Dr. Surgical Oncologist's office called with what she described as "good news" and "almost perfect news" regarding the pathology of my breast cancer. The good news is that six months of chemotherapy worked as it should; a little bit of ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) remained in the breast tissue, but it was no longer invasive. This means that it wasn't trying to grow out from its location. The other way that I took this as good news is that the remaining DCIS seems to support my decision to get a mastectomy. No doctor has said that, but my gut is taking this at further evidence of its trustworthiness.
The almost perfect news is that the pathology confirmed that there was no cancer in my lymph nodes. The reason this is not fully perfect is that they did find a few cancer cells in the duct on the way to the lymph nodes. I have no idea what this means. Was my cancer spitting off cancer cells until the moment it was cut out of me? Or had these cells split off from the cancer long ago and decided to hang out in this bodily hallway? But it doesn't matter because the lymph nodes were clear, which is the most important result.
I'll see Dr. Surgical Oncologist on Tuesday when I get my drains removed, and I'll get clarification on the significance of all of the pathology then. Also, the surgical team is/was to present my case to the Tumor Board (again) today, so it will be interesting to hear what everyone at the institution thinks about my case. I have my fingers crossed for no plot twists, such as radiation. I'm ready to close the case, at least for now.
My recovery is continuing in a positive direction. The only major development is that I have a hot, itchy rash that covers my chest wall surrounding the surgical sites. I'm not terribly surprised to have a rash, since rashes have been one of the main sidebars of my chemotherapy this time around. But I am terribly uncomfortable. I have been taking all sorts of allergy medicines to try to control the rash: benadryl, zyrtec, zantac, allegra. The only thing that has been moderately effective is an anti-inflammatory ointment, but it is not a cure. It prevents the rash from bubbling and oozing (yay!), but it allows it to maintain a hot and itchy state (boo!). My second tool for getting relief is ice. I ice the chest wall all day long.
Additional relief came this week in the form of some amazing news. Two of my dear friends are organizing and riding 100 miles to nowhere, on their bicycles, around my block. They are doing this on Oct. 18th to raise awareness of inflammatory breast cancer and to raise funds for my daughters. To read more about their event and to find out how to participate or donate, please check out "Steven's" blog here, or "Norman's" blog here.
The kindnesses, generosity, and support continue to amaze me and fill me with gratitude. Can't wait to hug you, Steven and Norman.
Showing posts with label rash. Show all posts
Showing posts with label rash. Show all posts
Friday, September 19, 2014
Wednesday, August 15, 2012
Good if not thorough news
Today the nurse called from Dr. Dermatologist's office with my biopsy results.
Biopsy #1: persistent shoulder rash. The nurse on the phone said that the doctor, "thinks its a rare form of eczema." He thinks? We biopsied this baby and someone still lacks confidence with the diagnosis? This is why it's better to get the results in person and read the pathology report with the doctor. At any rate, I'll see Dr. Oncologist next week after the PET scan, so I'll ask to access the skin biopsy report then. In the meantime, Dr. D. prescribed a strong steroid to motivate the rash to go away. We're to give it 2 weeks to be effective before we try other approaches.
Biopsy #2. black thigh non-scab. I was told that this was a benign growth. I like the word" benign", but not the word "growth". Again, I am keen to read the pathology report and get some more details on this odd growth that sprang up in the last few weeks.
All in all this is definitely good news, but I am greatly looking forward to learning more details about these conclusions.
In the meantime I will add more substance to this post with a teaser of our summer vacation photos. The next post will be the vacation photo essay.
Biopsy #1: persistent shoulder rash. The nurse on the phone said that the doctor, "thinks its a rare form of eczema." He thinks? We biopsied this baby and someone still lacks confidence with the diagnosis? This is why it's better to get the results in person and read the pathology report with the doctor. At any rate, I'll see Dr. Oncologist next week after the PET scan, so I'll ask to access the skin biopsy report then. In the meantime, Dr. D. prescribed a strong steroid to motivate the rash to go away. We're to give it 2 weeks to be effective before we try other approaches.
Biopsy #2. black thigh non-scab. I was told that this was a benign growth. I like the word" benign", but not the word "growth". Again, I am keen to read the pathology report and get some more details on this odd growth that sprang up in the last few weeks.
All in all this is definitely good news, but I am greatly looking forward to learning more details about these conclusions.
In the meantime I will add more substance to this post with a teaser of our summer vacation photos. The next post will be the vacation photo essay.
 |
| After dinner on a windy evening, the four of us hiked across the island to sunset rock. Here you can see me stepping over a log while the girls are ducking under it. The sun's glare through the trees indicates that we are near our goal. |
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| We discovered that the lake was calm at sunset rock (part of the rock is captured on the bottom right, with various of our garrments sunning on it) despite the wind on our side of the island. We stayed for a long time, throwing rocks in the water and running along the beach. |
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| My Azalea Bud. |
Tuesday, August 14, 2012
In the flesh, out of the flesh
I'll do another post shortly with pictures of our family vacation to northern Minnesota, but first a brief health update.
Let's begin by establishing the fact that I am wonderful. I am happy...no, no, that's not quite it...nearly ecstatic on a daily basis to be enjoying life (specifically summer life) with my daughters, husband, friends, and family. We have gone on bike rides and had sleepovers and listened to bands and grilled on the patio, and it has all been so wonderful. I have experienced many thankful moments in which I recalled my previous thoughts of not being alive for summer 2012. At diagnosis almost 2 years ago I faced the very real potential of not surviving this long. And here I am, in the flesh, enjoying every minute of it. My bathtub could use a cleaning, but let's not disrupt the grace of this paragraph with the extended list of neglected chores.
Speaking of flesh, mine has two doctor-made wounds in it. Last Friday I saw Dr. Dermatologist, on the recommendation of Dr. Oncologist, to check out two unusual areas on my skin. Near my right shoulder I have small patch of 5 contiguous raised bumps. They do not itch or hurt. I first noticed them when I arrived in San Francisco, so I presumed that my backpacked had rubbed during traveling and had caused an irritation. A week or so later I realized that they were still there, so I put some hydrocortisone on them. This is the stuff previously prescribed to me for my post-surgery eczema. But the hydrocortisone made the rash spread in a painful way. I remembered from a different, post-radiation chest wall rash that hydrocortisone aggravates fungal infections, so I treated my rash with the remaining anti-fungal from that episode. The hydrocortisone-induced rash disappeared, but the original rash remained. The I thought that maybe my supposed fungal infection was either resistant or insensitive to this antifungal, so I applied a different antifungal leftover from the childrens' diaper-rash days. When it was clear that this third attack was being ignored by the rash, it was time to call Dr. O.
You might be wondering why I did not call a doctor sooner. I elected to try my own treatments based on my own experiences because the first thing that doctors tell you is to watch the (fill-in-the-blank) ailment and look for changes. I do not as a rule recommend such cavalier patient behavior, but since my rash was not getting bigger or worse (hydrocortisone treatment excepted), I gave it some time to resolve so that I could report all of the data at the time of the appointment.
And that is what I was able to do. Less than two months after noticing the rash I sat in Dr. Dermatologist's office and recited the history of my rash. He said that it could be a rare form of eczema that occurs near joints (the name he rattled off completely evades me), but that he'll take a small sample (biopsy) to be sure.
Excellent! This type of firm decision-making via informed prescription or biopsy is exactly what I was looking for!
That is the story of biopsy number 1. The cause of biopsy number 2 is actually what motivated me to make an appointment (indeed, a different way to interpret the above story is that I was procrastinating taking action on the innocuous shoulder rash).
Cause #2 used to reside on the outer flank of my right thigh. I noticed it nearly three weeks ago when scratching an itch. It was raised and rough, like a scab, and the size of a pinhead. For a few days I thought it was a scab. But then I realized that it wasn't behaving like a scab by, you know, falling off. Upon closer inspection it was black in color rather than that rusty scab color. The one thing going in its favor is that it was quite symmetrical, and the ABC's of melanoma start with Asymmetry. At any rate, Dr. Dermatologist's possible explanation for this non-scab scab was that a cluster of blood vessels burst under my skin awhile ago, and now that the burst had reached the top it appeared black. But he decided to biopsy it anyway, and unlike the shoulder rash I think that the entire troublemaker was removed.
I'm moderately terrified that I will be embarrassed when I am obligated to post that the results of the biopsy indicate "blackhead", but I suppose it would be Dr. Dermatologist who should be embarrassed for biopsying said blackhead.
All in all this is excellent timing for my flesh samplings because the dreaded PET scan is next Thursday (8/23). Rooting for a second clean one, marking two clean ones in a row, which MUST be OUTSTANDING news for ME and my FUTURE after IBC. I suppose I'm also rooting for good flesh biopsy results, but at present I am (perhaps naively) unconcerned.
Let's begin by establishing the fact that I am wonderful. I am happy...no, no, that's not quite it...nearly ecstatic on a daily basis to be enjoying life (specifically summer life) with my daughters, husband, friends, and family. We have gone on bike rides and had sleepovers and listened to bands and grilled on the patio, and it has all been so wonderful. I have experienced many thankful moments in which I recalled my previous thoughts of not being alive for summer 2012. At diagnosis almost 2 years ago I faced the very real potential of not surviving this long. And here I am, in the flesh, enjoying every minute of it. My bathtub could use a cleaning, but let's not disrupt the grace of this paragraph with the extended list of neglected chores.
Speaking of flesh, mine has two doctor-made wounds in it. Last Friday I saw Dr. Dermatologist, on the recommendation of Dr. Oncologist, to check out two unusual areas on my skin. Near my right shoulder I have small patch of 5 contiguous raised bumps. They do not itch or hurt. I first noticed them when I arrived in San Francisco, so I presumed that my backpacked had rubbed during traveling and had caused an irritation. A week or so later I realized that they were still there, so I put some hydrocortisone on them. This is the stuff previously prescribed to me for my post-surgery eczema. But the hydrocortisone made the rash spread in a painful way. I remembered from a different, post-radiation chest wall rash that hydrocortisone aggravates fungal infections, so I treated my rash with the remaining anti-fungal from that episode. The hydrocortisone-induced rash disappeared, but the original rash remained. The I thought that maybe my supposed fungal infection was either resistant or insensitive to this antifungal, so I applied a different antifungal leftover from the childrens' diaper-rash days. When it was clear that this third attack was being ignored by the rash, it was time to call Dr. O.
You might be wondering why I did not call a doctor sooner. I elected to try my own treatments based on my own experiences because the first thing that doctors tell you is to watch the (fill-in-the-blank) ailment and look for changes. I do not as a rule recommend such cavalier patient behavior, but since my rash was not getting bigger or worse (hydrocortisone treatment excepted), I gave it some time to resolve so that I could report all of the data at the time of the appointment.
And that is what I was able to do. Less than two months after noticing the rash I sat in Dr. Dermatologist's office and recited the history of my rash. He said that it could be a rare form of eczema that occurs near joints (the name he rattled off completely evades me), but that he'll take a small sample (biopsy) to be sure.
Excellent! This type of firm decision-making via informed prescription or biopsy is exactly what I was looking for!
That is the story of biopsy number 1. The cause of biopsy number 2 is actually what motivated me to make an appointment (indeed, a different way to interpret the above story is that I was procrastinating taking action on the innocuous shoulder rash).
Cause #2 used to reside on the outer flank of my right thigh. I noticed it nearly three weeks ago when scratching an itch. It was raised and rough, like a scab, and the size of a pinhead. For a few days I thought it was a scab. But then I realized that it wasn't behaving like a scab by, you know, falling off. Upon closer inspection it was black in color rather than that rusty scab color. The one thing going in its favor is that it was quite symmetrical, and the ABC's of melanoma start with Asymmetry. At any rate, Dr. Dermatologist's possible explanation for this non-scab scab was that a cluster of blood vessels burst under my skin awhile ago, and now that the burst had reached the top it appeared black. But he decided to biopsy it anyway, and unlike the shoulder rash I think that the entire troublemaker was removed.
I'm moderately terrified that I will be embarrassed when I am obligated to post that the results of the biopsy indicate "blackhead", but I suppose it would be Dr. Dermatologist who should be embarrassed for biopsying said blackhead.
All in all this is excellent timing for my flesh samplings because the dreaded PET scan is next Thursday (8/23). Rooting for a second clean one, marking two clean ones in a row, which MUST be OUTSTANDING news for ME and my FUTURE after IBC. I suppose I'm also rooting for good flesh biopsy results, but at present I am (perhaps naively) unconcerned.
Wednesday, January 18, 2012
Freaky itchy rash
Gross post title, I know, but it really is an accurate summation of what I'm about to share with you.
About a week ago I noticed about a dozen itchy red spots on my skin. Of course, they weren't just anywhere on my skin. They were all within the vast expanse of skin on my chest wall that was irradiated to eliminate any rogue inflammatory breast cancer cells. Long-time followers of this blog will have learned that inflammatory breast cancer has an incredibly high risk of recurrence in the first 2 years, and you might also remember that inflammatory breast cancer manifests as a sometimes itchy rash. You can therefore imagine my initial reaction to wake up and see spots localized to the Region of Perpetual Scrutiny.
The panic quickly subsided, however, as the Voice of Logic and Reason took over: recurrence of cancer in mulitple locations at precisely the same time should be highly unlikely. So I located my prescription-strength hydrocortisone from my previous rash scare and applied liberally. Twice per day. Over the long holiday weekend.
The rash got worse! I was and still am barely winning the fight against clawing at my skin. I periodically lose the battle and imagine how my absent-minding scratching must appear primeval appear to others.
I finally managed to work myself into Dr. Oncologist's schedule at 5 pm today. Beneath the dull intensity of institutional fluorescent lighting, the rash really was a remarkable sight to behold. Speaking in two-dimensions, the area of my chest that was irradiated is shaped like a double-wide New Hampshire, reaching from the bottom left half of my rib cage clear up onto my neck. Even in the absence of this knowledge, one could trace the outside edge of my rash and the resulting shape would roughly be a double-wide New Hampshire. In other words, the rash exclusively occurs in the region of irradiated skin. It is truly remarkable.
So...what is it? Dr. O isn't sure, but she's sure it isn't cancer. Since it didn't respond to the hydrocortisone, and indeed seemed to worsen, the prevailing hypothesis is that it's a fungal infection. Yeast are a type of fungi, and yeast-related infections are known to become more irritated with hydrocortisone. I now have my old trusty anti-fungal pink trapezoid pill (diflucan) to take for the next twenty days and a greasy ointment with which to slather my chest. Geez I hope it starts working soon!
Also, WHY on earth do I have a yeast infection on my chest wall? The literal answer is that the irradiated skin is extremely vulnerable and immunocompromised, meaning that it is and will continue to be eager to pick up infections and irritations. I'm not really sure where I picked up the yeast, but I do live with small (aka germy) children. Also, certain yeasts are a natural part of human microbial communities, so maybe this opportunist actually lives somewhere else on my body and just took a road trip to my chest wall. Long story short, I don't think there's anything I could have done to prevent this. But it kind of blows my mind and simultaneously grosses me out.
And finally, am I going to have to deal with this freaky-a$$ crap for the rest of my life? SUPER bummer. Normally I would end with something cheesy like, "At least I'm alive to live this glorious day!" But let's indulge my New Hampshire itch festival for a moment and just leave it at bummer, indeed.
About a week ago I noticed about a dozen itchy red spots on my skin. Of course, they weren't just anywhere on my skin. They were all within the vast expanse of skin on my chest wall that was irradiated to eliminate any rogue inflammatory breast cancer cells. Long-time followers of this blog will have learned that inflammatory breast cancer has an incredibly high risk of recurrence in the first 2 years, and you might also remember that inflammatory breast cancer manifests as a sometimes itchy rash. You can therefore imagine my initial reaction to wake up and see spots localized to the Region of Perpetual Scrutiny.
The panic quickly subsided, however, as the Voice of Logic and Reason took over: recurrence of cancer in mulitple locations at precisely the same time should be highly unlikely. So I located my prescription-strength hydrocortisone from my previous rash scare and applied liberally. Twice per day. Over the long holiday weekend.
The rash got worse! I was and still am barely winning the fight against clawing at my skin. I periodically lose the battle and imagine how my absent-minding scratching must appear primeval appear to others.
I finally managed to work myself into Dr. Oncologist's schedule at 5 pm today. Beneath the dull intensity of institutional fluorescent lighting, the rash really was a remarkable sight to behold. Speaking in two-dimensions, the area of my chest that was irradiated is shaped like a double-wide New Hampshire, reaching from the bottom left half of my rib cage clear up onto my neck. Even in the absence of this knowledge, one could trace the outside edge of my rash and the resulting shape would roughly be a double-wide New Hampshire. In other words, the rash exclusively occurs in the region of irradiated skin. It is truly remarkable.
So...what is it? Dr. O isn't sure, but she's sure it isn't cancer. Since it didn't respond to the hydrocortisone, and indeed seemed to worsen, the prevailing hypothesis is that it's a fungal infection. Yeast are a type of fungi, and yeast-related infections are known to become more irritated with hydrocortisone. I now have my old trusty anti-fungal pink trapezoid pill (diflucan) to take for the next twenty days and a greasy ointment with which to slather my chest. Geez I hope it starts working soon!
Also, WHY on earth do I have a yeast infection on my chest wall? The literal answer is that the irradiated skin is extremely vulnerable and immunocompromised, meaning that it is and will continue to be eager to pick up infections and irritations. I'm not really sure where I picked up the yeast, but I do live with small (aka germy) children. Also, certain yeasts are a natural part of human microbial communities, so maybe this opportunist actually lives somewhere else on my body and just took a road trip to my chest wall. Long story short, I don't think there's anything I could have done to prevent this. But it kind of blows my mind and simultaneously grosses me out.
And finally, am I going to have to deal with this freaky-a$$ crap for the rest of my life? SUPER bummer. Normally I would end with something cheesy like, "At least I'm alive to live this glorious day!" But let's indulge my New Hampshire itch festival for a moment and just leave it at bummer, indeed.
Thursday, June 2, 2011
My other degree is in Cancer
I'm really sorry I didn't post yesterday. I had to work late last night. Thank you, Hilary, for posting in the comments section the results of last Friday's skin biopsy: eczema. Yet another weird thing that has popped up in conjunction with my cancer treatment, but at least it's totally manageable. I've never had eczema before, and the dermatologist said it usually occurs in the winter or with a change in detergent, for example. I haven't changed anything and clearly it's not winter, so naturally I suspect something related to the April 4th needle-localized biopsy in that area. Perhaps the surgical glue? Who knows. I got a prescription for an ointment that should calm things down. It's a rare day that eczema is good news, but I'll take it.
When it rains, it pours, because I have another sinus infection. No joke. The kids had some piddly virus last week, and I of course caught it this past weekend. It started with a sore throat, so I did a salt-water gargle Monday night to nip it in the bud. And it was nipped! The sore throat was gone the next day. But things never 100% cleared up. Gradually over the course of the week I've felt my sinuses get a bit stuffy. That was no big deal, but when my teeth hurt upon bending over to lift someone out of the stroller tonight, my heart sank. Achy upper teeth is the hallmark of a sinus infection. Here's where I gave myself an honorary degree in Cancer: I prepared and performed a sinus wash; I took one free-sample antibiotic that Dr. Ear Nose and Throat gave me last month and told me to keep; I took a claritin D; and I took an anti-fungal (prophylactically). Boo-ya! I'll call Dr. Oncologist in the morning to get a full course of antibiotics, and hopefully she'll give me a bye on a head CT scan. I am indeed a professional patient.
Did I tell you that I asked Dr. Oncologist about why I get sick every time I even look at my kids (aka I complained)? I asked her how long it will take for my immune system to start performing as well as it used to. I feel so much better and my hair has gotten so thick that it just seems like my immune system should be doing well, too. Not so. Her response: TWO YEARS. Yep. And I'm only 3 months out from my last hard chemo. I'm going to have to start a sinus infection tally (I think I'm on number 4, if not 5).
The worst part about this sinus infection is that it's physically dragging me down. I can feel the fatigue quietly drifting in, like a fog creeping over Lake Wingra and enveloping unsuspecting picnicers. I was doing so, so good for an entire week, and now here we go again. I might not be able to protect my energy, but I won't let the fog get a hold of my spirit!
Speaking of preserving energy...time for bed.
When it rains, it pours, because I have another sinus infection. No joke. The kids had some piddly virus last week, and I of course caught it this past weekend. It started with a sore throat, so I did a salt-water gargle Monday night to nip it in the bud. And it was nipped! The sore throat was gone the next day. But things never 100% cleared up. Gradually over the course of the week I've felt my sinuses get a bit stuffy. That was no big deal, but when my teeth hurt upon bending over to lift someone out of the stroller tonight, my heart sank. Achy upper teeth is the hallmark of a sinus infection. Here's where I gave myself an honorary degree in Cancer: I prepared and performed a sinus wash; I took one free-sample antibiotic that Dr. Ear Nose and Throat gave me last month and told me to keep; I took a claritin D; and I took an anti-fungal (prophylactically). Boo-ya! I'll call Dr. Oncologist in the morning to get a full course of antibiotics, and hopefully she'll give me a bye on a head CT scan. I am indeed a professional patient.
Did I tell you that I asked Dr. Oncologist about why I get sick every time I even look at my kids (aka I complained)? I asked her how long it will take for my immune system to start performing as well as it used to. I feel so much better and my hair has gotten so thick that it just seems like my immune system should be doing well, too. Not so. Her response: TWO YEARS. Yep. And I'm only 3 months out from my last hard chemo. I'm going to have to start a sinus infection tally (I think I'm on number 4, if not 5).
The worst part about this sinus infection is that it's physically dragging me down. I can feel the fatigue quietly drifting in, like a fog creeping over Lake Wingra and enveloping unsuspecting picnicers. I was doing so, so good for an entire week, and now here we go again. I might not be able to protect my energy, but I won't let the fog get a hold of my spirit!
Speaking of preserving energy...time for bed.
Updated poke tally (I had a blood draw on Wednesday to check for tumor markers. I'll get the results on chemo day (next Wednesday)):
port 32
right arm 12
tummy 6
left arm 6
right breast 2++
left breast 1+
superior vena cava 1
T9 vertebral body
Monday, May 30, 2011
Many ups, just a few tiny downs
Guess what cancer patient got on her bike for the first time since October? Oh yea, that would be me. I have found it Hard to exercise during cancer treatment, but tonight I felt ready to get back on the exercise wagon. This is in contrast to my cancer friend Emily, who is super hard-core and has been exercising throughout her breast cancer treatment. I don't know how she does it, but I guess I wasn't a huge exerciser to begin with. I just really love to go on bike rides and to bike to work. The only discomfort on tonight's ride came from the pesky nerve damage in my left arm and its corresponding pit, but the pain was totally ignorable after the first mile. Maybe I'll try biking to work tomorrow. We shall see if I can get up in time. That's the hardest part about resuming biking to work: allowing extra time in the morning for the healthier commute. Once it becomes habit again it's not so hard to wake up earlier.
It has been an awesome weekend with the family. We went camping with the ridiculously amazing Aunt Jacque and had a ball. The girls in particular had a great time. Nature is the best plaything. And if nature is drizzling, cousins and aunts are the best playthings. The grand finale for this holiday weekend was grilling out with our awesome neighbors on Ian's hand-made brick patio. I know, I need to post a picture of. Suffice to say that Ian has skillz.
Despite all of these fantastic escapades, I do have a tiny bit of possible cancer-related news that I haven't shared with you. It should be nothing, so don't you fret, but it is weird. Last Tuesday I noticed a rash. Anywhere else and it wouldn't have been a problem, but as I'm sure you've guessed by now it is on my right breast. (Why do I specify a side? I only have one.) I put hydro-cortisone on it for three days, but it didn't resolve. Reluctantly, I called Dr. Oncologist on Friday. She of course wanted to see me, wrecking my first potential 40-hour work-week since October. She didn't know what it was and sent me to a dermatologist. Dr. Dermatologist didn't know what it was and so he took a sample (aka biopsy). This was all on Friday. I should have results on Tuesday or Wednesday. In the meantime I have discontinued the hydro-cortisone because if the rash is caused by yeast, the hydro-cortisone could aggravate it. The reason we went so far as to take a biopsy before trying more preliminary treatments is because inflammatory breast cancer (my former cancer) can manifest itself awfully similarly to the current rash. But I just had an enormous biopsy of the right breast in April that came back clean, so I'm not terribly concerned. Just itchy and annoyed.
Why on earth would I have yeast suddenly growing in that particular location? Who knows. I don't ask these types of questions anymore, I just make the phone calls to get the issue taken care of.
Also, talk about delayed reaction to the radiation! Oh my goodness I am so red and uncomfortable, and have been for at least a week now. And the blisters! I have had this patch of blisters about the size of a cell phone brewing near my armpit for at least 10 days. They refuse to surface and just sting sting sting. Also, a new thing that just started about three days ago is a trio of blistery lacerations on my side, just behind my arm. I'm guessing they are from my skin spitting. Bummer! I'm doing the same twice-per-day regimen of ointments that I've been doing all along, so I suppose that that's what has saved me from more severe reactions. And yes, there is room for increased severity. I'm counting myself lucky that I only have these relatively few blisters considering the vast area that was radiated. A large area around my incision, for example, is healing very well and is scarcely pink anymore. And besides, it's not like these discomforts have prevented me from doing anything that I want to do. Thank you, chemotherapy, for making me so (en)durable.
Updated poke tally:
port 31
It has been an awesome weekend with the family. We went camping with the ridiculously amazing Aunt Jacque and had a ball. The girls in particular had a great time. Nature is the best plaything. And if nature is drizzling, cousins and aunts are the best playthings. The grand finale for this holiday weekend was grilling out with our awesome neighbors on Ian's hand-made brick patio. I know, I need to post a picture of. Suffice to say that Ian has skillz.
Despite all of these fantastic escapades, I do have a tiny bit of possible cancer-related news that I haven't shared with you. It should be nothing, so don't you fret, but it is weird. Last Tuesday I noticed a rash. Anywhere else and it wouldn't have been a problem, but as I'm sure you've guessed by now it is on my right breast. (Why do I specify a side? I only have one.) I put hydro-cortisone on it for three days, but it didn't resolve. Reluctantly, I called Dr. Oncologist on Friday. She of course wanted to see me, wrecking my first potential 40-hour work-week since October. She didn't know what it was and sent me to a dermatologist. Dr. Dermatologist didn't know what it was and so he took a sample (aka biopsy). This was all on Friday. I should have results on Tuesday or Wednesday. In the meantime I have discontinued the hydro-cortisone because if the rash is caused by yeast, the hydro-cortisone could aggravate it. The reason we went so far as to take a biopsy before trying more preliminary treatments is because inflammatory breast cancer (my former cancer) can manifest itself awfully similarly to the current rash. But I just had an enormous biopsy of the right breast in April that came back clean, so I'm not terribly concerned. Just itchy and annoyed.
Why on earth would I have yeast suddenly growing in that particular location? Who knows. I don't ask these types of questions anymore, I just make the phone calls to get the issue taken care of.
Also, talk about delayed reaction to the radiation! Oh my goodness I am so red and uncomfortable, and have been for at least a week now. And the blisters! I have had this patch of blisters about the size of a cell phone brewing near my armpit for at least 10 days. They refuse to surface and just sting sting sting. Also, a new thing that just started about three days ago is a trio of blistery lacerations on my side, just behind my arm. I'm guessing they are from my skin spitting. Bummer! I'm doing the same twice-per-day regimen of ointments that I've been doing all along, so I suppose that that's what has saved me from more severe reactions. And yes, there is room for increased severity. I'm counting myself lucky that I only have these relatively few blisters considering the vast area that was radiated. A large area around my incision, for example, is healing very well and is scarcely pink anymore. And besides, it's not like these discomforts have prevented me from doing anything that I want to do. Thank you, chemotherapy, for making me so (en)durable.
Updated poke tally:
port 31
right arm 12
tummy 6
left arm 6
right breast 2++
left breast 1+
superior vena cava 1
T9 vertebral body 1
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