Friday's Appointment

David Poncelow — Mon, 02 Oct 2006 13:29:00 +0000

I had another appointment with my surgeon on Friday- not much new information this time around. I got my bandages off- they were these rather cool plastic bandages that pretty much just looked like package tape over the incisions. I figured that since they were designed to stay together for over a week there must be some special way of removing them, a solvent that made them float off, something of that sort. Not so much. Dr. Garnett simply said ‘sorry’ and ripped them off. It didn’t really hurt, but the low-tech technique did make me laugh! Overall I’m healing as well as can be expected. The scar looks to be very minimal and the difference between sides won’t be too noticible from the front or the side- it’s most noticible from the top as I see it, which few other people will notice. I got some new bandages that I thought were pretty nifty- an adhesive was painted onto the wounds and then some tape was applied. Eventually the adhesive will dissolve in the shower and the tape will just start falling off. I’m constantly impressed by the nifty ideas and gadgets that I’m encountering.

I didn’t get my tube out yet- I’m still putting out too much lymph fluid. My next opportunity to get it out is Friday. I am looking forward to it, but I’ve figured out that if I wrap an ace bandage around my chest to keep it in place it doesn’t bother nearly as much. Likewise I’ve found that the wrapping up my arm keeps the super-sensitive skin on the inside of my arm from bothering me too much, particularly at night. As a result I’m looking more bandaged now than I did before I got the bandages off. I’m a lot more comfortable now, though!

I also got my arm-stretching exercises on Friday, just as Mom described- crawling up the wall with my fingers until I feel a good stretch and then holding it there for a while. I can already reach about a foot above my head, so I feel like I’m making pretty good progress. The more I stretch the less my arm bothers me, so I’m practicing pretty often. As Aunt Stacy’s suggested my arm has gone into ‘most-favored limb status’- I’m learning to keep it more protected than I used to, but I’m also babying it less, making myself use it rather than keeping it rigidly at my side.

I won’t know much more until my meeting with my new oncologist, now scheduled for the morning of the 12th. Hopefully I will get some sort of schedule for treatment out of that appointment and know what sort of treatments I’m in for. I have no idea if everything is going to be concurrent or if it’s going to be sequential- I should be getting a whole barrage of treatments. I did also find out that this cancer is HER2 receptive, which gives me access to another medication that is apparently quite effective.

Back to work on the day after tomorrow! I think I’m about ready. I’m already pretty active, so I don’t think that it should be much of a problem at all.

Z80 - The Diagnosis Is Not Consistent With The Gender of the Patient: Friday's Appointment

Friday's Appointment