GETTING READY FOR CHEMO
My second surgery took place just six days after the first. Since he only had to reopen one incision the recovery was much easier. Pathology results showed a clear margin that time so I was ready to move on.
I was back to work full time a week later. It was nice to see everyone again and have something to keep my mind off my health. I was even able to fit in a visit to Cincinnati to see friends there. It had been two months since I had gone.
Some of the things I did during those three weeks ...
Met with the surgeon so he could examine his work. My armpit had swelled to the size of a plum and really hurt. If I didn't have ice on it, I walked around with my hand on my hip. The problem was lymphatic fluid backing up at the spot where the three lymph nodes were removed. He drained it and I felt instantly better. I would have hugged him if I didn't think he would be weirded out.
Had a "chemo education session" with the oncology nurse. It was 1.5 hours of talking about all the expected and possible side effects of every drug I would be getting. WOW! No hair is a big one, but there are many many others I knew nothing about: yellow nails that might fall off, mouth ulcers, dry skin, early menopause, bad smells and taste, bla, bla, bla.
Went wig shopping with my sister and daughters See pics here: http://amysboobieblog.blogspot.com/p/so-what-do-you-think-option-1-option-2.html
We hit two stores. At the first one the lady said I could only try on three. What? I was in a room of over 200 wigs and I had to pic only three to try on! While we were looking she came back and said, "Are you really going to buy a wig or are you just wanting to try them on?". I told her why I was there and suddenly I was important. She let me try on four wigs, and she claimed every one of them were beautiful on me. Nope, she was wrong! Two of them were horrible. I could have put on an clown wig and she would have acted the same way!
At the second place she was much more professional. I didn't try on a lot, but that was because she knew with one look which one would be best on me. She knew her stuff, because it was perfect.
I posted three options on the blog. The first two were from the first store. The last one was from the second store. Insurance said they will buy me one, so I'm going for the last one. It is my favorite and costs the most. That same shop has a lot of cute hats and scarves and that is what I want to wear most of the time. I can't try them on until I'm bald though, otherwise they will fit differently.
Cut and colored my hair. I needed a haircut anyway, so I went a lot shorter and added bangs, something I would have never done if I didn't know it was going to fall out. I also colored it blond as that was winning color from my blog survey. Check out the first two chapters of My Hair Journey here:
http://amysboobieblog.blogspot.com/p/hair-journey.html
And oh yes, I started this blog. I'm so glad I did. It gives me a reason to take time and reflect. I want to document some of those details I would normally forget about, but most importantly I want to document how I feel about it at that time. My feelings change as I go though this, I guess you can say they "mature". If I am to talk to someone newly diagnosed though, I want to relate to them using the feelings I had when I was in their shoes, not how I feel when it is all a thing of the past.
Its fun to watch my list of followers growing. I know there are many more lurkers out there. If you're one of them, come on and join! I think you'll get email notices when I post something new and it will be fun for me to see who's reading.
My second surgery took place just six days after the first. Since he only had to reopen one incision the recovery was much easier. Pathology results showed a clear margin that time so I was ready to move on.
I was back to work full time a week later. It was nice to see everyone again and have something to keep my mind off my health. I was even able to fit in a visit to Cincinnati to see friends there. It had been two months since I had gone.
Some of the things I did during those three weeks ...
Met with the surgeon so he could examine his work. My armpit had swelled to the size of a plum and really hurt. If I didn't have ice on it, I walked around with my hand on my hip. The problem was lymphatic fluid backing up at the spot where the three lymph nodes were removed. He drained it and I felt instantly better. I would have hugged him if I didn't think he would be weirded out.
Had a "chemo education session" with the oncology nurse. It was 1.5 hours of talking about all the expected and possible side effects of every drug I would be getting. WOW! No hair is a big one, but there are many many others I knew nothing about: yellow nails that might fall off, mouth ulcers, dry skin, early menopause, bad smells and taste, bla, bla, bla.
Went wig shopping with my sister and daughters See pics here: http://amysboobieblog.blogspot.com/p/so-what-do-you-think-option-1-option-2.html
We hit two stores. At the first one the lady said I could only try on three. What? I was in a room of over 200 wigs and I had to pic only three to try on! While we were looking she came back and said, "Are you really going to buy a wig or are you just wanting to try them on?". I told her why I was there and suddenly I was important. She let me try on four wigs, and she claimed every one of them were beautiful on me. Nope, she was wrong! Two of them were horrible. I could have put on an clown wig and she would have acted the same way!
At the second place she was much more professional. I didn't try on a lot, but that was because she knew with one look which one would be best on me. She knew her stuff, because it was perfect.
I posted three options on the blog. The first two were from the first store. The last one was from the second store. Insurance said they will buy me one, so I'm going for the last one. It is my favorite and costs the most. That same shop has a lot of cute hats and scarves and that is what I want to wear most of the time. I can't try them on until I'm bald though, otherwise they will fit differently.
Cut and colored my hair. I needed a haircut anyway, so I went a lot shorter and added bangs, something I would have never done if I didn't know it was going to fall out. I also colored it blond as that was winning color from my blog survey. Check out the first two chapters of My Hair Journey here:
http://amysboobieblog.blogspot.com/p/hair-journey.html
And oh yes, I started this blog. I'm so glad I did. It gives me a reason to take time and reflect. I want to document some of those details I would normally forget about, but most importantly I want to document how I feel about it at that time. My feelings change as I go though this, I guess you can say they "mature". If I am to talk to someone newly diagnosed though, I want to relate to them using the feelings I had when I was in their shoes, not how I feel when it is all a thing of the past.
Its fun to watch my list of followers growing. I know there are many more lurkers out there. If you're one of them, come on and join! I think you'll get email notices when I post something new and it will be fun for me to see who's reading.
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