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I'm going to keep this challenge really simple, since I have no idea what condition my skin will be in. My treatments also largely make me want to: 1. Do something stretchy every day. I especially need to stretch my left shoulder, pec, and armpit areas, so I don't lose ROM during treatment. 2. Do something strengthy every day. It doesn't have to be much. Just something. 3. Play with my basement silks every day. Even if it's just for a minute. I got rosin, so I can finally grip them really well. 4. Do something nerdy every day. Reading, python coding, working on Linux. All are fine. 5. Do some cleaning every day. My house is a disaster, and even if it's just 10 minutes of picking a few things up, I need to do something. 6. If possible, try to avoid taking a nap. The fatigue is worse when I give in, and it's more manageable when I stay active. That's it. Most days, my "somethings" will end up being a token effort. And that's okay. I can push myself a bit more when I'm finished with all of this cancer bullshit.

WARNING: This challenge will have no real goals. It'll just be a lot of blathering. I'm not in a position for goals right now. On March 19, the radiologist thought that something didn't look quite right on my routine, screening mammogram. So, she called me back for another one as well as an ultrasound. One biopsy later, and I was diagnosed with IDC breast cancer. Over the last month, I've gone through 2 mammograms, an ultrasound, an ultrasound guided biopsy, a breast MRI, a CT scan, a lymph node biopsy, a bone scan, an upper arm MRI, an arm X-ray, a visit to the surgical oncologist, a visit to the plastic surgeon, a class at the hospital, and ultimately a bilateral mastectomy. So yeah. As Jayne would say, I took that stick. And, well, I took it. And I guess that's something. All of that being said, everything is considered to be 100% curable, so I don't want anyone worrying about me too much. It was caught relatively early, and it has the best combination of hormonal receptors that you can possibly have for breast cancer. Here I am 2 days before surgery And here I am after surgery. TMI warning.. Things are very tender, but I actually feel pretty good. I'm only using the oxycodone at night, and I'm fine with just tylenol and ibuprofen during the day. The big problem is that I'm currently a T-Rex, meaning I can't raise my arms or use them much. Rather than worrying that a T-Rex can't parkour (or do yoga, pull ups, silks, push ups, etc.), instead I'll focus on what a T-Rex can do. T-Rex can take walks, read books, do physical therapy exercises, paint miniatures, (eventually) play the piano, relax, and heal. So, that's what I will do. On Friday, I should get the pathology report, at which point I'll know if they need to go back in and harvest more lymph nodes. I'll also have a slightly better idea if I'll end up doing chemo. While I really hope they don't need to take more lymph nodes, since that would greatly increase my risk of lymphedema, I'll just deal with whatever happens. I'm feeling pretty positive about everything, have a ton of support, and I'm ready to tackle all of this head-on! I am a little weirded out that Rurik and I seem to be cosmically linked, but the universe works in weird ways.