So, once again, it has been a long time since my last post. To say that I have been busy at work would be a gross understatement. Partially, it's that time of the year in the world of Student Affairs and Residence Life in particular, but also we've been short-staffed since February. So there's that, too. Thankfully, beginning tomorrow, we will once again be fully staffed - pro and student staff! (I really hope I didn't just jinx that.)
To back up a few months, my big news is that I survived surgery! This is not being written from beyond the grave. In fact, recovery really wasn't too bad. I mean, it wasn't fun, but painkillers and muscle relaxers definitely helped a lot. Up until my C-section, any narcotic painkiller used to make me sick. I took morphine, demerol, and codeine after surgery I had on my arm in college, and I threw up. I took percocet after I had my wisdom teeth out - more puking (that time it really freaked my mother out because I had just eaten red jello and she thought it was blood...oh, funny memories). When I had appendicitis, I think I was just nauseous. Luckily, I seem to be able to handle them now.
The worst part of the surgery recovery was by far the drains I had in for THREE weeks. They were awful - basically two bulbs of my bodily fluid (plasma mostly) hanging three feet from the bottom of my boobs. They had to be emptied three times a day (thank goodness for my lovely husband for helping with this), which was obnoxious and gross. And they kept getting caught on things and tugging, which hurts! The amount of fluid that the drains put out has to get down to a certain level before they can be removed, and I seriously considered fudging the numbers to get them out. But with my luck, I would end up with some terrible complication if I did that, so I didn't. The day they finally came out was so great, though!
So I now have fake boobs, which is a little weird, but I'm getting used to it. In some ways they are an improvement over my old boobs. 1. They are much smaller and perkier and 2. As my surgeon keeps saying, they aren't trying to kill me. Ironically, I have always thought in my adult life that at least I would never need implants since I have never been small chested. So much for that. Another nice thing, though, is the bras I bought after my surgery. They have no underwires (this is the first time since I was about 14 that I have had a bra without an underwire), and they have the tiniest straps. Of course, instead of nipples I now have incision scars across both boobs, but I wasn't planning to do any topless modeling, so I suppose it doesn't really matter.
On August 3, about 3.5 weeks after my surgery, I went back to work. Then, on August 12 (conveniently, right in the middle of RA training), I started radiation treatments. Radiation is everyday, so I've had 22 radiation treatments so far and I have 8 to go. My last day of radiation will be September 23.
Radiation has been a breeze compared to chemo. The only pain in the butt is the fact that it is everyday, so it got old about a week into it. Also, it really does irritate the skin. During the first few weeks, my skin was fine, but over the past couple of weeks, my skin has gone from pink to red to purple in places and now black on the incision under my arm. It also has started to hurt a little, but compared to chemo, it's basically nothing.
Oh, and my hair has started growing back. I have eyelashes and eyebrows again, which is nice. The hair on my head is almost long enough to be a "hairstyle," but it will still be a while before I actually need a haircut. I might have to start using shampoo again soon, though! Unfortunately, this does mean that I have to shave my legs again, but I guess it's worth not feeling and looking like absolute crap.
So hopefully in 10 days I will be cancer-free and finished with treatment! After this, I just have to have my port removed and a small procedure to remove excess tissue under my arms leftover from the surgery. I will meet with both the breast surgeon and medical oncologist every six months for the rest of my life. And I will wish and hope that the cancer never returns.
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