At our church's Christmas Eve service last night, our pastor challenged us to take a moment today to quiet our hearts to worship Jesus - to thank God for loving us so much to send His Son to us 2000 years ago to be our Savior. So we encourage you to do the same today - to celebrate God's grace and mercy on you this past year! We couldn't be more thankful for God's love in this season and for the life He has given us through His Son, Jesus Christ.
The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. - John 1:14
So it’s done! I had my surgery and now have permanent implants – no more expanders! (And can I just say they feel so much better? woohoo!) Monday morning went really smoothly. The surgery itself only took 1 hour. I woke up in the recovery room a little groggy and light-headed, but not nauseous at all. That’s right, I didn’t have nausea or vomiting after the anesthesia this time around! Your prayers (along with the phenergan) did wonders for me!
After about an hour or 2 of “waking up”, I was able to get back into my street clothes and go home. I slept for about 3 hours once at home, got up and had some chicken noodle soup, watched some TV, and then had dinner with our friend and neighbor down the street, Christina, and our friend Melody. Both friends ended up bringing dinner over, so I had 2 dinners that night! Thanks for the food and the company. They were just what I needed!
That night, I really didn’t have much pain from the surgery – it just felt like I had one of my weekly expansions. I was a little tender and sore, so I took 2 extra-strength Tylenol and slept through the night...
It’s crazy how time has flown by. Thanksgiving has already passed and I am now 9 weeks out from my
mastectomy! My weekly expansions went fairly well and are now
complete. Marcus, my plastic surgeon, and myself are all very happy
with my progress. My last expansion was Tues, Nov 6, and I’ve had a
couple weeks to let everything settle before I have my final surgery to
switch out the expanders for the permanent implants. It’s all very
exciting! God has been so gracious to me through this whole
experience.
So I’m scheduled to have surgery this coming Monday morning at North
Austin Medical Center at 10am. It will be a simple outpatient surgery,
and I will get to go home the same day. It should be the easiest
surgery of the three I’ve had, and probably the least painful. I’m
looking forward to being done with all my surgeries and am thankful for
how smooth my recovery has been since my first surgery in July.
I’ve been on Tamoxifen for a little over a month now and have been
doing fairly well on it. I’ve started having some hot flashes, but
other than that, am tolerating the medication well. (I’ll take hot
flashes over puking and losing my hair any day!) I’ve been able to
run, bike, swim and lift weights again and look forward to training for
and completing the Danskin Women’s Triathlon next June as a survivor...
I did it! Yes, I ran the Austin Race for the Cure this past Sunday, November 4, as a SURVIVOR! I had to walk a little after the 1st and 2nd miles, but I finished it in a little under 31 minutes which is good considering I haven’t run more than 2.5 miles since before my mastectomy in September! I’m going to blame the walking on Schooler, who I was trying to keep up with the first mile – he was going so fast that first mile, I could barely catch my breath after it! I ended up walking for about 2 minutes when Marcus and some other friends caught up with me. Marcus and I ended up finishing the race together. He could have kept running the entire time, but walked with me after the 2nd mile too. He’s such a great husband! ;)
Here's a video of us warming up before the race: (watch Schooler "get his jump rope")
On Saturday, October 4, several of my friends ran the Houston Race for the Cure in my honor. It was such a blessing to see them supporting me from afar in such a tangible way. I really appreciated their courage to brave the course even in the rain! Thanks guys for supporting me and breast cancer research in this way! The coolest thing was that they actually had a picture of me ironed onto their t-shirts:
This is a continuation of my earlier blog, God Glorified written on August 1, so feel free to go back and read about our good friend, Alvaro, if you haven’t already…
Yesterday was the 3-week anniversary of my mastectomy, and I am way overdue for an update! So here goes! Sorry if this is too much detail, but it’s helping me keep track of my progress too…
As I sit at our kitchen table today (after an AWESOME time of worshiping God at church this morning, oh yeah, the 9:30am service was rockin’ for God this morning! I just love our church!!!) writing thank-you cards to all the people who have already visited us, brought us flowers, and brought us food, I am overwhelmed to tears by God’s love that we have experienced through our friends and spiritual family. We even told our own parents that they didn’t need to come be with us after this second surgery, because we have plenty of 'family' here in Austin waiting to serve us and love us. Our families thank all of you, by the way!
Listening to Chris Tomlin’s song, “How can I keep from singing”, I can’t help but cry tears of joy as these words are everything I want to sing to God right now! Thank you, Chris, for your amazing gift of music and worship that has spoken to so many people, especially myself. I love my God and have so much to be thankful for...
Here's a quick update on Jocelin: surgery went very smoothly on Wednesday. Jocelin did "well" according to both surgeons. (What exactly does that mean, anyway? Do people do "well" in surgery as long as they don't wake up?) It took about 4 hours and she slept for the rest of the day. She was pretty nauseous from the anesthesia most of the evening, but after puking all over herself she felt much better. That, I think, was the turning point, because after that, she started feeling much better. In fact, the next morning she got up at 5:30am, ordered 3 entrees for breakfast, and even started rearranging her room. She felt and looked so good that they discharged us on Thursday after only one evening. She's still very sore and trying to sleep alot. Because she's a pharmacist, she doesn't like taking drugs, so she isn't taking any of the pain medication that's been prescribed - only Advil and Tylenol. She is super tough!
We've had a bunch of visitors since yesterday, and we feel very loved and cared for. We appreciate and thank God for all of you. Jocelin will write a more detailed update later. Thank you for praying!
Sorry I’ve been MIA for a while! We just got back this week from a great vacation to Vegas and Zion National Park with our friends Alvaro and Colette. It was an amazing trip, and we did some amazing hikes in Zion. It was great to be able to pamper ourselves at the hotels and buffets in Vegas, but also get out in nature and enjoy God’s beautiful creation too. We were able to swim, run, and hike on our trip, so we definitely stayed active! Marcus is talking about going back again in November. Any takers?
Now that we’re back in town, I am getting ready for my next surgery...
So it’s done! I had my surgery and now have permanent implants – no more expanders! (And can I just say they feel so much better? woohoo!) Monday morning went really smoothly. The surgery itself only took 1 hour. I woke up in the recovery room a little groggy and light-headed, but not nauseous at all. That’s right, I didn’t have nausea or vomiting after the anesthesia this time around! Your prayers (along with the phenergan) did wonders for me!
I did it! Yes, I ran the Austin Race for the Cure this past Sunday, November 4, as a SURVIVOR! I had to walk a little after the 1st and 2nd miles, but I finished it in a little under 31 minutes which is good considering I haven’t run more than 2.5 miles since before my mastectomy in September! I’m going to blame the walking on Schooler, who I was trying to keep up with the first mile – he was going so fast that first mile, I could barely catch my breath after it! I ended up walking for about 2 minutes when Marcus and some other friends caught up with me. Marcus and I ended up finishing the race together. He could have kept running the entire time, but walked with me after the 2nd mile too. He’s such a great husband! ;) 
On Saturday, October 4, several of my friends ran the Houston Race for the Cure in my honor. It was such a blessing to see them supporting me from afar in such a tangible way. I really appreciated their courage to brave the course even in the rain! Thanks guys for supporting me and breast cancer research in this way! The coolest thing was that they actually had a picture of me ironed onto their t-shirts:
This is a continuation of my earlier blog, 
Yesterday was the 3-week anniversary of my mastectomy, and I am way overdue for an update! So here goes! Sorry if this is too much detail, but it’s helping me keep track of my progress too…
As I sit at our kitchen table today (after an AWESOME time of worshiping God at 
Here's a quick update on Jocelin: surgery went very smoothly on Wednesday. Jocelin did "well" according to both surgeons. (What exactly does that mean, anyway? Do people do "well" in surgery as long as they don't wake up?) It took about 4 hours and she slept for the rest of the day. She was pretty nauseous from the anesthesia most of the evening, but after puking all over herself she felt much better. That, I think, was the turning point, because after that, she started feeling much better. In fact, the next morning she got up at 5:30am, ordered 3 entrees for breakfast, and even started rearranging her room. She felt and looked so good that they discharged us on Thursday after only one evening. She's still very sore and trying to sleep alot. Because she's a pharmacist, she doesn't like taking drugs, so she isn't taking any of the pain medication that's been prescribed - only Advil and Tylenol. She is super tough! 
Sorry I’ve been MIA for a while! We just got back this week from a great vacation to Vegas and Zion National Park with our friends Alvaro and Colette. It was an amazing trip, and we did some amazing hikes in Zion. It was great to be able to pamper ourselves at the hotels and buffets in Vegas, but also get out in nature and enjoy God’s beautiful creation too. We were able to swim, run, and hike on our trip, so we definitely stayed active! Marcus is talking about going back again in November. Any takers?