My facebook post for Monday was about 3 days of work, 7 medical appointments and a full moon Monday morning. Now, we are past 3 pm Friday, and maybe on the downhill slide into the calm before the storm.
It was a good 3 days of work. I was even willing to pick up another 4 hours this weekend. Maybe I am feeling guilty for not working at all over the holidays.
Seven appointments, yikes! Nine, if I include Tom's stuff. Pre-surgery check-in, PT/ Lymphedema, eye exam, labs, rad onc, med onc and plastic surgeon all this week. We had a date night after we both had Tuesday afternoon doctor appointments. Life is a tragic comedy sometimes, and I'll take a quiet dinner out any way I can get it! From the cancer folks, all is mostly well. Vitamin D takes a hit with treatment, and mine is low. Supplement even more than I am. Easy enough. I need B complex vitamins, too. Thyroid is ok, we decided. There was some question of it being a casualty of radiation, but tsh and t4 levels are back where they belong. We will do a bone density scan next time.
Plastics was easy - ready for surgery at the end of the month. Tissue expanders (the temporary forms that we used to stretch and regrow skin) will come out, and saline implants will go in. It's another 6 weeks of downtime. My post-op instructions will amount to moving as little as possible, and arms less than 45 degrees from chest. I'm getting geared up for it. There is a mental list of crock pot recipes I want to get made and frozen before Christmas. Five or so boxes of cereal, 4 boxes of pancake mix, tp and paper towels have been collected in the basement, and a list of stuff still to get on the fridge.
Lymphedema... it's still not much fun. I am usually wrapped fingertips to armpit with 60 or so feet of bandages. If I am a really compliant patient, I have a huge foam form and then all the bandaging. And I should be doing stretching twice a day and massage once a day. I usually have to rewrap my arm at least once in the middle of the day. And if you have seen it in person, you can tell it's pretty motion-restrictive. It's hard to touch fingertips to thumb to grasp anything for very long. It's hard to bend my elbow. Can't exactly wash dishes or prepare food, either. An average day it seems is about 3 hours worth of arm care. Who has time for that!? Tom has become quite the arm wrapper, and I am oh so glad. I do ok in the mornings, but at night, I am way past tired and grumpy. I still fight fatigue easily.
It was 70 degrees outside today. That meant a walk in between the 4 med appts. I forgot how much I need to exercise. I was in a foul mood after the onc made a stupid comment. A walk and some music will soothe many things in my life and my head. And now, it's about 40 degrees and storming. Crazy weather!
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