Thursday, April 7, 2011

Some good news...finally

The tissue that was biopsied on Monday is normal!!!  Huzzah!  What a relief!  I didn't think I was that nervous, but I must have been because my relief knows no boundaries.  Okay, well, the spine thing still has a hold on the negative side of my imagination, so I suppose that that forms at least one boundary to my relief.  But I am nonetheless QUITE relieved!

I'm getting closer and closer to being normal.  I quit taking the narcotic pain reliever today and did well.  Now I'm back to the place where my left "breast" hurts more than my right, which is how it should be in my world.  The right breast barely aches, and it looks surprisingly normal despite the absence of a walnut-sized piece.  It doesn't have a crater or anything.  Also, the nerve pain on the left side has started to subside, which is awesome.  I quit wearing my special sleeve, and goosebumps no longer make me gasp.  Another step in the normal direction is that I worked a full day of work and was moderately productive.  With every day that I put between me and the serious drugs I expect to gain more and more productivity.  I might even be able to drive myself to work tomorrow.

One new stage of my healing include itchiness.  It's kinda weird, too, because I'll have an itch sensation near the rainbow incision, but when I go to scratch it I have trouble finding it because I don't have feeling in the skin around the incision.  Same goes for the armpit area.  Rather than scratching the itch with my hand I have started scratching the itch by wiggling my shirt around.  This broadly-administered friction brings swift relief compared to the game of Marco Polo played by my fingers and the itch.

Tomorrow I have another physical therapy appointment.  I am really enjoying the physical therapy because it makes me stay on task with the exercises, and the exercises are really improving my range of motion.  Also, my therapist does some soft-tissue massage to help the scar tissue loosen up (i.e. stretch in more planes).  It's one of those things that makes me sore right afterwards but feels so much better the next day.

Also tomorrow is my radiation simulation appointment.  This is where my dimensions will be taken for the administration of the radiation.  I understand that I will be getting a couple of tattoos so that I am always put in the exact same position for every radiation dose.  I never wanted a tattoo, and I suppose I still don't want a tattoo.  I must admit, however, that having any tattoo makes me feel a little bit cooler.  Can you just see me at parties?  "That's a great tattoo, Lauren!  Where'd you get it?  Sweet.  I have a tattoo, also.  See?  I got it back in '11 so that my radiation treatments would be positioned properly.  Yea, I totally had breast cancer.  It sucked, but at least I got these sweet tattoos!"  Talk about conversation killer!

13 comments:

  1. I dunno H, I think Amanda may forever have the best tattoo story. Maybe you'd win if you got a breast-shaped tattoo. Because it sounds like you could really use more pain in that general area. I know, I'm Hilarious!

    Your relief is marvelously contagious.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Oh, you'll never be normal but I consider that a very good thing! :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Oh, and I suspect they told you but vitamin E is supposed to be good for the scar area...

    ReplyDelete
  4. Hurray for good news on the biopsy! Hard to believe you could get any cooler, though. You just let those tattoos give it their best shot.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Oops, the above comment was from me. ;)

    ReplyDelete
  6. When I moved to Iowa and was starting to make new friends, there were a couple of us ladies sitting around at Bandshell park on a lovely summer evening. I noticed the one girl's ankle tattoo and then she showed me a more elaborate one on her shoulder blade. It did not surprise me that she would have a couple of tats. However, the other friend was a lot more conservative and I was SHOCKED when she announced that she had 4 tattoos! And then she showed us the 4 small blue dot tattoos that she had gotten during her radiation treatment. She has always considered them unique, and path to her recovery - and jokes that she could play connect-the-dots. She has even considered re-doing the tats into something else, but so far has not.

    I am sure that you will rock your alignment tattoos just like everything else.

    ReplyDelete
  7. I wonder what kind of training the tattoo "artist" has at the ol' radiation simulation place. Is that a class you take at radiation simulation school? I mean, I'm just wondering and all. :)

    We're relieved right along with you over here - so glad to hear good news. :)

    Bec

    ReplyDelete
  8. That's great news Heather! AWESOME!

    ReplyDelete
  9. I'm willing to give up my best tattoo story throne to you Heather! Who knows, maybe you can turn it into something you want (though if you get a tree, weird people in locker rooms may ask you if it is a broccoli). I love broccoli, but not that much.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Checking this for several people plus myself. I have been in a cave of work and apologize! Love you so much and am always thinking of you and am happy your having a great slumber party tonight! I smile everytime I think of how great you must have looked at work today in the outfit you described. xoxoxoxox Holly

    ReplyDelete
  11. I read comics on this science nerd website...thought of you and smiled when I saw this one...

    http://xkcd.com/883/

    Also, if you let the mouse sit over the comic a "hover" message will come up. :)

    ReplyDelete
  12. Smithers, that comic is exactly how I was before my reformed pain scale. Thanks for that!

    Regarding Amanda's comment, there's this great children's book called Monsters Don't Eat Broccoli by Barbara Jean Hicks. The broccoli are indeed trees. Here's the link for a short animated clip on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vAJG8OAATUU&feature=channel

    ReplyDelete
  13. I can't wait for you to not so subtly drop hints about your tattoo into conversations. And, we'll be nice and formal about the entire transaction!

    H: "That's a great tattoo Lauren. I too have a tattoo, might I show it to you?"

    I told my students I was going to get a tattoo of the date of the fall of Rome on my wrist, so I would never forget it (Smithers, remember Mr. Murphy?), but I think getting some dots in honor of H-Bomb would be even cooler.

    ReplyDelete