Things have been pretty quiet around here. We celebrated Christmas with some friends at the Franciscan on Fisherman's Wharf and ate a ton of crab. It was the right amount of celebrating for me - something special with friends, but not a lot of effort required on my part.
I went in yesterday for my pre-op pelvic ultrasound that the gyno surgeon wanted. She wasn't looking for anything in particular, but wanted to get the lay of the land before going in. To prep for it I was supposed to drink 32 ounces of water been 2:15 and 2:45 to be ready for a 3:15 appointment. The idea is that a full bladder makes everything else easier to see.
I couldn't do it. I took some zofran ahead of time because I was worried about getting sick, and I got about 26 ounce of water in and just couldn't. I was too full and could feel the water sloshing around. I couldn't bend over to take my shoes off and undress to put the gown on and had to ask the nurse to do it for me. That was embarrassing, but necessary. So my bladder wasn't as full as they wanted, and she wasn't sure about the quality of picture she got, I might have to go do it again. If I do, I'll start drinking 90 minutes ahead and pace myself a little more, but I really hope this is good enough.
The first surgery is now confirmed for January 21 and the second is penciled in for March 3, and they expect to confirm that in the next week or two.
I'm starting to freak out a little bit about it. I'm not much of a clotheshorse but my habit is to shop for new t-shirts and gym stuff online after the holidays, and I keep having to stop myself because I have no idea what's going to fit, since I have no idea what size or shape I'm going to be. Great sale on bras! Not going to need them for a while or maybe ever. It's just weird. I'm not particularly sad about the changes coming, but that could change. I'm nervous about the surgeries and recovery. I'm scared of the pain more than anything. I've had three laproscopic abdominal surgeries in the last decade and I remember what recovering from them was like. Recovering from the oopherectomy half of the surgery in January will be similar, but add the mastectomies to that and I can't quite comprehend it. And then the flap surgery will be another level altogether. People do it and I know I'll be fine, but I'd really just like to go to sleep now and wake up in May with it all done.
Up until the last couple of weeks (with the major exception of the lung biopsy from hell) I haven't really had to deal with pain at all. I've been uncomfortable, and I had some stomach cramps the first couple of weeks on taxol before we got my meds straightened out. Now I hurt. Bone pain from the neulasta is pretty close to daily, and the tumor site has started hurting as well. I'm choosing to believe it's a positive thing as the meds duke it out with with the tumor. The doctor said it's not anything to worry about. I'm mostly dealing with it by takine Alleve, but have taken a couple of percocets in the last week when it was bad enough I couldn't sleep.
In happier news, my hair seems to be back and wanting to stick around. I've got about a quarter inch of fuzz and my eyebrows came back enough that I had to go them waxed last week. The individual hairs are still really short, but at least I have a template to color in now. I felt like a clown for the last few weeks when I tried to put makeup on. I could still lose it again after the last round of chemo, but it's seeming less and less likely.
I'm not expecting anything to happen between now and the final chemo on January 3, so things will probably be pretty quiet here. If I don't get back here before then, I hope you all have a happy new year and we will try to do the same. :)
I went in yesterday for my pre-op pelvic ultrasound that the gyno surgeon wanted. She wasn't looking for anything in particular, but wanted to get the lay of the land before going in. To prep for it I was supposed to drink 32 ounces of water been 2:15 and 2:45 to be ready for a 3:15 appointment. The idea is that a full bladder makes everything else easier to see.
I couldn't do it. I took some zofran ahead of time because I was worried about getting sick, and I got about 26 ounce of water in and just couldn't. I was too full and could feel the water sloshing around. I couldn't bend over to take my shoes off and undress to put the gown on and had to ask the nurse to do it for me. That was embarrassing, but necessary. So my bladder wasn't as full as they wanted, and she wasn't sure about the quality of picture she got, I might have to go do it again. If I do, I'll start drinking 90 minutes ahead and pace myself a little more, but I really hope this is good enough.
The first surgery is now confirmed for January 21 and the second is penciled in for March 3, and they expect to confirm that in the next week or two.
I'm starting to freak out a little bit about it. I'm not much of a clotheshorse but my habit is to shop for new t-shirts and gym stuff online after the holidays, and I keep having to stop myself because I have no idea what's going to fit, since I have no idea what size or shape I'm going to be. Great sale on bras! Not going to need them for a while or maybe ever. It's just weird. I'm not particularly sad about the changes coming, but that could change. I'm nervous about the surgeries and recovery. I'm scared of the pain more than anything. I've had three laproscopic abdominal surgeries in the last decade and I remember what recovering from them was like. Recovering from the oopherectomy half of the surgery in January will be similar, but add the mastectomies to that and I can't quite comprehend it. And then the flap surgery will be another level altogether. People do it and I know I'll be fine, but I'd really just like to go to sleep now and wake up in May with it all done.
Up until the last couple of weeks (with the major exception of the lung biopsy from hell) I haven't really had to deal with pain at all. I've been uncomfortable, and I had some stomach cramps the first couple of weeks on taxol before we got my meds straightened out. Now I hurt. Bone pain from the neulasta is pretty close to daily, and the tumor site has started hurting as well. I'm choosing to believe it's a positive thing as the meds duke it out with with the tumor. The doctor said it's not anything to worry about. I'm mostly dealing with it by takine Alleve, but have taken a couple of percocets in the last week when it was bad enough I couldn't sleep.
In happier news, my hair seems to be back and wanting to stick around. I've got about a quarter inch of fuzz and my eyebrows came back enough that I had to go them waxed last week. The individual hairs are still really short, but at least I have a template to color in now. I felt like a clown for the last few weeks when I tried to put makeup on. I could still lose it again after the last round of chemo, but it's seeming less and less likely.
I'm not expecting anything to happen between now and the final chemo on January 3, so things will probably be pretty quiet here. If I don't get back here before then, I hope you all have a happy new year and we will try to do the same. :)
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