It's been a crazy 6 weeks!

Happily, I'm recuperating well. We visited Dr. Osland for my 6-month surgical follow-up (can you believe it's been 6 months???) on Thursday, and got the all-clear. I've been making myself crazy thinking about cosmetic (reduction) surgery, so it was great to talk with the pros. Given the risks and the (relatively) minor issues I'm having, she seemed to advise against it; her PA was encouraging surgery "if it would make that big a difference" in my mind. Dr. Osland explained me the 'mechanics' of the process and told me no reasonable surgeon would consider touching it for another 6 months, so I've put it behind me for now.

I plan to go to B&K and pick up a 'cutlet' -- and start stuffing my bra for the first time in my life!!! Nobody notices the difference but me, but when I'm wearing those few shirts that emphasize the difference I can slip in the prosthesis and feel better about myself. And I'm thinking I'll take surgery off the table.

Al, on the other hand, has had quite a rough ride. He got a respiratory infection in late December which involved two rounds of antibiotics and a round of steroids. He's pretty much lost his voice, and a bronchoscopy the end of January revealed a yeast infection on his vocal cords. Dr. Berquist put him on an anti-fungal, which has cleared up the yeast infection but has not restored his voice. So he saw an ENT, Dr. Hendrick (Al saw him in 2006), who reiterated there is no paralysis evident in his vocal cords. He didn't understand why Al's voice hasn't come back either, so Al's going to have a study (scheduled for March 23) of his vocal cords. As I understand it, they'll go in with a high-speed camera and record the activity of his vocal cords. I'm hoping this will prove to all of us that the paralysis of his vocal cords disappeared after his treatment, and we'll get back to life as we know it.

Fortunately, he is feeling better and has more energy. His voice comes and goes, but his breathing has gotten easier and he doesn't need nebulizer treatments every 5-6 hours just to function. He now wants to get a feel for how much his system is actually compromised, and what he can do to improve his lung capacity and literally breathe easier.

So, hang in there with us. I'll try to be better about blogging regularly, but always know that no news is good news.