Spring break, surgery date conflict, and Toms!

First of all, spring break was awesome. Being at home with my family is so fun! We even were able to take a mini vacation to Virginia Beach, see my parents, and my sister. It was a busy but great week! I did get some not so great news about my surgery date. August is not possible. That kind of throws a wrench in all of my plans. Dan and I are still talking about our other options and what works best for our schedule. Since he is a teacher, he prefer not to take a week off in September which is the first available time that the two surgeons can coordinate, not to mention he was out the first week of school this year due to Miss Carter’s arrival. Anyway, I am not going to let it get me down. We’ll figure out a date. Perhaps re-visiting the original November/Thanksgiving plan would be best.

On a totally unrelated note….I am going to try something I’ve seen on a lot of other blogs though my time frame will most likely be shorter. I am going to set some goals for myself and reward myself if I reach them. I am going to try a week at a time though I hope to at least keep it going for a month. I am going to start small. So, here we go.

Week 1 Goals:

1. No sweets for a week. I think I need to be specific here: doughnuts, candy, cookies, cake, ice cream (none of these things are ever in my house yet I somehow manage to eat them----teacher’s lounge!!) Do granola bars count? Chime in if you have thoughts?!?!?

2. Eat salad for dinner for a week. I feel like I ate my way through my spring break so this will be a good way to get back on to my healthy eating diet.

3. Clean my house more often. For this week: kitchen scrubbed and mopped and clean master bathroom.

4. Run 10 miles a week. I am averaging about 2 runs at around 3 miles. So I need to add another run at around 4 miles. My garmin will keep me honest!

Ok, I feel like that is a good start. I am going to try to do 4 rounds of 1 week goals. Some goals overlapping, and some changing. Now that I’ve put it on the blog…I have to do it, right? What is my reward?

 Toms!!

Waiting. . .

So, my surgery is "penciled" in for August 22nd. The problem is it is already difficult to coordinate with multiple surgeons but add summer vacations to the mix, and it is hard to figure out! The doctor I chose is going on vacation sometime in August but he hasn't decided when. So the secretary has been talking with his wife to try to get it figured out. Lets hope the plastic surgeon isn't going on vacation too. I mean, I am personally going on 3 vacations this summer so I can't blame them. But, either way, I want to know the date and be done with the stressful decision making process. The decision is made and now I can move on and focus on my family, work, and getting into kick butt shape. Now, I am just waiting for the secretary to call me back and let me know the final decision on a date. Fingers crossed for August 22nd! It works great with our schedule.

How ironic is it that every since I posted those Tri picks I have been thinking about getting out my bike from the attic. I think I need to get back on the road. After looking at the summer schedule and seeing my vacations and the fact that my favorite Tri has moved to September it doesn't seem like a Tri this season is in the cards. That is ok, I am sure I'll be back at it next summer! What better reason does a girl have to miss the usual triathlons besides being on three awesome vacations!?! One to the mountains with the Bliss gang, one to OBX with the Rettig Gang and one to Kure Beach with our close friends. I will have surgery 3 days after returning from vacation #3. Talk about a way to keep my mind off the impending surgery. Lay on the beach with 8 close friends and 8 (yes, I said 8) super cute kids! Sounds like a great plan!

This pic was taken the summer of 2010 the last time we went to the beach with our close friends. It was 8 adults and only 5 kids. We've multiplied! Looking forward to another great summer especially now that we have a great family of four!

My decision.

I have made my decision. I have decided on Dr. #3 and the corresponding plastic surgeon. Whew. At least I can mark that off the list. It turns out that Dr #2 and her plastic surgeon operate a hospital that my insurance no longer supports. I think they are in the process of negotiating a contract and we received a letter stating that hospital was no longer an option for me. I am not willing to wait it out to see if the negotiations change things. So, that helped to make my decision even easier. I wanted to use Dr. #3 anyway so one less thing to worry about!

I've called to schedule the surgery...gasp! I've given my requested timeline and so we'll see what the actual date turns out to be. Now, I can take the next month to enjoy my afternoons without rushing off to Dr.'s appointments once a week!

Why August?

I made a list of reasons for and and against having the surgery in August, rather than November. Here are my pros and cons.

 Pros
1. Dan won't need to take off as much time as we'll both be on summer break and what he does take off will be teacher workdays. Not having to do sub plans make it much easier for him to take days off.
2. We won't need to worry about transitioning Carter/Sean back to daycare and then taking them out for a month or so and then re-transitioning them. They will just not go back to daycare after summer break until I go back to work post surgery. My family will be taking turns staying with us and so they'll handle the kids while I am recovering.
3. Dan coaches in the winter/spring seasons and when I go back to work after surgery I think it is wise to have him around from 4pm vs. 6pm, as I'll be exhausted from working all day. I've heard it is MONTHS and months before you feel back to your normal self. It has something to do with your muscles re-generating and the overall healing process.
4. It puts me out of work for only a few actually weeks of school and surprisingly it isn't a horrible time for me to miss as my counseling stuff like lessons and group/individual sessions don't really begin until October. A sub can easily fill in for me given what my focus is in September.
5. I'll just be returning from the beach and I can have one last boob-cation. ha ha JK on the last one

Con's
1. My mom most likely won't be able to come visit me after surgery :o( She'll be doing radiation at that time.
2. I won't be able to "hide" in winter clothes, big sweaters, etc.
3. I'll be laid up after surgery for my baby girl's first Bday :o( :o(

There isn't a magic answer or a "perfect" time to do this.  I just think my pros list for August is much bigger! Since I am months away, I hope that this will be do-able with the surgeon's schedule. First, I have to choose one!

I'll come home from our third summer vacation (with my hopefully by then rocking post birthing two children bod) and get a boob upgrade. Fabulous...right?

If only it were that simple.