I was really hoping to have both my drains pulled today, but truth be told, neither had output low enough to warrant being pulled (close by not quite). I do wonder if it had more do with my mental health than anything else; when, they did remove one of the remaining abdominal drains. So, now I wait another week with one drain … better one than two, but truthfully, I really wanted to see both of them go! Fortunately, the drain removal itself felt like nothing … I didn’t notice it at all. It will be interesting to see if the output of the remaining drain increases because it is now the only abdominal drain. We’ll see how that goes.

Once I have two days in a row with low enough output then I can call and they will pull the final drain. I also have an appointment with my plastic surgeon on Thursday next week, so the final drain might end up going then. I might hold the record for the longest drains … as of tomorrow it will be 4-weeks (ugh).

I’m also feeling achy and my joints are really sore. I didn’t walk again today in part because my foot hurt too much. My left foot hurting meant that I was limping when I walked, which isn’t good for me (this started yesterday evening) … so I figured it was better that I not walk and hope that the foot is feeling better tomorrow. The joints seem to be stiffer today, so I think the walking makes the joints feel better. I’m so looking forward to being able to do other forms of exercise. I’ll be on a bike one week after the drains come out.

I’ve signed up for the Live Strong Live Well program at the Mountain View YMCA. The one I signed up for starts January 28 – so hoping by then that I don’t have drains and I’m mostly off the pain meds. The program is a light workout – but also gives me full access to the YMCA – so I can take any of their classes (zumba and cardio belly dance look interesting to me – might a while before I’m ready for either of those), including the ones in the pool. Once my incisions have healed, I’ll be able to swim again, which will be nice on my sore joints. The interesting part will be the lack of feeling – it will feel very weird to be in the water and not have feeling on parts of my breasts and stomach – not too dissimilar to how I felt swimming with neuropathy when I couldn’t feel parts of my skin in my legs and feet (could feel temperature, just not the sensation of the water). So, it will be interesting to see how it feels the first few times I jump in the water.

It will also be interesting to see how I feel about changing and showering at the gym. My body has a lot of new scars. I’m not particularly vain (heck I posted a link to a picture of my incisions already), so I’d like to think that I’d be OK with just changing and not worrying. If someone stares, I can always say “this is what breast cancer looks like” … but really, that is their problem, not mine.

Right now, I so want a glass of wine … unfortunately, that too shall have to wait until I’m off the pain meds (at least mostly) …

I am very thankful for my friends (and friends of friends) who are helping ensure we stay well fed. Last week was Nancy (one of the Honers) who made us a lovely dinner that lasted three nights, and tonight’s dinner is thanks to Katie, one of my cancer walking and group buddies. I am looking forward to a time when I can return the favour (or pay it forward).