July 4th, 2005 – Night before surgery

I am having surgery tomorrow to complete the reconstruction phase of my treatment. I would appreciate your prayers for everything to go well and for there to be no complications. It sure will be nice to not feel as if I'm assaulting everyone who hugs me – HA!

This surgery was scheduled so many times that it seems a little unreal that it's actually happening! That's why I waited until tonight to even post the surgery date. I have been joking that we can say it's happening when I'm lying on the operating table! I do feel privileged that God let me in on the reason why it hadn't worked the previous times. It turns out that the options available to me now are so much better than they were even two months ago, so God had definitely chosen the best timing for me.

In other news… I am doing really well. I know this surgery will be a bit of a setback again, but it won't take me out for as long as the previous one. I am still having Herceptin treatments each week, which are relatively painless. I'm tired the rest of the day, but that's the only effect I notice. I had a curious and frustrating thing happen a couple of weeks ago – my eyelashes fell out AGAIN. How weird is that?? I guess it's not uncommon, so it's just one more thing that "you don't read about"! I do have 2-1/2 inches of REALLY curly hair, though. Strangers say they love my hair and it cracks me up! I usually say something like, "well, I didn't really choose it, but thank you." It gives me an opportunity to share with them what God has brought me through this year.

Thank you for your prayers and continued notes of concern for me. I look forward to telling you how well I'm feeling in a couple of weeks!