I have failed you!
I didn't renew my domain (oops) and then abandoned writing on the blog all together.

Can you forgive me? I've had quite a bit going on.

Can you believe it has been MORE THAN A YEAR since my double mastectomy? Me either. Some days it seems just like yesterday (really only when I attempt to open jars or close windows) and other it seems like an entire lifetime ago.

In October I was all ready to attend the 2016 FORCE Conference in Orlando. Hurricane Matthew had a different idea, so I'll be attending the rescheduled conference June 8 - 11 and am so excited to connect and learn with other members of the BRCA gene mutation world.

I started a new job in November 2016 - I am now the Executive Director of Among Friends Activity Center in Norman, OK. I get to spend my days advocating for the disabled adults of Norman and the the surrounding area. How cool is that? 

I have taken up spin class 3 times a week. What started in January as "New Year, New Me" motivation has become a slight obsession. I love the classes at the Y and just CAN'T stop myself from waking up at 5:00 AM and getting to the gym right when it opens. I am in the best shape I have been in my entire life (probably a lie, but let me live my lie) and I've been rocking this padded, camel toed pants like a champ. 

All this new activity led T & I to going on a vacation with our friends to Crested Butte where we hiked and I biked and we even white water rafted. I get the feeling that T didn't think these were the type of group activities we would participate in when we got married.  (After a week of strenuous activity and altitude, we will be balancing it out with binge watching the newest season of House of Cards, so don't worry too much about us.)

Well, I can't wait to share more about the upcoming conference and give you some additional advice to be prepared for "what's next" after a double mastectomy.

Today was my first Shania Twain day since my double mastectomy. 
What do I mean by a "Shania Twain" day?
Man! I feel like a woman.
I woke up feeling feminine and slipped on a dress I bought at the end of last summer that I haven't (1) felt like wearing and (2) been able to fit into.  A cute little, floral JCREW number that screams summer.  Too bad, it's already Pumpkin Spice Latte season, but I rocked it anyway.  It's still warm here in Oklahoma.

So...let it be known that it took exactly 7 months and 5 days for me to feel like the feminine, garden party going, dress and heel wearing princess that I used to be.

On August 15th I got my fat harvested from my inner thighs and then injected into by boobs.
Science is amazing and the fact that I was able to get an inch suctioned off my thighs is also pretty amazing. 
Liposuction is NO JOKE. I now know why celebrities check themselves into a facility for weeks at a time to be able to relax after their procedures.  I didn't want to wear clothes, be seen in public, move off the couch, or use my brain at all. 
The bruising was quite in tense.  I originally thought about sharing the photos on this page for all to see, but have decided against it.  I still have them on my phone, so if you run into me and want to see them, I will show them. 

Next month I will be attending the FORCE (Facing Our Risk of Cancer Empowered) annual conference in Orlando.  I'm excited to see a couple of friends while I'm down there, but I am particularly excited to learn more about how to empower and engage others with BRCA1&2 mutations here in Oklahoma.  Other states have FORCE organizations and I hope to bring back enough knowledge and confidence to be able to start a chapter to service the fine men and women in Oklahoma that need information, empowerment, and support.

Because this is why I've done all this, right?  Not only to save myself from, what I now refer to as, my ticking time boobs, but also to raise awareness and help others.

Before today, I've been feeling pretty blue.  Some days I feel like I am a fraud, others I have forgotten that I have undergone two major procedures within 6 months of each other and am amazed that I've kept it together all along.  I'm sure things have slipped through the cracks but at the end of the day I have my health, I have my marriage, and I am surrounded by amazing friends who have been there to entertain, drive, feed, and cry with me along the way.

It takes a village, right?!

I don't have a naturally green thumb, so the only thing I'm going to be harvesting in August will be my fat.

You read that correctly.  My fat will be harvested in August.

This is what I was made for.

This is what the extra chocolates and Starbucks Pink Drinks have brought me to - the harvest.  The day where my hard work, determination, and love for complex carbs will reap its benefits.

The procedure that Dr. M is going to do is, actually, kind of cool.  He's going to liposuction (harvest) fat from my thighs (because they've rubbed together since I was 12 I figured it was the best place to start with stubborn fat) and then inject the fat into my boobs.  WHAAAT!

Since my implants have settled and I don't have any natural tissue or fat (remember that Dr. R got rid of all that during the mastectomy), Dr. M is going to fill up some of that now empty space with the most natural and most stubborn substance that my body produces - INNER THIGH FAT!!!

Something I never thought I would say when I was in my 20's - I've got fake tits and I'm getting lipo.

PS. If you don't know what that top image is of/from - it is two bags of fat from Becca's heavy boobs episode of My Crazy Ex-Girlfriend.​  Season one is now on Netflix.  You are welcome.