Sorry it's been a while since I posted, but it's hard to stay awake. Had my re-do surgery on Monday, and it went very well. Post-op I had very little pain, and started feeling pretty good pretty fast. Once again, I sing the praises of all the staff, from the nurses to the guy who rolled me around in a wheelchair. Got pathology results yesterday, and Dr. Johnson got it all this time (whew). I admit that I had a little voice in the back of my brain whispering "mastectomy," but the voice has shut now. Carolyn brought me home on Tuesday, and I spent the rest of the day snoozing with the cat on top of me.
Wednesday was my day off, and I did more snoozing. Thursday, with a great sense of deja vu all over again I took painkillers and anti-anxiety pills and headed over to Good Sam to have my balloons swapped. Check out my last post if you want details.
One of the fringe benefits of going to Good Sam for my radiation is that, most days, they have a really good massage therapist there. She does 15-minute chair massage FOR FREE!!! YES!! She's also used to working with cancer patients, so she can arrange things so there's no pressure on sore spots, etc. I got my 15 minutes, and she is really good. No, it wasn't the same as having a full-on deep-tissue table massage (nobody is better than Betsy Robertson), but it was pretty damned good, especially since I had a crick in my neck that she got rid of.
The staff at the Radiation Oncology center at Good Sam are awesome. We crack each other up with bad jokes, and they also make me feel really cared for. They always make sure I'm comfortable (or as comfortable as possible), and they make sure I'm not too freaked out by some of the machinery, procedures, etc. They're so matter-of-fact about all this that it doesn't seem weird to be dealing with balloons in my boob, or having a machine insert a radiation-tipped wire into me.
I love them.
There was a woman there who (I think) was supposed to help me deal with the stress of all this--remind me to breathe and all that. She held my hand, which was nice, but the regular staff did such a good job of making me feel relaxed that (nothing personal) we didn't really need her. Anyway, Dr. Lee did the swap, and there was one moment of sorta tugging, but that was it--no real pain or problems. They wrapped me up to send me home.
One of the nurses asked who my ride was, and I said that I had walked over and would be walking home. Given the influence of the pre-procedure drugs, she worried--despite my assurances that I had walked home at night much more inebriated than this. She made me promise to call her when I got home so she would know I was safe! Of course, on my way home I ran into three friends (including Jeff Joslin) and stopped in at City Market NW for sandwiches, so it took me about an hour to make it--I had to tell my friends that I couldn't hang out because I had worried nurses waiting for my call. Funny, but very sweet too.
Home, ate awesome sandwich from City Market, more snoozing with cat on top.
Today--Friday--walked over to Good Sam at 8 in the morning (oh yuck) to get my balloon scanned and have my first radiation treatment. It was weird, but I didn't feel anything--I fell asleep instead. Had loads of sushi with my friend Robin (wasabi kills cancer! yes!), a short nap, and walked back to Good Sam for radiation treatment #2. Another nap during the treatment, then walked home. Met my old friend Tom for Happy Hour (I admit it: half of a cocktail totally snookered me), then home for yes, another nap.
I get the weekend off, but have a pretty busy schedule next week. In addition to two radiation treatments a day Monday through Thursday, I see a naturopath on Monday. He's part of a group at St. V's, and Miriam Hecht swears by him. I'm hoping he can help me bolster my immune system--the surgery, radiation, and chemo are all taking a toll. Arthritis is an auto-immune disease too, so I wouldn't mind an extra boost. I'm also dealing with a few other changes: I was on birth control pills for years for my skin, and stopped when I was diagnosed. Boom--menopause! The biggest prob so far is hot flashes, but those are pretty bad.
I see my oncologist on Tuesday and get my next big chunk of news. She left me a voicemail while I was in the hospital that the results of my oncotyping were back--that's the DNA analysis of the tumor, and will give us guidance on the chemotherapy. Her message was that the score was great, and I needed to make an appointment. I have no idea what having a great score means--less chemo? less drastic chemo? no chemo? But I'll find out on Tuesday . . . I'm just happy to have some more good news.
I'm thinking about starting to meditate or do yoga. Not sure if either is a good match for me, or if I'll have it together to carry through. I think Good Sam has a special yoga program for cancer survivors, although I'm not sure. I know they also have a meditation program, but I'm going to the best--I'm asking my friend Clark about it--he's a Buddhist monk.
So that's it for now--and I'll keep you posted!
No comments:
Post a Comment