Just a quick post to say happy holidays! I’ve been resting a lot and tomorrow is my follow-up with my surgeon, so I’ll keep you posted.

 

Rachel here! Just a quick update to let you know how much I appreciate all of your good thoughts. I am healing well. Getting lots of rest, watching lots of tv and movies, and having a great support community help take care of me. My post-op is tomorrow and I’m hoping to get my drain out and get the okay to shower 🙂 I’ll keep you posted. The drain is causing me the most pain so hopefully that’ll be done tomorrow!

Since my last post, I finished a lot of my school stuff. I’m just in hard core study mode for a big final I have Monday (I have 2 other ones on Monday too), but then I’m done with this quarter of school! Adam went and got some groceries that I’ll need after surgery (think ginger ale and crackers, mmmm lol) and friends are offering to come over to help after surgery.

The studying has been a somewhat good distraction from my surgery. It looks like the wound may be improving, but my surgeon won’t know what the surgery outcome will be until we are in the operating room. I’m at peace with it and trying to think really positive (about finals and my surgery). Since I’m in crazy study mode right now, I thought I’d share a quick cute video before going back to hitting the books.

Just wanted to give a quick update on my tissue damage (aka boob hole). Thanks for all the vibes/thoughts/prayers. The stitches are looking good and my surgeon has been happy with how everything looks in the photos I’ve been sending. I stayed home from school on Friday because I was pretty sore and as always, my classmates and instructors were very supportive. I’ve been studying a lot for finals, and trying to rest in between. Tomorrow is my last day of clinicals for the quarter. I’ll keep you posted!

Sorry I’ve been MIA for a bit – I’ve been super busy with school and gearing up for finals. Happy Thanksgiving!! This year, I have a lot to be especially thankful for. I’m thankful for my incredibly supportive husband, amazing family, and awesome friends. I couldn’t have made it through this journey without them. I’m thankful for my all-star medical team, medical technology, and advances in science that made it possible to lower my breast cancer risk from an 87% lifetime risk to about 1%. I’m thankful for the opportunity to become a nurse, which is my passion and dream. And I’m thankful for you – what started as a little blog has turned into a community. I’m so grateful for everyone who reads the blog and helps spread the message that knowledge is power and that cancer risk can be lowered through education, screenings, and prevention. Happy Thanksgiving!!

My bff flew here from San Francisco and we are going to the Beyoncé/Jay-Z concert tonight! I am SO excited. I’ve never seen her in concert before (well, I actually have about 100 times through her DVDs but never in real life). Beyoncé’s music always makes me feel super empowered and like I can conquer the world, so I think it is very fitting to be going to this show the same month as my mastectomy. I’m even going to see if I can listen to her music on the way into the OR. Anyway, I can’t wait!!!

I’m getting ready to leave for my 12 hour psych unit clinical rotation and checked my email. I had an awesome gem waiting in my inbox telling me that my Twitter page received 4,103 views this week!!! That’s 4103 opportunities for people to learn about cancer prevention and genetics. What a great feeling!! If you are Twitter, follow me here.

I’m pretty tired – I had two midterms today and I have a 12-hour clinical rotation tomorrow in a psychiatric unit. So today, I’ll just share a video that always makes me laugh.