Update :)

I am home and happy. I am so excited about the future and seeing what God has in store for me!! I had my lung surgery on April 22nd and it went really well. They got out the last nodule that was on my lungs and I am healing well from that surgery. During my time in Gainesville I found out that there is no cancer in my body!! YAY!!! So that means I am cancer free and no more chemo! It feels so good to be able to say that. I have to give God every bit of glory for healing me. I know that the prayers of many of my friends, family and even those that I do not know have been answered. I never would have made it through this battle for my life if it hadn't been for my faith in the Lord and the prayers of his saints. :) I still have to go in for scans/check-ups every three months. I've been told that if the cancer were to come back it is most likely to come back in the first two years, so the doctors will be keeping a close watch on me for the next two years, but I have faith that this cancer is NOT going to come back and I have beaten it once and for all.

I had an appointment with the prosthetics Dr. here in Ft. Walton on Tuesday. His name is Dr. Jack and he came highly recommended. There is a lot more that goes into getting a prosthetic than I ever would have thought! It is quite a long process. The first thing they will do is measure my body/weight for several weeks in a row to make sure that my weight/size are not fluctuating. The Dr. stressed to me how important it is for my body to be stable (meaning my weight and size) because they will make the prosthetic to fit my body and if I gain weight or loose it after it is made then it will result in me not being able to walk well and they would just have to make another one. So the first thing that I need to do before I get started is try to loose some weight. I had hoped that once I got the prosthetic that I would loose weight, but I didn't even think of the fact that it would effect the fit of the prosthetic its self. So for the next two months I am going to try to loose 10-15 pounds. That is going to be quite challenging considering there's not a whole lot of exercise I can do. My plan is to really watch what I eat and only put healthy things in my mouth and to also try drinking this stuff called Skinny Water that my friend Lori has been telling me about and also do exercises to strengthen my core muscles (which Dr. Jack recommended I do because that will help me walk better once I get the prosthetic). I will update you more on my weight loss and the Skinny Water later. So once I loose some weight and am at a stable weight/size I will go back to the prosthetic Dr. and he will measure me several weeks in a row. Then once we have determined that I am stable he will cast my entire pelvis. The part of the prosthetic that fits to my body is known as the "socket." Because I don't have any of my left leg due to how high the amputation is my socket will look kind of like a pair of plastic underwear and the leg will attach to it. Once they cast my pelvis they will begin building the socket and leg and that will only take them about a week! I was really surprised to hear that because I thought it would take a lot longer to build a prosthetic leg. They do it right there at the Dr's office in FWB. When they finish building my leg and it is ready I'll go back in and Dr. Jack will of course show my how to put it on. Then begins the hard work! He said that he will show me various techniques that I will need to master and when combined those techniques will result my being able to walk. Of course it is going to take a lot of hard work, dedication, and consistency on my part to be able to walk again and even more so to walk normally. I am prepared though. I want so badly to just be able to walk again!! He said that the people that are the most successful with prosthetics are those that put it on every morning when they wake up - whether they think they will use it or not- and wear it throughout the day. So the biggest thing is using it and not falling back on using my walker. I'm so excited to get started and can't wait to be able to walk again. Walking means I will be completely independent once again and will open up many doors for me. So, the biggest hurdles I have to face now are loosing the weight and keeping it off and praying that my insurance will cover the prosthetic. Now the other thing that I have to keep in mind is that even if I do loose the weight and keep it off I am likely to loose more once I start being active and my body will change a lot just from using the prosthetic and being more active. With that in mind the Dr. said that it is not uncommon to have to have another prosthetic made after the first six months because of all the changes your body goes through. Again, I don't know if or how my insurance will pay for all of this, so I am just trusting the Lord and hoping that it works out. I have to share a funny thing with you though...... When we were at the Dr. he showed me a prosthetic foot that was made so that flip flops can be worn with it!! LOL, isn't that crazy, lol. He said that some people have told him that it was important to them that they be able to wear flip flops so they made a foot that could accommodate that. I just has a space between the toes. I thought that was so funny. I would have never even though that possible. I told him I could care less about wearing flip flops, I just want to walk again! It's nice to know I have that option though.

In a nutshell that is what is going on with me. Jarred is nearing the end of fifth grade and I am praying hard that he finished out this year with good grades. He will be so happy when he is out of school and for the record, I will too! I can't wait till this school year is over, it's been a rough one! We are looking forward to this summer. We plan on making a trip to Wisconsin at some point during the summer and I'm SO looking forward to that. I'm also looking forward to lots of beach days! I'll keep you posted on my weight loss journey and what's going on with us. Thank you again for your prayers!

<3 Jillian