A feeling of thankfulness is what I frequently experience when I sit at my keyboard to write. Free flowing thoughts, words, ideas about knowledge, science, medicine, health, life’s experiences are why I love the writing process. My day is not complete unless I have at the very least written down or made note of something I feel is worth writing about to inform and educate others.
My daily routine consists of fixing coffee, checking my social media accounts and then organizing my day before I go on my morning walk. Often times a thought, an idea or a topic comes to mind while I am out walking and I’ll come back to my office and act on it. There is nothing like fresh air and getting that blood pumping through your system to fuel some new ideas. There are mornings though that the well seems to be dry. I think all writers get to that point on certain days. But, there are also those days when my well is filled in the most unexpected ways. That happened to me this week and it seemed so timely during the week before Thanksgiving.
Checking my social media accounts and email as I was enjoying my morning coffee, here’s what I read:
Happy to say I am home! Today is 14 days post-op. Surgery went well, rough first week but I think my age was a factor (58). Surgical incisions healing well, no pain meds. Start PT next week with ultrasound to breast mounds to break up fat cells. PRMA was an excellent choice. Was harder being away from home for 2 weeks post-op than I thought. I have an amazing support system at home and was super homesick! My husband was with me through it all, he is the most incredible man I know! Feel like a new beginning! Thank you to all who thought about me and a huge thank you to Terri Coutee for this FB group, where this phase of my journey really began! ~Tamra
Thankful for Breast Reconstruction Connections
I admittedly welled up a bit when I read it. Tamra and I have been private messaging each other for the past 3 months in anticipation of her DIEP flap surgery. I don’t always have open discussion on The Journey with women who have questions that I feel need to be addressed privately and Tamra was one of those gals. We discussed traveling for DIEP flap surgery, airlines, lodging, fears, being away from family, support garments and a few other topics.
What I also found out was that Tamra was going to have her DIEP flap surgery done by my plastic surgeon, Dr. Chrysopoulo. I remember her telling me that she chose PRMA and Dr. C because of my Face Book group. Thankful? You bet and a reminder of why I said yes to this advocacy after my own successful DIEP flap. Women who do their homework, like me and Tamra, just have a natural inclination to pay it forward to other women. Inform, educate, and let others know that there are qualified plastic surgeons that successfully perform breast reconstruction.
Thankful for Success Stories
When I hear from other women that they have had successful surgery it simply fills my emotional bank. Let me be clear. I couldn’t be happier that Tamra and I shared the same plastic surgeon, nurse, and group at PRMA. But not everyone I have talked to has had that commonality. There are women on the Journey and those I have talked to outside of my Social Media connections who have chosen to go elsewhere to do their DIEP flap. They have very valid reasons. It can be because of proximity to family, medical facilities or simply the rapport they built with their physicians.
I am thankful when I hear from women that they are healing well, despite the challenges and difficulties of the surgery, whether it is DIEP flap or implant-based surgery. Thankful when I hear that their sense of confidence has been restored, even through the scars, recovery, and time away from loved ones. When I hear women speak so highly of their plastic surgeons, oncologist, and breast surgeons who engage with them in shared decision-making and listen to their expectations for outcomes, yes, I am thankful.
Gratitude ~ A Chosen Action
I imagine that many Journey members, patients, caregivers, and physicians alike, have had plenty of practice trying to find gratitude through all the ups and downs breast reconstruction can encompass. Being thankful is not a gift, in my mind. It is an action and certainly an action of choice. The choice to be thankful in the most trying of circumstances can be difficult but often times yields a wealth of returns.
The act of showing gratitude can fill a heart in the simplest of ways; a bouquet of flowers, a note from a child, a phone call, a word of compassion, a hand held, an acknowledgement of how you are feeling. There are so many ways that feeling thankful can turn a tragic day, a dull and seemingly uneventful day, a day filled with the business and routine necessities of life, into an uplifting and emotional rush that fills our spirit. It can happen in an instant.
Thank You to All Journey Members!
Thank you Tamra, and the countless others, both patients and physicians, on the Journey for deepening my sense of thankfulness. Your kind words fill my heart and spirit on more days than many of you will ever know!
How has an unexpected moment of thankfulness blindsided you and filled your heart and spirit for one precious moment that you know will forge a memory for a life time?
Please feel free to share your thoughts. Thanksgiving comes but once a year in the United States. Being thankful can be a moment in any ones day all over the world. I wanted to share mine with you.