More Surgery
On Monday November 17th, 2014 I will be having more surgery following my treatment for cancer. …
Incision
The chest wall tear that I experienced has continued to cause me trouble. I have suffered with a build up of fluid after the tear and the swelling and the fluid put a lot of pressure on the already stretched skin. Eventually the pressure became too much for the incision to handle and it opened up enough to let the fluid start to drain out. I guess this is a blessing in disguise, although I don’t know what this will do to the incision line once it is all healed again. Tomorrow we are going to visit the community nurses to see if they can give us help with dressings for the draining liquid and to check to make sure that I do not have an infection in the incision. I am extra tired as my body is still going through the healing process, but I am looking forward to getting back to normal in the days and weeks ahead.
A major tear brings a set back
A major tear
I didn’t know it could happen, but I experienced a major tear of all of the skin on my chest that had been stuck to my chest wall. It happened about 4 am Thursday morning. Since my surgery, the skin had been stuck to my chest wall, and it was supposed to eventually release gradually perhaps months down the line. The skin cannot stay attached to the muscle and chest wall for the long haul. When it releases gradually there isn’t as much of a problem, but when my skin tore away, it brought bright red inflammation, swelling and instant pain. …
A surprise on my CT scan
On January 24th my surgeon requested that I get a CT scan. He really did not want to take out my lymph nodes so he thought that if my lymph nodes showed up as the exact same size as they were in the original CT scan last August, he could do the mastectomy and not put me through the nerve pain and possible arm swelling. So I got a CT scan that was otherwise would not have been scheduled. Today I saw my doctor for a follow up and the CT scan could be a game changer. It showed two things. …
The rollercoaster ride
My last chemo treatment went well today as I was medicated with steroids that kept away any adverse reactions. And…I got to ring the chemo bell announcing my last chemo treatment. But there is still the roller coaster ride that was unexpected.
The roller coaster ride …
Hospitalized
After a couple trips to the emergency department, I have been hospitalized with a fever, possible infection, rash and abdominal pain. While the blood culture is growing for 48 hours, I have been put on antibiotic pills and liquid form. My abdominal pain is better and I am being well looked after. My husband is especially helpful. He has hardly left my side and stayed with me as the doctor put me into isolation. I think he grabbed a little bit of sleep but it was sleeping in a regular chair.
Yesterday afternoon my white cells responsible for the immune response dropped to 400 which put me into grade 4 neutropenia. Overnight in emergency the count dropped to zero. I am in isolation while they try to fix the problem and keep me from getting sick. …