Merry Christmas! I cannot believe the time has passed so quickly and we are almost in a New Year! Time has been good for me, I have healed from my latest surgery and decided to take my Dr.'s advice and do 1 last quick touch up. You see, my belly boob is naturally made...ha ha. It has belly fat and now a small implant. That said, it started to head south. Unlike the right side that has 100% implant and does not move! My left side, with the radiated skin actually starting to soften, stretch and therefore, yes, started to look very natural! Dr. Gordley suggested removing some skin (the belly skin portion) and lifting it up, reattaching to my normal chest skin. AND, he suggested doing it all in office! WHAT?? Ok, yes, I'm thinking he's crazy. Cutting my skin, removing it and reattaching it..Yes, a LIFT in OFFICE??  Well, he reassured me I was numb, and he'd give me local anesthesia to make sure I didn't feel anything. Said it's a 45 min. procedure, vs. going to a hospital, pre-op, being put under, post-op, etc. Well, an office visit sounds much better. But still, this is a little scary. So, I put it off and finally, came to realize I really didn't like the saggy belly boob. I have already met my deductible and decided if I was going to do this, I needed to do it ASAP! So, last Wednesday, I went to have a lift, in office! Pretty cool actually, Dr. Gordley prepped me as he would in the OR, I sat, reclined under a large OR light. So away he went. I don't get queasy for these kinds of things, but, on the flip side, I've never watched skin cut, removed and reattached!!  LOL! He gave me some more local anesthesia and in 1 spot I felt the needle. Actually it is the spot where I have most feeling, really, the only spot. He began cutting (with a scalpel), I decided not to watch at all! Then he began snipping with scissors, I COULD HEAR IT! When I saw him pick the old skin up and put it on the tray I told myself DO NOT LOOK!! OMG, there is goes...what does it look like with no skin? I CAN-NOT look down-I started to feel a cold trickle down my back and just thought it was the betadine (when I sat up, Dr. Gordley had to clean up the blood-gross! And yes, there was a mess of it on the chair-eww). So then he cauterized the skin-yikes, I felt one little bit in the area I felt the needle, the most sensitive part. It wasn't that bad and He goes, well I won't do that again. And then he
started sewing-yep, needle and thread-ha ha. Push in, yep, could hear that poking, not feeling it at all though. He sewed it all up, put some glue on it and Wa-La!  I was done! I got dressed and walked out! I now have a very nice, perky, nipple tattoos nice and even, new boob! I AM SO GLAD I DID THIS! Dr. Gordley told me after my major reconstruction a few years ago that I would inevitably have more surgeries. I didn't want to believe him, but of course, he was right. Rob asked me if I thought I was finished. I think I am! I don't want to ever say Never, because I did that before and look at where that got me! I've lost count of the surgeries I have had. I always heard that breast cancer patients have upwards of 10-15-20 surgeries. Yep that is a lot! Just goes to show nothing is as good as God can do! Ha! Well, I'm still under 10 and If I'm counting right, maybe closer to 7.

I hope this time of year is finding each of you enjoying a very Merry Christmas! Remembering, most importantly the reason for the season. Jesus' birth, for without HIM we would not be living the life we have. Learning to love, to live and to forgive. To better ourselves each new day, better than yesterday.

Please keep all the cancer patients in your prayers. My dad included. He struggles daily and continues to make weekly, 3x a week trips to MDAndersen downtown.

And of course, Prayers for you too!

Love, hugs & best Wishes to all, May God bless you in all you do!

It is October and we all know what that means...FALL!  Ha Ha, well to a breast cancer survivor it's Breast Cancer awareness month!  I love all the attention it brings, and not b/c it brings attention to me, but because it's a reminder to all women to get your Mammograms!  It's a reminder to all the ones fighting that everyone is thinking about you!

In August, I had my 6month check up and everything was just peachy keen!  THANK GOD! This marked 4 years since my mastectomy.  WOW, time flies! Especially when you have 3 very busy kids!

Last Friday, I had the opportunity to speak during the annual Dig Pink Volleyball game between The Woodlands & College Park HS. This is a big rivalry and every year these 2 schools trade hosting the Dig Pink game. The audience all had pink pom poms and the girls are all wearing pink-it's a great awareness event. I was asked (Thank you Cindy & Lisa), to give a speech about my journey. You would think speaking in a large gym full of kids, parents, etc. I'd be nervous. But, all I needed was a little lifting up by God himself. Believe it or not, I wasn't fazed standing up in front of the crowd at all. I knew I had to write a speech that spoke to the majority of the people in the gym-young girls. After I spoke, I had people come up to me sharing bits of their stories as well. Natalie was all tears. My mom, Rob, Nathan and Emma were also there and it really meant a lot to me. I don't like drawing attention to myself, BUT, I thoroughly enjoy telling my story, my experience & I love sharing about God and how without HIM my journey would not be what it was.
I enjoyed speaking to this group. Even though this is a rival school, we know many of the families, players & coaches through club volleyball. So, I knew I had support on both sides of the gym!
I'm posting a copy of my speech below...Enjoy!
Until next time, many months from now, with another clean-clear-healthy report!

(the separation of thoughts by color was to help me keep my place...)

Thank you Cindy, as Cindy said, my name is Patti Kimmel. I am a 4 yr. BC survivor. I’ve been married to Rob for 18 yrs. We have Natalie on JV vb, Nathan plays McC FB, is on the Bass fishing team & Plays LAX. and Emma at Mitchell and she plays vb at Revolution. 

 In June of 2014, I was diagnosed with stage 2A invasive ductal carcinoma from a yearly mammogram, I was 41 Yrs. old. At that time our kids were 11, 8 & 6… In Aug. that summer, I had a double mastectomy through MDAnderson TW. My final Pathology showed I had cancer cells in 2 lymph nodes and 2 days after my mastectomy I had another surgery where my dr. removed a total of 18 LN from my left arm. I was officially cancer free August 12, 2014. That Sept. I started 16 rounds of chemo, including 4 rounds of the infamous red devil chemo. I finished in Feb. 2015. I then had 6 weeks of daily radiation therefore finishing all treatments in Spring of 2015. Since my mastectomy, I have had 4 more reconstruction surgeries. I have an aunt, several distant cousins, a great-grandma and just last fall my step-mom all diagnosed with breast cancer & they all beat it! My cancer is NOT genetic. Cancer DOES NOT DISCRIMINATE. The ONLY risk factor I had was dense tissue. Statistically, I was not a candidate for breast cancer!

1-8 women will be diagnosed with BC. 

And, currently, over 3.5 million women in the US have either been treated for or undergoing treatments. I had the most common type of cancer and I did all treatments possible. There are handfuls of different types of breast cancer, with all different treatment options. Even men can get breast cancer.

Breast Cancer has or will touch each and every one of us in some way or another. Your grandma, your Mother, your sister, aunt, cousin, wife, friend, friend of a friend.

If I could give you some advice. **if u have a family history, genetic or not, DO NOT skip your mammograms. AND keep your dr.’s informed of your family history. Women are getting their mammograms on a regular basis and doing monthly self exams. Early diagnosis and treatments have shown to be extremely successful. Therefore, survival rates are at their highest and increasing every year.

Remember, CANCER DOES NOT DISCRIMINATE-

Years ago, I was a hard working athlete just like many of you. And after college, I coached HS CC & Track for 10 yrs. I come from a family of all level of athletes and coaches. To say our family revolves around sports and being competitive is an understatement. I remember the day I called my dad when I was driving downtown for a follow-up mammogram bc of something they spotted on the first one. He told me, You’ll be fine, cancer does not happen to us, we’re a tough, strong healthy family. WOW, he was very wrong! BC not only did I get diagnosed with cancer, but he diagnosed with a blood cancer shortly after me. And He’s still battling today!

LIFE is not about HS-college sports. BUT, the lessons, the relationships, 

the friends, the coaches, the hard times, the fun times, the winning and even the losing. The leadership, the perseverance, the struggles, the hard work, the don’t quit, the NEVER GIVE UP, —EVERYTHING sports teaches you, can and will help you deal with anything that ever comes your way down the road. I know first hand because I heard those same words as a kid- “sports teaches you more than just how to play a game”. And When I was diagnosed, I looked at my cancer as a race. I had to dig deep each & every day during my treatments to find strength. I had to work really hard to fight. And not just physically fight, I HAD TO FIGHT MENTALLY AS WELL. For me, fighting cancer truly was a competition. It was a marathon and I was not only going to finish, but, I was going to WIN-not just for me, but for my family.

Not only did I find strength from being an athlete, but I was lifted up spiritually. I was carried through every surgery, every chemo treatment by the Grace of God. My family, my friends, my community, my church were my main sources of strength. 

I still have to fight the mind games to this day. It would’ve been easy to give in to the What-if’s, the Why’s. It would be easy, to look at my scars and ask God why me? But, that’s not what sports taught me-that’s not how God wanted me to live. I learned how to be a fighter as an athlete & now as a cancer patient. I learned to live each day with purpose-tomorrow is not promised. I learned how to trust, completely trust. I had to Have Faith…..

For those of you who, in the future find a diagnosis too close for comfort. Know that With faith in Gods plan you can fight, & you can survive. It takes a village. It takes prayers, hugs, calls, texts and even your friends cooking meals for your family. It takes a light heart, laughter, smiles and the ability to let things roll. It takes knowing that just maybe you’ll lose all your hair and when you are bald, Not everyone knows what to say. (an Old man in church who asked me what I’ve been doing with my hair. I didn’t have the heart to tell him it was actually a wig!)

But once your hair starts growing back, someone will always compliment you on your hair!

Life was hard for our family that year, but not everything was bad. We each learned how to take the bad and make something good out of it. Cancer teaches you life lessons. And anyone who has had cancer can tell you, you become stronger than you ever imagined. Cancer DOES NOT define who you are, but it becomes part of who you are, forever. 

If you or someone you love find yourself diagnosed with cancer know that you are a winner. YOU ARE A fighter. And YOU ARE A survivor. And know that with God on your side. Everything is possible. 

Thank you!

Four Years and counting.....

Wow, it's been a while. I guess that means life is normal, whatever normal is. The kids are growing up so fast. Natalie turned 15 this year, has her driving permit, is about to finish her freshman year and extremely busy playing both club and school volleyball! Nathan is 13, about to enter Jr. High, and is busy playing football and lacrosse. Emma is 10, leaving elementary school and headed to middle school as a 5th grader. She's busy with tumbling and playing volleyball, following in the footsteps of her big sister!

Since I've last written, I have had friends newly diagnosed with breast cancer, some a reoccurrence and even my step-mom Linda was diagnosed. Cancer does not discriminate. Thankfully everyone is doing great and Linda caught the cancer early. She had a single mastectomy and was able to quickly move on. My dad still needs lots of prayers as his Aplastic Anemia has progressed to blood cancer, (MDS). Unfortunately, he's having to travel 3x a week to MDA for blood and platelets transfusions. I cannot begin to thank all the blood and platelet donors out there. Truly you are life savers. Your blood saves lives, particularly my dad's. Without blood and platelets he would not be here today. We are praying his current chemo treatments will send him into remission. Your prayers are greatly appreciated!

As for myself, well. For some time now, when I look in the mirror, rather with clothes or without I see 2 very different boobs. One is a 'belly' boob (skin and fat from my stomach) and the other is an implant. Dr. Gordley has said my radiated skin has done well over time, it's become more elastic again, thus causing the belly boob to start sagging (like normal!). However, the implant side is still sitting up high and perky. So, yesterday I had surgery again.  This is #6...I actually think it's not very many as I've heard so many BC patients having many more than 6. It was a quick surgery, in and out and home within a few hours. Dr. Gordley exchanged my implant on my right side for a bigger one to match my left side, I am now at 440cc. YIKES! On the left side, he also put in a very small implant under the belly boob side, 115cc. The skin had started creasing where the ribs in my chest meet the fat of the boob. He put the implant in to help the skin fill out. THEN, ugh, I had some more fat grafting. He took fat from my hips and put it on the belly boob side and then even used some to put under my scar (nipple scar, from my mastectomy) on my right side so it wouldn't dimple. Surgery went as planned, I went to recovery for a very fast minute and was in the car on the way home before I could blink and eye, or barely wake up. But, when I say that's a good thing, it really is. Nothing is like being home. When I was waking up out of surgery, I wasn't in any pain, and really didn't want to take a pain pill. From previous posts, we all know how I hate the way pain meds make me feel. The post-op nurse, (and sweet Kali-old pet/kid sitter, neighbor who is now a nurse at St. Luke's, stopped by to say hi in recovery), and Rob highly encouraged me to take something. So, there I went, 5mg of oxycontin. By time I got home, about 3:30 it was not working. I was beginning to hurt (where the fat was taken in my legs-Lipo of my hips, sides of legs). I really didn't want to take anything more and actually my discharge papers said I couldn't take anything until 7pm. Finally, I told Rob he had to call Dr. Gordley, he said I could take up to 2 hydrocodone (5-325) every 4 hours. I'm pretty sure this is the lowest dose of hydro and usually doesn't make me feel bad. By 4:45 I felt like I was dying. To say the pain was a 10, is an understatement! I remembered last time I had fat grafting it was from my groin, inner thighs. And I remember the pain being awful, but I was still in recovery and they gave me good stuff that made me feel super loopy-but it took the pain away. Anyway, I took 1 pill at 4:45 and didn't feel any relief what so ever, still a 10. By 5:15, I took another pill, I was about to jump out of my body. Emma got me some of her squishies for me to squeeze. I'd always considered myself having a high pain threshold, simply because of past surgeries and not having to take a lot of pain medication. But the pain was so bad this time around. Bad enough that I couldn't hide it from the kids, they knew I was hurting. During this entire time, The only thing I could do was call out to Jesus. I recalled how he suffered on the cross for 3 hours before dying. My dad told me to give my suffering up to God for all the children with cancer. Believe it or not, this all brought me comfort and allowed me to deal with the pain.
I fell asleep about 6pm and started waking up about 30 min. later with the pain finally subsiding. Now about an 8, totally, 1000x better and completely bearable. With each passing minute, the pain subsided even more. I had a feeling the pain would stay away, based on my history. By 9pm, when I could've taken more pain meds, I didn't need too. I got in bed and kinda worried what the night would bring, so Rob got me 4 advil (prescription strength). I had a decent night sleep with NO pain. I woke up this morning feeling a little sore in my chest, like a good workout. WOOHOO, Life was normal this morning, I made the kids pancakes and packed lunches. Like all things this surgery will soon be behind me and I will definitely be able to go bra shopping. The hospital bra will only last for so many days. However, I think this makes #3-4 of these, so for fun I could wear them...Ha Ha!!!
For now, on to recovering, taking 6 weeks off from exercising and let the summer begin!

This is it, I say I'm not having any more surgeries and for sure no more fat grafting! The only surgery I can foresee is one day I may want to go down in sizes b/c this will most definitely take some getting use to. Can you see an 80 yr old all saggy but with a high and tight chest?  Ha Ha

This summer will mark 4 years cancer free. Another year has come and gone, the memory of cancer fading fast. Sometimes I actually look back and can't believe it all. Like I've said before, just a part of my story.

My prayers now are for my dad's health, strength of my family through good times and bad. And the shooting at Santa Fe HS is all to close. A guy I graduated with lost him mom during that fateful day.
Please keep all schools and their safety in your prayers as well as all those suffering from cancer or life threatening illnesses. God hears us, God knows our pleas.

God Bless you all and may you find strength in knowing God is our healer, God is our protector and with all things given up to him, our love for Him and love for others, we will join him with everlasting life in Heaven.