R & R

Looking forward to a weekend of rest and relaxation after my crazy last few weeks of home show madness ... tonight the kids and I are heading to an indoor waterpark hotel in Dubuque, IA to meet up with 3 of the other families we traveled to China with on our adoption trip 9 years ago. Can't wait to see the girls together and see how the other 3 have grown!

Drew will be tagging along and helping with the driving and keeping an eye on the kids, which will be great. This is a weekend that Mitch is gone more than home with the state basketball tourney in Peoria, so it worked out perfect to have this weekend for the reunion.

This week I had a physical therapy appointment to evaluate some swelling in my arm (on surgery side) that is most likely related to the impact surgery had on the lymph nodes in that part of my body. They have referred me to a medical supply specialist for a fitting of a compression sleeve that they would like to see me wear anytime I'm walking on the track or using strength training machines. I'll also need to wear it any time in the future I'm on an airplane, as the changes in altitude can trigger swelling in these instances. Once I get the sleeve, I'll return to the physical therapy clinic for 3-4 individualized therapy sessions, and then they will release me to do strength training machines on my own at my fitness center.

Next week I'm due for a saline flush of my medi-port, so I'll be making a quick visit to the chemo clinic for that. I'll have to continue that process about every 6 weeks until my port is removed during reconstruction surgery in August.