Monday, July 6, 2009

Happy Birthday Robert!

Sorry for the lapse in writing since Wednesday. After the drain was put in and the local wore off, life was not much fun. The new drain was put directly into my chest cavity which did not like the intrusion. So for 2 days I was getting a repeatedly stabbing effect from the tube. Not fun, painful and I got very little sleep. I have discovered that when I get enough sleep, the following day is usually a pretty good one, but when I don't I think I am more sensitive to the pain. So Thursday was a blur and on Friday morning I got a call from the dr. office wanting to know if the fluid was low and if so would I want the drain to come out! I let them know the amount, and they said they would call back if the dr. thought it was sufficient to be removed. A few hours went by, no call, so Robert and I decided to stage a sit-in and went to the office and just sat around until they could see me and I could put on my sad quivering-lip puppy-dog eye look to them. Guess what happened .... Drain REMOVED! They didn't stand a chance! Robert was doubly happy as Dr. Bundschuh also told me no showers for at least 3-5 days so the drain hole could close up (they don't use stitches). So he is still my master bather! I also started using ice packs on my arms and chest as the numb nerve ending tingling is driving me nuts. After a few days, I am actually seeing improvement!

Still taking the rubber duckeys into the tub with me, again, if I have to take a bath, I might as well have some fun! Though the years, we must have accumulated at least 15 different ducks from various hotels as gifts (from my meeting planning days). Yesterday we staged a race between the Peabody duck (my favorite) and Coronado duck. I should have known the results before even attempting it, but I am sad to report the Coronado duck continually won. It seems the Peabody duck kept falling over (Tammy I guess some things are meant to NEVER change!)

I am proud to say I am no longer on pain medication and only take Ambien to go to sleep. I am also doing some weed pulling in the garden which helps stretch my atrophying muscles and tendons. Hurts like the dickens (gee, I wonder how dickens really hurts?), but the stretching is what I need to do. I just wish it weren’t so darn hot and humid outside!

Yesterday, the Long Island Spitzer's (Denise, Lynn and Danielle) gave me the most WONDERFUL gift. They arranged for a reflexologist to come to the house and treat/massage my feet. It felt so fantastic and I could actually feel the areas in my body that she was working on. Ok, maybe it's psychosomatic but afterwards, I really think my arm nerves were less tingly! So Kay will be coming once a week during my radiation treatments. She is also lending me (get that lending, not renting… amazing woman) a foot massager that she wants me to use 10 minutes before treatment and 10 minutes after to keep everything flowing. Something to look forward to as they burn my boob!

Well today is Robert's Birthday! Happy Birthday honey … I LOVE YOU!

We go to the oncologist at 10:40 to find out about chemo. Robert is hoping for a birthday present of "no chemo". Keep your fingers crossed that he gets his present. I can't put into words just how much he has supported me through all of this. He really is the most generous, compassionate and loving man.

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