Lisa's Surgery Date: April 25, 2008

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Tuesday, May 13, 2008

Random Thoughts . . .

It is my usual 5:00 am wake up call. My left armpit has been my alarm clock these days. It burns. It feels like I have shaved my underarm hair and nicked all over. Usually the stinging subsides with a nick, but this sensation just lasts and lasts. Lovely. I think maybe I need to use my arms a wee bit less. No, I am not lifting weights, but my arms are used quite a bit in daily activity - sponge bathing, hair washing, hair styling, preparing meals, and caring for Jordyn. If I lay down with my arm propped on a pillow, the burn subsides over time. To touch the area it is hard and lumpy. I do believe it is the drain.

GOOD NEWS! My prof from the University of Lethbridge is the greatest! I emailed him explaining that my chemo would interfere with my Masters completion. I was in tears. He promptly wrote back, told me to stop crying, and assured me that I will finish in July. His wife Nola, also an Ed. prof will work with our cohort on writing our papers and we'll just do mine from afar. HOW WONDERFUL IS THAT? I am ecstatic!

I finished watching Reservation Road last night. It is a new release with Joaquin Phoenix, Mark Ruffalo, and Jennifer Connell. Good movie. Out of ten - 8.5 , and I'm a harsh critic. Worth seeing folks. I am liking watching a movie to lull me to sleep. I can sit up and relieve my headache. I find on my sleepy days that I get pressure headaches on the back of my head. I still can't lay on my side or front - so this is my only position. Very annoying. I had these same headaches in the hospital. I was told that when I was in surgery, they put my head in a gel donut to help relieve some pressure. 15 hours of surgery - I don't think anyone moved my head around. Several spots were extremely sore to touch. The only relief I could get was when I was sleeping . . . and then they would wake me up every hour to check the girls. Small doses of relief.

I am hanging with a dear friend today. I am going over to see her new home and to lay out in her most comfortable bed. I am also hoping to meet with Wendy - the home care nurse to get my right drain out. Fingers crossed that this is not painful. I have a 50/50 chance. When they took out my abdominal drains, the left one I could not feel, and the right - OUCH! Did you know that when they pulled out the abdominal drains - the drain inside was about a foot long? It is flat like a garden soaker hose. I am anxious to see length of these breast drains. Yikes!

I need to start checking out some information on chemo. As I start this next venture, I'll be journaling all my findings, resource sites, hair loss, barfy day thoughts etc. You will be such experts when we finish this little journey. :) If you have any questions as we move through this next phase - fire away. You know how candid I am, and so nothing will phase me. Unfortunately, I do believe that this blog site requires a gmail account to post. If you don't want to do that - just email me your questions: lisa097@gmail.com. I'll answer anything.

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