So I have my bad days (when I want to cry a lot and freak out) and good days (when I am calm about the whole thing).
Today was not so good emotionally (I destroyed a whole bunch of Kleenex throughout the day), but good physically: my 3rd weekly post-surgical follow-up visit went well and the boob wound is finally healing well.
There is also an incision in the underarm area from the lymph node removal, and ironically, while that one has healed without any problem at all, the nerves in my left upper arm and left ribcage area are extremely irritated (which is normal for this type of surgery and will last for several weeks more), to the point where my arm touching my body while I walk is painful. As you can imagine, this drives me nuts.
Upon the nurse's advice, I will be exploring the wonderful world of Aleve (2x/day) for the foreseeable future. (Fran, by the way, is great -- she is very down to earth, cheerful and understanding. She is the source of the classic quote, "If you won't take time off for CANCER, what WILL you take time off for?!")
Sleep has been not so friendly this week: I have either not had enough sleep (because my mind is racing but I have to get up for my endless round of medical appointments) or had unrestful sleep punctuated throughout by a series of anxiety dreams. I'm sure the fatigue has had an (unhelpful) effect on my mood too.
Too tired to hunt around for a perky photo right now. Will fill in more tomorrow afternoon, after my first adjuvant support group meeting at MSKCC. Either that or I'll be napping.
Today was not so good emotionally (I destroyed a whole bunch of Kleenex throughout the day), but good physically: my 3rd weekly post-surgical follow-up visit went well and the boob wound is finally healing well.
There is also an incision in the underarm area from the lymph node removal, and ironically, while that one has healed without any problem at all, the nerves in my left upper arm and left ribcage area are extremely irritated (which is normal for this type of surgery and will last for several weeks more), to the point where my arm touching my body while I walk is painful. As you can imagine, this drives me nuts.
Upon the nurse's advice, I will be exploring the wonderful world of Aleve (2x/day) for the foreseeable future. (Fran, by the way, is great -- she is very down to earth, cheerful and understanding. She is the source of the classic quote, "If you won't take time off for CANCER, what WILL you take time off for?!")
Sleep has been not so friendly this week: I have either not had enough sleep (because my mind is racing but I have to get up for my endless round of medical appointments) or had unrestful sleep punctuated throughout by a series of anxiety dreams. I'm sure the fatigue has had an (unhelpful) effect on my mood too.
Too tired to hunt around for a perky photo right now. Will fill in more tomorrow afternoon, after my first adjuvant support group meeting at MSKCC. Either that or I'll be napping.
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