Request for help

From the very first day we started telling people about my diagnosis, we were completely blown away by the love, support, and offers of help from everyone.  I've blogged about it earlier, and I cannot say how many times I thanked people, said we were absolutely fine now, but there might come a time when we'd need help.  Well, here I am, asking for some.

Thursday I met with my friend Kristin who *just* (as in this week) finished her last infusion of Herceptin, after two rounds of chemo (similar to mine).  Her hair is back, and she is so full of life and joy that it was wonderful for me to grab coffee with her and to drink in all her wonderful tips (some of which have been added to this post).  One of the things that she said was most useful was to have friends with her during each chemo treatment.  She said she was well known by the oncology nurses when she'd arrive with friends and they'd ask her if she wanted to be put in the "party room."  This made me smile.  Additionally, she shared that during one infusion, she had a bad reaction and if her friend hadn't been right there to see how serious it was, it could have been much worse.  She also found that sometimes the chemo affected her vision and so she really appreciated having someone else drive her there and back.

SO....

Given that my chemo is scheduled for Wednesdays, which is a day that Greg teaches, I'm in search of some good friends to keep me company on my chemo days.  I realize it's a long day (likely 2 1/2 to 4 hours) and not do-able for everyone.  I also will have a total of 16 chemo infusions (I'm not counting the Herceptin alone, which I should be able to do all on my own), so it's a lot to ask.  This week it's 10:30 to about 2:30 and I plan to schedule it for afternoons in the future (1-4ish?).  The infusions are at Water Tower Medical Commons, across the street from Columbia-St. Mary's Milwaukee.  I promise to bring knitting and books and other things so you don't have to entertain me the entire time!

If I actually get started this week, and no weeks are delayed for any reasons, these are the dates I'm looking at:

3/4 (10:30-2:30)
3/18
4/1 (Cara's spring break--hopefully she'll come along)
4/15 
(not sure if there's a week off here or not)
4/22
4/29
5/6
5/13
5/20
5/27
6/3
6/10
6/17
6/24
7/1
7/8
7/15 (depending on if there's a week off between regimens)

So if you happen to be free and want to be my chauffeur, email me with some dates you think would work (and your cell phone number if I don't have it).  

And, as always, THANK YOU!


p.s. All pieces of the cardigan are knit and I'm currently in the process of knitting the attached collar.  Wow, are there a lot of stitches (257, to be exact)!

Medical appointments--and knitting

I had my one week follow-up with the plastic surgeon and either I misunderstood, he forgot what he'd told me, or the plans changed when my repair surgery became more intensive (think it's the last of these).  So I did NOT get my stitches out and I did not get "embiggened."  :)  BUT I am healing very well and am cleared for starting chemo next week.  So if all goes well when the stitches come out on Tuesday, and my blood counts are high enough on Wednesday, I will start infusions Wednesday around lunchtime.

The other thing is that I'm able to start running again next week.  I can use the elliptical this week if I want (it's NOT my favorite form of exercise), but it takes 6-8 weeks for sufficient integration of my tissue into the AlloDerm following surgery, so to be safe, no running before 8 weeks.  The last time I ran was January 7th, so I'm wondering if I'm going to have to re-do the whole C25K program from the start again.  Of course, given the horribly long stretch of temps not getting above freezing, I may not want to run--at least not outside, even next week.

~~~~~

Finally, it's been awhile since I posted knitting updates.  I've been working on all three projects to a certain extent.  Trav's socks are slow-moving, as they're my totally brainless knit:

I'm really enjoying Hitchhiker.  I waited so long for the plastic surgeon (before my five minute appointment) that I was able to knit three notches worth on it--11 of the 42.  That was also long enough for me to finally memorize the 8 row repeating pattern!  I like the way the yarn (an old Knit Picks sock yarn) is pooling.

And then there's the recovery cardigan.  I'd taken some time off from knitting it, as it's not portable.  But this weekend I had time to knit at home and this pattern has sucked me back in!  Back, both fronts, and about 1 1/3 sleeves are done.

New 'do

For most of my life, I've hated my hair and done an elaborate back-and-forth with short hair and long hair; curly and straight; colored and natural; bangs and no bangs...  The last several years, I've fallen into a very simple, medium, able-to-be-pulled-back-into-a-pony-tail length cut and I swore I would never again do bangs, as it's such a pain in the ass to grow them out afterwards.  But in about a month, I will likely have NO hair (certainly very patchy hair), and so I thought it was one more chance to try bangs with little risk!  Furthermore, I have several friends who went dramatically short relatively recently (most notably Susan and Chris) and I *love* their short hairdos, so I thought I'd try it.

As usual, I don't like it.  BUT it's kind of growing on me, too.  I'm sure I just need to learn to style it (any helpful tips very welcome!), but it throws me every time I look in the mirror!

~~~~~

On Saturday, I finally took off the bandage and looked at my surgical scar.  It's actually not much wider than the original scar.  It's 11 stitches, very straight and neat, and SO MUCH easier to take care of than the open wound.  :)  I see Dr. Sterkin tomorrow afternoon and he had said he might even take the stitches out then.  Fingers crossed for fantastic healing!

I spent some time working on my recovery cardigan this weekend.  I finished the right front and started a sleeve.  I was sure I'd never get it done in time to wear it this year, but with the insanely-long, cold winter (it was -15 this morning at our house), I might actually get to wear it.

And we had a fun (and delicious) night last night--the make-up party for our Super Bowl party that was semi-cancelled due to the blizzard.  We called this the "Soup-er Bowl" and had a soup and bread and dessert potluck.  I think I could eat soup every meal of every day and never tire of it!  We had creamy asparagus soup, chicken with homemade noodle soup, Hungarian mushroom soup, and (the surprise hit) dill pickle soup.  We also had this beautiful traditional Eritrean bread, crackers, pizza, spinach salad, gingersnaps and brownies.  Everything was delicious and it was fun to catch up with people we had missed three weeks back.

Today starts my time at work without my lifeline, Darcie.  Part of the reason I have the LTE position is because she will be on maternity leave and that begins today, after a week of my being trained.  <gulp> 

And now I'm off to OT, which I will miss terribly when it's done.  The major issue continues to be the cording in my right armpit.  Every day I hope that it will just magically release.  Maybe today will be the day...   :)

Surgery #2

Yesterday I had a minor surgery (debridement) to repair the incision on my left breast that had come open post-mastectomy.  I was thrilled that this surgery could be done with only local anesthesia, and was slightly amused to have a surgical nurse call me earlier in the day to tell me that the anesthesiologist wanted to make sure that I knew he was willing to put me into "twilight sleep" so I wouldn't have to remember the surgery.  I assured her that local anesthesia would be just fine.

This surgical experience was very different from the mastectomy, and I found it strangely interesting to be able to hear the surgical team working.  (There was a drape up so I wasn't able to watch.)  I felt pressure and tugging, and could mostly make out what was going on.  I was also able to see the whiteboard that listed all instruments and sponges used during surgery--and listened as all were accounted for afterwards.  :)

I think I've mentioned before that the plastic surgeon used what's called the "Box-To-X" incision for my mastectomy.  The scar left forms an "X" and on my left breast, the very middle of the "X" popped open.  The plan was to clean the edges and stitch it back up so it would heal and I could get on with the rest of my therapy (chemo and radiation).  As seems to happen to me all too frequently, it wasn't quite that simple.  After debriding (cleaning) the small wound, the skin was too tight to close, so the incision needed to be re-opened and extended along one of the "X" bars to get the skin to close, and to avoid puckering.  So two opposite sides of the "X" are now much longer than the other two sides.  Dr. Sterkin was somewhat apologetic about that, but I really don't care that much about the appearance--I'm just hoping that it heals well this time.

Other than being kinda bruised, I really feel amazingly well.  It was worth the strangeness of being awake through surgery to not have to deal with post-anesthesia effects.  

Lucky me, I get to be back on the stinky sulfa drugs (antibiotics) for another week.  AND apparently sulfa drugs + alcohol = nausea, so I guess I won't be going out for a drink this weekend.  <sigh>

~~~~~

One more thing:  Despite the temps being below zero, I did make it out for Night Knitting tonight and got started on Hitchhiker, which "everyone" seems to be knitting.  It's a fun, easy pattern that I'm enjoying so far.

The joy of being busy

This week is the first week in two months where I'd say I'm really, truly *busy*--and it feels great!

*Tutoring Math at Mt. Mary (Tuesday)

*Starting my new (20 hours/week) job at UW-Milwaukee, where I've got an LTE position through June as an Administrative Program Specialist in the Zilber School of Public Health (my alma mater ;))  I am so grateful that Zilber took me back--especially after the other, un-named job cancelled on me.  It's a very busy time of the semester, and the hours I'm there fly by.

*Lots of medical appointments, including two OT sessions, a pre-op appointment, and surgery on Wednesday (to repair the incision opening)

*Parent meeting for the middle school musical (Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat!) on Tuesday night

*Night knitting on Thursday

*Girl Scout cookie pick-up on Friday (with delivery to begin this weekend)

*Superbowl party make-up date on Sunday


It's all good stuff and I'm excited at the new normalcy.

~~~~~

A few details on the medical stuff, for those who are interested:

My therapy is kinda stalled, it seems.  My left side is (IMO) back to pre-surgery, so I'm just doing some basic strengthening (although I certainly feel strong enough on that side).  Unfortunately, my right side still has significant cording.  Both the OT and I feel that the cords are softening, so maybe it'll eventually heal, but not yet.  My ROM is really good on that side, too and it's only the cording that prevents me from being back to normal.  I've attended my initial 5 appointments, and insurance has approved some additional work due to the cording.  I feel SO much better after leaving an OT appointment, as Audrey does a great job releasing the muscles that get so tight between appointments.

I've been diligently cleaning and wet-packing the incision on the left, and watching for signs of infection (I've not seen any).  Dr. Sterkin was happy with the way the wound looks and he told me how he'll repair it tomorrow (simple trimming of the edges and back wall on top of the chest muscle, then stitching in a horizontal line).  I'll go back in a week to have the stitches out, and should be able to start chemo the week after that!  So if all goes well, I'll start on March 4th.  That's only a 3 week delay.  Fingers crossed!  Unfortunately, I have apparently developed Mondor's disease, which should clear up on it's own.  I just feel like I wouldn't mind not having to experience every possible side-effect!

Things that made me happy today

I was cranky on Monday, learning that chemo was postponed and I'd need to have another surgery to fix my first surgery.  But there's been a lot of good stuff happening lately, too.  Here are just a few from today:


*Finding out that my hemoglobin went from 7.6 mg/dL to 9.2 mg/dL in eight days!

*Sending out an opportunity to all three of my former PH101 classes and hearing back from a few of my very favorite former students who just wanted to fill me in on their lives and ask how I'm doing

*Stumbling on chicken thighs on sale for 59 cents a pound so I could make a big batch of chicken broth from the cookbook The Cancer Fighting Kitchen (as recommended by my friend Amy) to stash in the freezer for later

*Going to daytime knitting where one of my friends brought along her daughter and 7 month old granddaughter.  I got to sit across from baby Wynn and make faces, wave, and "talk" with her!  Fills up my baby-loving tank, which was running a little low.

*Finding a really good KFC copycat coleslaw recipe to make for supper

*Making it through the night without night sweats (first time since surgery)

*Getting my incision repair surgery scheduled for next week Wednesday (the order had gotten lost somehow, so it's a good thing I called; scheduled for 5:30 pm, but better than not at all)

*Looking forward to starting my new job tomorrow!

Back to work

I graduated (PhD in Environmental & Occupational Health from the Zilber School of Public Health at UWM) in December, with a part-time job lined up (the job was offered, I accepted, and I was just waiting for paperwork from HR), and a few leads on additional part-time opportunities to round things out.  And then I got my cancer diagnosis and Greg and I decided that a single, part-time job was a perfect fit with all the treatments I had ahead of me.  I turned down three other part-time opportunities and settled into immersing myself in prep for the one job.  My start date was to be January 5th.  However, when I told them I had surgery on the 8th and wanted to start and put in 20 hours that week before surgery, then make up the following two weeks in the future, they told me to just hold off until after surgery so I could see how my recovery went.  I felt recovered enough from surgery after two weeks, but they told me to wait until my chemo was lined up, and worked with me to choose days and times they needed me so that I could schedule my chemo appointments around them.   And then, when I had scheduled chemo and pushed for a start date, explaining that I was going crazy sitting home and barely using my brain (not to mention that whole lack-of-a-paycheck thing), I received an email stating that there was a hiring freeze and they knew nothing further.

To say I was upset is an understatement.  Without going into much detail, this job was (IMO) a perfect fit for me, combining my passion for breastfeeding (which began almost 20 years ago) with my experiences gained in graduate school for Public Health.  I spent the morning wallowing, and then sprung into action, contacting two of the three jobs I'd previously told "no."  Following the "everything happens for a reason" vein, I got positive responses from both.  One of them is still working out details, so I won't publicly announce it yet, but the other was a return to tutoring at Mt. Mary.  Today was my first day back (I'll be working one 5 hour day a week there), and it FELT SO GOOD!   Even though my schedule was light, it was wonderful to be using my brain and to be around other adults (and while cancer came up, it wasn't the focus of the day).  

~~~~~~~~~

I also think I found the silver lining to the chemo delay.  As I'd posted earlier, my hemoglobin, even a month after surgery, is still a very low 7.6 gm/dL and my medical oncologist is not happy with it.  Today when I talked to her and expressed my concern about delaying chemo so my incision could heal, she said that while delaying chemo isn't ideal, she's happy that we will have time to get my hemoglobin up before starting.  I will get another round of blood tests tomorrow (a week after starting 3 iron tablets a day) and check my iron store levels, and possibly get IV iron if they're not improving quickly enough.  That should help with healing the incision as well as prepping for chemo.  Additionally, if the other job really works out, I'll have a chance to start there and get established before beginning chemo.  
Everything happens for a reason!