders, arms, and everything related in better shape.

If you've been reading this blog a while, you've probably noticed that I give proper credit to other sources of information, videos, and images. So I'll be upfront right now and say I honestly have no idea when I acquired these images - nor which blog they came from. I do remember finding a blog with these images and thought they accurately portrayed what reconstruction with implants (after a mastectomy) is like. They're so informative that I'm going to use them anyway, and if I ever find the originator of these illustrations, I'll give proper credit!

A great transparent view.

See all the muscle attachment in the armpit area?
That's where I really feel the tightness from lymph nodes taken, radiation,
and my pecs stretched over the implants.

A graphic illustraction if 1st, 2nd, and 3rd stage reconstruction.
Nipple tattooing is the  4th stage.