Drainage tubes and arm exercises!

This is the 11th day since the surgery. I've been home most of the time. I've had one doctor's appt. and a couple of trips to the store. I'm recovering very well. I am looking forward to getting these drainage tubes removed!! I have one on each side. They wrap around my breast (inside, under the skin), exit my side. There is quite a bit of tubing and at the end of that there is a plastic bulb that the excess fluid drains in to. I empty and measure the fluid during the day. When the drainage totals decrease to less than 30 cc in a 24 hour period, then the tubes can come out. Because of the drainage tubes, I have to sleep flat on my back.....not my favorite sleeping position. However, on the other side of the coin, I've not had any infection and I've not had alot of pain. I stopped taking the hydrocodone several days ago (the uncomfortable side effect of constipation helped wean me from that!), but thankfully extra strength tylenol does just fine. The only difference I noticed was that the hydrocodone (aka vicodin), caused drowsiness. Dad and Sue left on Saturday. We really enjoyed them while they were here and they were a great help. Sue was a tremendous help to me in the early days taking care of the drainage tubes and changing bandages. My arm exercises are going great. I can lift both arms over my head and do so repeatedly throughout the day to strengthen arm and chest muscles. From what I've been told, I'm doing remarkably well. I'm so grateful to God. We haven't had to worry about supper since the surgery. My wonderful daughter-in-law, Rachel, organized meals for us. Our friends have blown us away with their love and kindness. Who was it that said "he who has friends, is rich indeed"? We are very rich...

My follow up appt with Dr. Knox last week brought a very good report about the pathology of the breast cancer. It did not reach my lymph nodes, praise God! It was found to be in the milk ducts of every quadrant of my left breast (this was news to us...it had not been detected by mammo or ultrasound...it was in the very early stages). It had gone invasive (left the milk duct and ventured into surrounding breast tissue) in that one area where the lump was, and it was a small amount. It was classed as stage one, which was great news. The report also stated that the cancer was very near my skin. She plans on looking at the pathology slide and determining if she will go back and scrape more fatty tissue from the underneath side of the skin, or if I will go through some radiation. I will see her again this Wednesday and find out. I should also be hearing from The Bridge about an appt with an oncologist. I will find out about chemotherapy and when it will start. This is where the rubber is meeting the road, as the old saying goes. I'm taking it one step at a time. The Lord told me a few weeks ago to begin each day reminding myself that His grace is sufficient for me and that His mercies are new every day. Each morning my prayer goes something like, "Lord I receive your grace for me this day. You know what this day holds and you've provided your grace to me for today. I gather in your mercies that are new every morning. I serve a faithful God and I yield myself to you. May your will be done in my life this day."