A little better today :)

I have to admit that I was really regretting that large fill on Monday. I felt like I had moved several steps backwards. My muscles were so tight, I was so uncomfortable, and I had outright pain. I hate to take pain meds and I still get nervous about taking Valium, but even the Valium wasn't making much of a difference. I also feel like the swelling under my arms has gotten worse... but I'm not sure if it's from the fill or the fact that some feeling is returning and I'm becoming more aware of it. Or, maybe it's that dh was pointing out how oddly I hold my arms all the time, which is all because of the swelling. It's as if my breasts go clear from the front of my chest around to the edge of my back. The plastic surgery team tells me this will go away. Just give it time.

OK. So that was a complaint. The good news is that I do feel less tight today without any meds on board. It still feels like I'm wearing a brick bra, but that's normal. LOL. What a norm! I'll still need to take the Valium to relax the chest enough to sleep. I'll take any improvement I can get.

The better news is that I got out for a shopping trip today! I met up with my Dad's fiance, Arlene, for a "girls day out" aka "we need to get Melissa something to wear trip." We had lunch at the Cheesecake Factory where even their lunch portions are HUGE! Then we headed to Nordstroms to find me something to wear to the wedding. The wedding that is THIS Sunday! Last minute, but with my everchanging body, that could not be helped. I had arranged for a personal shopper to help, but that turned out not to be too helpful. What she had picked out was something I would wear to work, not to a dressy wedding. Arlene went right to work finding more appropriate clothing. The very first thing she picked out was the "one." It's a fitted black velvet suit jacket, embellished with pink and gold roses with a little beading. It has a loop and button closure in front, along with a satin ribbon tied at the waist. The matching black velvet skirt is hour glass shaped (or maybe that's me? LOL) with a ruffle at the bottom. I only need to do the slightest alterations to the sleeves of the jacket (mentioning that more so that I don't forget to do it before SUNDAY!). Someday, I hope I'll need to alter the waist of the skirt... but that will have to wait until the post-chemo and post-surgery recovery is over and I can exercise again! After that, Arlene decided she needed to get me shoes to match. :) No, I did not tell her that I once owned.. oh... what was it... something like 76 pairs of shoes. Really. Truly. I did once own far too many shoes. When we moved 5 years ago, I pared down to less than 20 pairs. Quite funny because I live in Crocs, clogs and sneakers now. Of course, with a size 5.5 foot, shoe buying is an adventure. Arlene is a more average height woman (we'd call her tall in our family, but she's probably normal height) and I think she was a little surprised at how few places actually had anything dressy even in a 6 (I'll wear a 6 with inserts if I can get it to work). We went to 5 or 6 shoe depts/stores before finding a pair that worked. The worst part of the trip though, was finding a camisole to wear under the suit. Oh my. That was horrendous. First, it was nearly impossible bc no one had anything. Not even Victoria's Secret. At the first place where found not only some that would work, but actually had a selection was a nightmare. I still have issues getting clothing on over my head. I got the camisole on and got stuck putting it on and had such several muscular pain! OMG. I shudder just typing about it. Arlene had to step in and get the dern thing off me. Fortunately, we peeked into Anne Taylor (who knew they had petites now??? why couldn't they have had petites when I worked in an office setting??) and they had black camisoles. I ended up with a petite large. It's large enough that I can actually step into it instead of pulling it over my head. What a relief! It may be too big later on in life, but that's A-OK! It will work for Sunday. And, this gorgeous suit should also work just fine after all my reconstruction is done. I'm now a little bigger than I will be in the end. The suit fits very well now and shouldn't be too baggy later on at all. I probably would have needed one two sizes larger before my surgery. Of course, I probably would have needed the skirt a size smaller back in May or June... but that's ok too. I can take it in later. :)

Yes... I know.. I am long overdue for pics on this blog. I think in between folding laundry tomorrow (I'm allowed to do that, not carry the baskets, but fold the clothing), I will upload my bday pics (as hairless as I got) and my current hair and eyebrow pics. The new outfit pics will have to wait until after the wedding. :)