Good Morning Friends

[Mary Jo]

Good Morning Friends........

I just wanted to say "good morning" to each of you today and to say that your friendship is so special and important to me. Honestly, I don't know what I'd do without each of you.

I ask God to bless each of you this day. I ask Him to give you His peace today. For those of you going through treatment and hard times I pray that today would be a good day ..... a peaceful day ..... and that we here at her2support can be a source of encouragement and love to you.

I love you guys........I'm thankful for you all........ and I know that even though life can be, and often times is a struggle, God gave each of us EACH OTHER to help and encourage on the journey.

Hugs and Peace to you all....

Mary Jo

[DanaRT]

Hi Mary Jo,

A nice message to wake up to. Thank you.
I am grateful for the website and thankful to all of you.

Wishing you all a good day and peaceful moments.

Dana

[Pam P]

Thank you for your message Maryjo. Indeed it is a beautiful day. I woke up to cool breeze, sunny skies & birds singing. A good day to give thanks for life... and this support on this site!

[eric]

Marejo,

Thank you for such a wonderful thought to wake up to. I couldn't agree more. This is a great site with wonderful, caring people that have made a HUGE difference in my (and Caryn's) life. God bless all.

Eric

[Becky]

Good morning Mary Jo

Its so nice that you always do this. In our busy lives, its great you take the time that I don't to remember our Her2 family.

Have a great day (everyone)

[TriciaK]

Thank you, Mary Jo! I love your posts. You are like a ray of sunshine and full of wisdom, besides. You have a good day, too, and many more good tomorrows! Hugs, Tricia

[Gerri]

Mary Jo,

Good morning and thanks for the special greeting. Hope you are doing well. Be sure and give us an update on your progress.

Wishing everyone a spectacular day!

[CindyE]

Marejo,
What a wonderful message to receive this morning! May God bless you and thank you for your loving support and encouragement.

[Mary Jo]

Hi Gerri,

I'll give you an update right here so I don't "bog" down the boards with my DIEP stuff.......But since you asked I'll give you an update.

I am 26 days post op and doing great. My new breasts are very nice - very symmetrical and contoured nicely. So much so that I will not need a stage 2 surgery. They are "perfect" enough for me. I recovered very nicely from the surgery and am back to my full exercise regime and BACK ON THE HEALTHY TRAIN of eating. That feels the best. As I think I've shared.....I deviated from my healthy eating plan to gain some weight for the surgery (8 pounds to be exacthttp://her2support.org/vbulletin/images/icons/icon11.gif) which helped to have enough fat for not only 2 "B" breasts but enough fat to do the contouring also. Although it was nerve wracking for me to gain that weight (although the food tasted awesome) and I felt like a beached whale http://her2support.org/vbulletin/images/icons/icon9.gif I'm happy now I did it to avoid that second surgery. Of course, there are always things that could go wrong where a second phase would be necessary, in my case that wasn't so. So....I'm back to eating SUPER healthy and I couldn't feel better. I've dropped about 5 pounds now (not from removing my abdominal fat either - as so many think - the abdominal fat was only transferred to another part of my body, not removed for good) and I'm back to not only my powerwalking (for about 2 weeks already) but also my intermittant jogging (as of today). I'd still like to lose about 5 to 8 more pounds and don't doubt for a minute that I'll do it.

I'm happy I did it and honestly never realized how much I missed having my breasts until I got them back. These breasts are all me - fat and skin - are warm and even jiggly! (sorry to be so graphichttp://her2support.org/vbulletin/images/icons/icon12.gif) On my radiated side though, I did develop a small area of fat necrosis (a hard area of fat that didn't get enough blood supply) - about golf ball size - but that may soften in time - or so they tell me. AND, for added measure, my tummy is hard and beautiful - how sweet is that?

The doctors office has asked me to speak to women considering DIEP with Dr. Hijjawi, in our midwest region, to share my positive experience. I know how much that benefited me in my decision process so will happily share. My experience was incredibly positive. From surgery to recovery to results and the best part - my plastic surgeon is not only a gifted, intelligent man BUT a super caring, kind man who listens - answers all of your questions and is a perfectionist to boot. My first woman to speak too is from Iowa (I'm from Wisconsin)

So there you go Gerri - sorry I'm a bit winded - LOL - but you asked. http://her2support.org/vbulletin/images/icons/icon7.gif

Mary Jo

[Gerri]

Hi Mary Jo,

What great news! How thrilling this must be for you. I know you put a lot of thought into going through with reconstruction and I'm happy to hear that you had such positive results. I'm sure the fact that you take such good care of yourself was instrumental in your quick recovery.

It is wonderful that you are willing to share your experience with other women - we all need positive input when dealing with decision making. You have such a beautiful spirit and such a caring way about you - truly a very special person.

Post a picture when you have the 'girls' all dressed up.

Take good care,

[ElaineM]

Good Morning from Hawaii.

[tdonnelly]

Hi
I also feel as you do. Thank you for your post

Tamara
Invasive Ductal Carcinoma 10/2006 HER2+
SOS Sister of IL

[jones7676]

What a lovely message to read - just what I needed tonight. I'm so happy about your good news....enjoy being jiggly!

[Jean]

Mary Jo,
So true, we are so very fortunate to have each other.
I am thrilled your surgery was a grand success and
most important that you are happy!

Big Hugs to you,
Jean

[sassy]

Maryjo,

Thanks for the wonderful greeting! And thanks also for sharing your experience here and with me personally.

I hope you have a wonderful week!

[harrie]

And a belated Good Morning to you Ms Sunshine! WHat a great message you wrote for us all!
Sounds like you are doing extremely well! You are an excellent advocate for the DIEP!
Aloha,
Maryanne