What Squishmallows Mean to Me

We live in a home nearly filled to the brim with stuffed animals, toys, stuffies, Barbies and Squishmallows. I can blame part of the clutter on five children.. but if I'm being honest, a LOT of these items are special to me. Many of the stuffed animals are mine! Looking at you Sesame Street beanie babies! We have a large Big Bird that has been with us since before we were married. I'm basically a large child looking for excuses to buy more stuffed animals. 

The recent trend with Squishmallows might be the hardest because they are huge!! I know friends that have developed entirely new storage solutions to deal with the influx. They are soft and the perfect amount of squish. 

After my most recent reconstructive surgery in December - my tissue expanders were replaced with the "final" implants (I don't want to jinx my luck because implants can fail or leak or become infected at any given time). The hardest adjustments I've had to make since August 2023, with my mastectomy, is learning new sleep patterns. Every single night, I attempt to move back into my most comfortable position. I could sleep soundly with my arms above my head and on my stomach..  that's just been impossible and uncomfortable since then. Every. Single. Night. My body tries that position and fails. 

After the mastectomy, I had drains and severe stiffness. Imagine how C3PO would lay down... That's how I felt. After each fat grafting procedure, I also had pain in either my stomach or sides. I tried pillows propped between my knees and wedges and a large body pillow I could twist. The most useful items I was given were two bolster pillows from the Pink Pillow Project. Filled with microbeads, they gave me support between my sides and my arms. But they have been used and abused! 

Enter the breast cancer scene: Squishmallows!!! I raided the supply in my youngest children's room and voila, my new best friend is Lil Gouda! I can hug him against my chest and still roll from side to side, being annoyed that I can't sleep the way I want... But he's just the right density to help. 

So please, add Squishmallow to the list of "what to buy for the cancer patient in your life".