It's Thursday, again

Another Thursday filled with medical appointments.

First stop today, physical therapy.  A nice little morning eye opener to start the day, “Lymphedema”.  Because they removed the eighteen lymph nodes during surgery, I was informed this morning that I am at stage one of lymphedema (the earliest of the three stages).  Now, I’m not sure if this is truly the first I am hearing about this because I was so out of it after surgery I don’t remember much of what the doctors told me.  Nonetheless, what I was told was quite annoying, adding to the how cancer is changing my life forever.  Anyway, lymphedema is the accumulation of protein-rich fluid in tissues because of inadequate lymphatic drainage (layman’s terms – missing lymph nodes = not all fluids processed properly in body).  So now I get to monitor fluid build up in my left hand and arm.  Yippee!!  I was shown two simple tests to look for signs of fluid build up.  One involves making a fist and looking at the hills and valleys of my knuckles.  If the valleys start to disappear that means I have fluid building in my hands.  Yippee!!  I also need to wear a compression sleeve and gauntlet on that arm/hand whenever I do any strenuous activity (i.e. all the sports I do except for swimming) to help prevent fluid build up - forever.  Yippee!!  This also explains why I cannot have my blood pressure taken on my left arm anymore (the high pressure focal compression can lead to excessive constriction if not properly used).  Plus, there is a whole list of precautionary things to be aware of (most involve not hurting my left arm/hand in any way, shape, or form).  Yippee!!  Then, we went over some exercises I could start doing to get back my range of motion.  Finally, something good coming out of this appointment.  I will get to have four to six more sessions to work on my range of motion.

Next, it was off to see the oncologist (of course first stopping by the vampire to give more blood).  Today, I am feeling much better than a week ago.  Almost all of my symptoms are gone and I feel close to normal.  We discussed the plan of action for my next round of chemotherapy, which will start in seven days.  He scheduled me in for three days at the cancer center this time.  Day one for chemo drugs, day two and three will be hydration and anti-nausea meds.  And, of course, my favorite, neulasta shot on day two.  The hope is that the second day of hydration and anti-nausea meds will help get a jump on the symptoms and get them under control before they get too out of hand like last time.  There was also a discussion about starting pain medication earlier to get them in my system before the pain from the neulasta shot gets out of control.  And, yes, I did discuss with him the possibility of using a medicinal herbal substance to help with the nausea symptoms.  Since insurance will only cover twelve nausea pills every thirty days, I wanted to have another option.  He of course could not “prescribe” anything for me, however was on board for trying anything to make me more comfortable this time around.

Then, went across the way to the breast center to have more fluid placed into my breast expander.  It had been three weeks since my last expansion.  I am slowly getting more feeling in my surgical area so there has been a little more discomfort the past week.  I have what feels like a hard bruise/bump at the top of the breast area.  The surgeon explained that I was feeling the upper part of the expander.  It is an unfortunate side effect of the process for reconstruction and as the nerve endings start to have more sensation I will feel more of the expander.  Oh, yay!  And, with more feeling means that the poke into the portal is more prominent and so is the fluid going in.  yay…

Five and a half hours of doctor appointments, time for a nap.