My Last OOrah! Recap and Recovery

Wednesday the 30th, I was at Troy Beaumont at 6am to have the next stage of my cancer conquered. Bilateral mastectomy.

"You are the talk around here, we hear you are a real rockstar...." One of my nurses say to me.
"Well, don't believe everything you hear.." I respond laughing.
"I hear you ran a marathon 3 days ago...."

I had several dreams before I was diagnosed with TNBC (triple negative breast cancer) back in April. I don't like being told what to do. I never have. I didn't appreciate Cancer telling me that I had to cower down to his rules. And I wasn't even willing to negotiate.
I had planned to run Marine Corp Marathon for over a year with my family.
My Dr.s worked so hard to help this happen. They monitored me closely with extra blood draws and assessments.
I continued to train, race and run. I did it all with caution, the very best I could with all I had.
My surgeon wanted my surgery the beginning of October, she graciously contacted the rest of my team, telling them my plan to run with my family. We scheduled my surgery for 3 days after my marathon.

TRAVEL.
Andy and I flew into Ronald Reagan on Friday along with my brother and sister in law coming from Florida.
Mom and dad drove to DC to cheer us all on, especially Andy, it was his and Leeannes first marathon.

THE EXPO. It's a Small World
Saturday was the EXPO. Expos are my thing, loud, full of people and great energy.
As we walked around I heard my name called, "NITA, Nita, its "Will Run for Donuts".  It took me a second to put it all together, this was a runner that follows me on IG! My brother was cracking up.

I was especially excited to listen to Dean Karnazes , ultramarathon runner. He was on the speaking format at 12:30.  I was so inspired by Deans speech, his enthusiasm for running and humor in his mishaps made his superhuman endeavors seem somewhat normal.

Selfie with Dean. 

"Find what you love and let it kill you.." A quote I quickly penned after he had recited it a couple times.  My ultra running had left me feeling like death many times but would prove to be great training for my future.

My Last OORAH

Marine Corp Marathon.

Mom in her red poncho reminds me of "RED RUM"! But so much cuter! 

Dad and Mom always told Andy they would be there for him on his first Marathon. 

Team Harless

The forecast never waivered from rain. It showed all variations of rain. We were prepared. Andy had purchased garbage bags and we had ponchos. We had bought metro passes to take the Metro.

Lacey made head signs for mom and dad to cheer us on. This is how I was able to find mom and dad on the course! 

We headed out the door to mom and dads hotel just a few hundred feet away.
The rain bounced off our ponchos and trickled down in places we thought were covered. We were too excited to care.

The Metro line was really cool. At 6:30am the metro was packed. We all stayed close so we wouldn't loose anyone. .
Mom and dad didn't get to walk down to the starting line with us, we gave our goodbyes and hoped they would be able to navigate the Metro along the course to see us.

The Plan. 
Andy had decided to run his own race. Bobby was going to stay with Leeanne and I. Leeanne's goal was a sub 5 hour marathon. I knew she could do it. I knew I could get her there I just had to get her to believe in her training, herself and me.

I took my poncho off in our corral. It was almost 70'.
30,000 runners had signed up but not that many had showed up. You wouldn't have known that though, we were shoulder to shoulder with runners. It took almost 10 minutes to cross over the starting mat.

I was my normal obnoxious self. Andy pulled ahead right out of the gate. I started cutting up with the runners around us. Bobby joined in giving high fives and yelling "OORAH"!
The first 7 miles were all hills. I would yell "ARE WE HAVING FUN YET?" and Bobby would yell "OORAH"! And if no one said anything I would add "I CAN'T HEAR YOU!"
It was a blast hearing the runners join in.
"MMM, someone smells GOOD, I am following him into the finish line!" I yelled about 10 miles out. The runners started laughing, Leeanne was cracking up.

The rain continued to drench us. But the rain didn't scare off the spectators. "Thank you, Thank you" I said at every aid station. The volunteers were incredible, So many Marines along the course.
About mile 13, we were coming into "Wear Blue to Remember". For almost one mile they had fallen soldiers on both sides of the road. This is an organization you adopt a fallen soldier and run for them. I did this at the Harland race on Memorial Day.
I was leading Bob and Leeanne but when I looked back they were gone. There were so many runners I didn't think I would find them.
I spotted them, joining them as we ran through this very emotional mile.

GONE.
We lost Bobby in that mile. Leeanne was worried, I told Leeanne to keep running I would fall back and find him. I found him, walk/running. "It's my knee... Go, catch up to Leeanne..." I wished him well, sadly left him but knew I had to get Leeanne across the finish line, she too was beginning to struggle.

I caught up to Leeanne. "Leeanne, he will be fine...." I tried to convince her to stay focused.
We had already saw mom and dad about mile 4. We saw them again about mile 16/17. I yelled at them that Bobby had fell back. They yelled to me that Andy was about 10 minutes ahead.

"You Are Doing Great Leeanne."
We had ran for over 3 hours in torrential rain when the sun decided to come out and heat us up at 75 degrees.
Runners were walking and bonking. I has trying to keep Leeanne distracted and focused on her goal.
"Run for Donuts" saw us out there but he fell behind us along with several other runners.
My feet were throbbing from all the pavement pounding.
I gave Leeanne my Expresso Gu. She was crashing and needed the caffeine.
I gave Leeanne more walk breaks. This helped to break up the miles and keep her moving steady.
Then we spotted Andy. The heat had got him.
We ended up passing him with about a mile to go, he told us to keep running.

The streets were lined shoulder to shoulder with Marines in full uniform. They were encouraging us all the way to the Finish.

Time: 4:49

This was our whole gang that ran.

Andy, me, Bobby, Leeanne, Chris and Rob 

My Last OORAH! I wasn't sneaking in any more races or runs. I had accomplished more than I had ever thought I would get to do. My dreams had come true. 
From the day I was diagnosed with cancer, I had lived more life, with more joy and more adventures than most people do that are healthy. God had given me "Life Abundantly"


Bye Bye Boobies. 
For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Jeremiah 29:11

I was back to work Tuesday to a incredible "Breast Wishes" Boobie party from the gals at GLITZ.
This kept me distracted.

Surgery: Wednesday, October 30th. Be at the hospital at 6am.
My niece Sarah was there to greet us. This meant so much to me.
They took me back right away to change and prep.
They injected me with a dye at 7am.
My anesthetist showed up at 7:30. "AHH, Whoa, can you please bring my husband back?" I asked. Things were moving very fast.
I learned that my surgery was scheduled for 8am.

Mom, Dad and Deb came back to pray with me before I went in.
Dr. Hainer came in with a sharpie to draw on me where they would cut me and Dr. Johnson looked at the drawings with concern. I chose to pretend I had read her face wrong. After all, she is one of the best, she doesn't get rattled.

That is all I remember. I woke up at 1-ish.
I was wide away. I wasn't vomiting and I felt alert and pretty good.

Bobby and Leeanne and come to Michigan to take care of me for a few days. 

I was in the truck the next day coming home at 11am with my family.

No Narcotics. 
The surgery was a little longer. Dr. Johnson took 5 Lymph Nodes. This is where most of my pain is, in my arm. My chest is wrapped tightly, like shrink wrap.

My sports bra they gave me. My sister in law, DEB, gave me Googgly eyes to tape on. When Dr. Johnson came in the following morning she pulled my gown away and started laughing. Well Anita, I have never seen this before!" 

They started the expander process. Dr. Hainer said that my breasts were about 100 mL and he gave me 75mL. of saline. I told him I didn't want more than 200mL and he agreed that was his thoughts too. That is about a small B cup, or large A cup.
I have draining tubes. These are nasty. Andy has had to empty them for me. They are barely draining. This is great. I will probably have them removed within the next few days. He said they usually stay in 7-14 days.
PAIN. This is where my running has helped me. It has built such a tolerance up for pain. I haven't taken any pain pills yet today.
There really isn't much pain, it is mostly soreness. Similar to a hard upper body workout.

This is one day post op. I look like a science experiment. You can see my drain tubes along my sides. In the front is my wound vac. The wound vac provides negative pressure to help the drainage.

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."

Jeremiah 29:11

God never wanted to harm me. It was never His decision to give me cancer. He wants me to prosper, He wants me to have hope and a future. But how do you do that if you never DREAM? How do you recognize this if you never set goals or you live in fear.

No Excuses. 

We all have a story, a tragedy, we all have hardships and trauma. But we don't have to let those define us. 

Life is beautiful. Cancer has shown me that life can be lived beautifully even in hardship. 

Anita~

PLEASE PRAY FOR A CLEAR PATHOLOGY REPORT. I SHOULD GET THE RESULTS NEXT WEEK.