Monday, February 2, 2015

More therapy & good thoughts request

I had my second therapy appointment today and I liked this one much better!  Last week Audrey showed me all sorts of exercises and took measurements to see how I'm starting.  Today she took a few measurements (my "good" arm improved 14 degrees and my "bad" arm improved 30), but most of the day involved massage!  The first thing she did was lymphatic massage, following the flow of this diagram, on my back and arms:


Lymphatic massage is a relatively new addition to PT and OT.  I remember when they taught it to my mom following her second (but not her first) knee replacement.  Audrey said she did a training about two years ago.  It's very gentle--so gentle that it's hard to believe it works!  :)

She then worked a lot on my right arm and the cording there.  She was able to release a lot of the muscles, but that cording is just not really budging.  Guess I'll have to keep going back!  She also taught me scar massage--to release and prevent any adhesions.  She said my scars are very loose, so that's good, too.

I was excited that after the first rounds of massage, I was able to roll completely to my left side and she did some additional massage on my right shoulder.  

I know I should be happy with my progress--the left side is almost back to normal, and the measurements on the right are going well--but I want it all better right now!  :)   I also asked about resuming running, but I have to get permission from the plastic surgeon for that (next week I will ask).

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I spent much of the morning imitating a cat: sitting in the sun and playing with yarn.  Between the Super Bowl (what a disappointment--most of our guests could not get in for our party--whether coming from Waukesha or even the near East side; only one die-hard couple braved the elements, and we're so glad they did!) and this morning, I knit the left front of the recovery cardigan:

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And now the request for good thoughts...
Tomorrow I have three tests--the MUGA heart scan and then the bone scan and CT scan to test for metastasis.  This is the last bit of unknowns in terms of my diagnosis (the "M" in the cancer staging), and I'm trying not to freak out about it.  All the doctors have said it's highly unlikely to have metastasized, but they were also all surprised to find the cancer in my lymph nodes, so I'm not finding their comments as comforting as I should.  It's too late to ask for white light and positive energy to prevent mets, but I can ask for it to send me calming vibes through the tests, and then the worst part for me--the waiting for results afterwards.  Thanks in advance :)

2 comments:

  1. I hope your tomorrow brings only good news. And the sweater looks great!

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