A Peak Into My Procedure

Well It's been about 2 months since I have blogged. I forgot what my g-mail account was & I didn't feel like trying to find out. ANY-WHO... I've had several people ask me what type of procedure I had and at first I didn't really want to share because it is a bit awkward to me to share with men but I've since then decided that it is important to share my experience. With it being Breast Cancer Awareness Month and all, it seems like the perfect time to share.
With that being said... NO I DO NOT HAVE BREAST CANCER!!! I just think it is important to throw out a PSA every now and then if it pertains to those around me. So...here we go:

Back in 2005( I know... 7 years ago) I found a small knot in my left breast. It freaked me out and so we went to my family doctor who sent me to a surgeon. The surgeon said it was just benign and would shrink up in a few months. It did shrink up, but it would always grow and then shrink again. We didn't really worry about too much after that point. However, it starting hurting all the time and so when I went in for my yearly appointment back in February, I asked my OBGYN about it. She referred me to a specialist. They did a sonogram and decided to do a biopsy. The mass was about 3cm at the time, and the biopsy came back as abnormal tissue.So nothing to worry about right? WRONG!

After my biopsy the mass was hurting more than ever. I went back in September for my 6 month follow up. This time the mass was close to 5 cm. The doctor suggested I meet with a surgeon. I met with her and she reviewed my sonogram films. She said that after looking at it she felt that the specialist just pulled regular tissue. Basically the mass was so defined in the films that she knew it was a tumor. This didn't mean it was cancerous, it just mean it was a hard mass, unlike a fluid filled cyst. She said that it is very hard to get samples of a tumor with a needle because they are hard to penetrate. So she suggested that I have it removed. about 2 weeks passed and my appointment was scheduled for the 9th. That is where the fun begins...
OR NOT!
So my procedure was at USMD in Arlington. The staff is great there. I think the best part of the day was when the nurse handed me an over sized gown to put on and told me that I couldn't even wear my underwear! She took my blood pressure immediately after informing me that I'd be going commando and it was SO high. like abnormally high. She took it again and it was excellent. I think she just shocked me with that news.

Finally dr. feel good arrived ( AKA the anesthesiologist). I started getting overwhelmed knowing it was time to go into the O.R. and so I started crying. he put 2 shots in my I.V. and told me those were my margaritas. I said bye to Chris and Robina and they wheeled me out. As I was crying the anesthesiologist referenced Jeremiah 29:11 to me which I think is super awesome! We made it to the O.R. and he asked me if I went to church.... I told him yes and where I went to church. Next thing I know.. I'm waking up in the recovery room. I woke up around 1 p.m. and I got to leave the hospital around 3:30ish. It was ALL downhill from there! I'm talking nausea, pain, and no appetite.

It's been one week since the procedure. They sent the tumor for a second biopsy (which is great since the surgeon thinks they missed it) Although I really wanted to see what it looked like. :-/ I go in Friday for my post op appointment and I'll get the results then. It's healing up slowly. Today is the first day where the pain is not too bad. The only issue now is that somehow.. and I do not know how.. I've managed to jack up my ankles... ( who does that?) It hurts SO bad to walk and I cannot explain how it happened. Hopefully it goes away and then I'll be back to my normal crazy self.

So... for my PSA to you guys... mainly ladies of course. I don't care if you are 15 or 51.... you need to be doing self exams. If you notice anything unusual GO TO THE DOCTOR! Although mine wasn't anything dangerous.. it was painful and it obviously was not supposed to be in my body. Although it is rare, young women can get breast cancer so make sure you get it checked out. I know several women who have had breast cancer and I know they will agree with me....

On that note... I'll end this looooonnnngggggg blog! Hopefully you guys found this informational.. or at least amusing.

Until next time,
Bri Sosa

I've still got things to learn!

Ok guys,

So here is my first "God" post. I'm just going to start out by giving you guys a little background in my relationship with the creator of EVERYTHING. So My great grandma is a godly woman and she expected all her kids and grand kids to be in church on Sunday mornings. So I was practically at IHBC right after I entered this earth. I grew up in church every Sunday morning, Sunday night and Wednesday night. If there was an event I was at it. I was in children's choir. I grew up with some awesome kids! I grew up knowing my ABC's of being a christian, I knew where to find any book in the bible, and I had just about every hymn memorized. We had a revival when I was 11. My sister lived with her mom at the time and so we were on our way to take her home one night and my mom started talking to us about asking Jesus to come into our hearts. She explained to us that the only way to heaven was to accept Jesus and ask to be forgiven. She also told us that if we were to die we wouldn't get to go to heaven. None of this was new to us of course, but for some reason it just stuck in my brain! The next night at revival my sister and I both accepted Jesus into our hearts and I will never forget that night. We had a little pie fellowship get together and I went in to tell my great grandma and I just burst out crying. I think that was the first time the holy spirit really started working in me. I was crying tears of joy and relief. It was just this knowledge that Satan could still tempt me but he could NEVER have me! I remember going to school and telling EVERYONE about my decision. I wasn't afraid.. I wasn't ashamed and life was SO wonderful. 

My middle school days were pretty innocent. then high school hit. I feel for teens these days because its totally different now just 6 years later than it was for me. It was so easy to fall into all sorts of temptations because I had that little devil sitting on my shoulder saying " it's ok Brittany, You know you'll be forgiven. Your young, you can get your life right later." I still went to church every time the doors were open but I don't think my mind was there. When it was I was busy taking the bible out of context and I would tell my self that that part doesn't apply to me, or that it's all ok because I'm just a teen. The summer before my senior year I went through my first heartbreak and it just so happened to be on a Wednesday night. I went to youth and Timmy had just started as the youth minister. That night he was talking about God's unconditional love and boy did it hit me like a rock! It certainly woke me up. I'm not going to say I went back to being little miss religious because I didn't. 7 years later I still make mistakes! Even after being in church for 24 years I have so much to learn. If a person tells you they know EVERYTHING there is to know about God, the Bible, and Christianity.. they are a liar! You can read the Bible a million times and I guarantee you, you will learn something new. I tried for years to sit down every day and read my bible. I told myself I would do it every morning. HA then I woke up late, or I had things to get done before school or work. I decided that that needed to change.I got a devotional bible and I started reading my bible every night before bed, no ifs, ands or buts. 

The 2 areas I have problems with are praying and tithing. I always start praying right after reading my bible, but before I know it it's 7 a.m. and I'm waking up. I realized something, I shouldn't just pray after reading my bible at night. I should pray every time I wake up in the morning. I should pray every time I turn on my shower and water comes out, every time I open my fridge and there is food there. Every time I get to work because I have a job. I've been blessed SO much and I do not deserve it. Thank God he doesn't give us what we deserve!!! 

Tithing is my other problem area. I always plan on tithing.. but as always the devil gets in the way. We will be running late for church and not have time to take cash out. Or I will get to church and not have a pen to write a check. Sometimes it's just because my bank account is low and I'm worried we wont get by. Yesterday at church we had a guest speaker who told us we should be reading our bible everyday, tithing, and praying. So hey I heard it yesterday ( the first time I had tithed in a while). Last night I was in my closet and I saw an old devotional so I picked it up and opened up to yesterdays date. Any guess what the topic was??? TITHING! Oh and just in case the message wasn't clear enough for me.. my phone kept reminding me to read my bible app for the day... what are the odds that it was also about tithing! It is amazing how God's messages are all around us..We just need to open our ears!! After all these years I'm still learning. I'm still growing, and I'm still doing things wrong! I'm thankful that I have a God who still loves me despite how stubborn I can be. I'm thankful that God is merciful and doesn't give me what I deserve. I'm also thankful that only God knows my limits and He will NEVER put me through anything I cannot handle. It's not always easy, but He never said it would be!

Well that was fun :) I hope you guys enjoyed reading this post!

-Bri Sosa

Throw Back THURSDAY!

Alright... So I have never participated in THROW BACK THURSDAYS just because most of my old photos are on MySpace and who uses that dinosaur anymore?? I do have some spare time right now though since all is well in the ad. world so lets give it a go. 

So since I might be making this a normal thing I thought I would do categories just to keep it fun. 

This week I'm going to start out on some old school photos of me and one of my best friends. Her name is Jackie and we have been through a lot. We met in drill team ( WOOO GEEPETTES!) She was a grade younger than me. I always remember we never got to hang out because her mom was so strict. It was super lame but whatever! She actually ended up moving in with my family in 2008 and we shared my room. I had to give up sleeping in my queen size bed alone and some of my closet space... ( not really, we just crammed her things in there too) We would lay in bed at night and prank call people. OH and we used to take night photos. By night photos I mean we would lay in bed with the lights off and take photos until we couldn't see anymore due to the flash. One night my sister screamed at us for the flash going off... SO we army crawled into her room and flashed the camera off a few times. HA. We fought like sisters and one time she actually moved out... Don't worry though she came back. Eventually we both got into relationships and we didn't get to spend much time together. But now we are back on track. we talk every day. It's pretty nice. She's like my sister. :) Anyways. I'm going to share some photos now. :)

Enjoy!

OK, so this is from September 2007. WHOA almost 5 years ago. We were young tots.

This is from Thanksgiving 08. We were living together during this time. We WERE so weird!

This one is from December 2007. We just so happened to have both scrunched our hair on this day. We also just so happened to be wearing jeans with brown and blue. :) I know we look super related!

Well there you have it. I survived my first throw back Thursday. CLASSY!!

-Bri Sosa

My First Post

Hello Friends,

I have never blogged before so bare with me. I have never really understood the purpose of blogging. I mean basically it's like a public diary where you write whatever you please and uhhhmmm I guess that's about it. However, sometimes I have thoughts and they are just WAY too long for a status update. One day a little thought hit me and I said hmmm maybe I should start my own blog. I'm just going to come out right now and inform anyone reading this to be prepared. I'm not trying to scare anyone here but just know that there a few things you will probably repeatedly see on this blog:

• Fur babies. When I say fur babies... I mean my 2 adorable puppies. Sizzles and Sunny. I am NOT a cat person.. so do NOT compare my dogs to your cats... 
• Christian talk. Yep I said it. I'm a Christ Follower. In today's world it is SO tough but I'll admit it. From time to time I'll probably post bible verses or thoughts about God or life or the world.
• My handsome husband. I got married on October 29th 2011. I love that man with all my heart and we both believe that we have made a life commitment to one another. No matter how tough things get, we will NEVER give up on our marriage. ( GASP.. a young person who doesn't believe in just giving up??? how odd...)
• Random stories that happen to me. They may be short or they may be long. Who knows. lol
• Crafts and such. With the Pinterest craze well under way, I get the urge to craft every now and then. So be prepared. I might be sharing crafts or food with you guys. :)

Well that about sums things up. My next post will probably be like a mini bio of myself. Who knows where my mind will wander to. For those who are sucking it up and reading this.. I thank you very much!

Until next time,

Bri Sosa