I suppose since I’m just sitting here, resting and
recovering again, I should take the time to update my blog. It’s been a few
months since I last wrote and quite a bit has happened. Here we go….
Oh, and before I get into what happened over the next few
weeks, I must mention the puppy we adopted on August 9. Yes, I’m just smart
enough to decide that a puppy would make all of this better. <dripping with sarcasm> Yup, that’s what
I thought. Don’t get me wrong, she’s a GREAT dog, but puppies demand a LOT of
attention and have endless energy….especially when that puppy is a chocolate
lab / Australian Shepherd mix named Penny. She’s came from a friend of my
husband’s and even though I was in the midst of this cancer crap, the puppy was
available and sometimes you just do
things even if the timing isn’t ideal. Jack had been gone over 8 months at that
time and not having a dog in the house just didn’t feel right. I’m so glad we
got her, even though she can be a handful.
My last blog entry was shortly after my second chemo
treatment and at that time, I had come to expect what my days would be like
following my treatment. What I expected after this one is not what happened.
Not even a little. On August 7, I had my third chemo treatment and it went just
as normally as the others. I was treated to the company of my dear friend, Tom
during my treatment. (Thank you TAH for making time for me that day. I’m a
lucky girl.)
By the following Tuesday (August 12), I noticed an odd rash developing near the
site of my needle. I visited a nurse Wednesday afternoon and she told me it
might be an infection. She told me to go home and put a warm compress on it and
if it didn’t look better the next morning, to come back in. I returned the next
morning (August 13) because overnight, I had developed a HUGE red, itchy, welty
rash across my entire back and up my neck to the
base of my head.
My oncologist knew immediately that I
was having an allergic reaction to one of the 2 chemo drugs. It wasn’t an
uncommon reaction and she sent me home with a steroid prescription and Benadryl.
I was still miserable all day Friday (August 15), and by that evening I had
been feeling way too warm. I took my temperature – 102.5. I called the clinic
and they ordered me to the emergency room.
I
got to the hospital and they were already expecting me. I was rolled into an
exam room, had my temperature taken (now down to 99.7) and blood drawn. I was actually feeling the best I had in a
couple days, but unbeknownst to me, I was really sick. I was neutropenic. I had
an abnormally low count of white blood cells, which is what happens approximately
8-10 days after chemo (known as nadir), but mine dropped to very dangerous
levels. Normal levels are 4000-10,000. Mine was 250. Everyone in the room
donned masks and I was admitted into a room with a HEPA filter. So here I am,
in the hospital with a raging and very itchy rash covering at least 1/3 of my
body, with no white cell army to defend me against any other infections. I was
pumped full of steroids, Benadryl, and meds for acid reflux. I was also given shots
in the belly (YUCK!) on Saturday and Sunday morning to boost my white blood
cells. The rash, although it was the least of my problems, was still driving me
crazy and had advanced to my hips and thighs by Saturday evening. Sunday
morning, my back had finally started to heal and was less itchy, but now my
face was swollen, so much so that my glasses were pinched onto my face. Even in
the embarrassing ugly state, I agreed to have some visitors. I’ll forever be
grateful to my friends Alison and Lindsey (and her daughter Charlotte) for
coming to visit me. Truth be told, I was feeling so low that morning, that I
almost called them and told them not to come. I had a conversation about this
with the phlebotomist that came to draw my blood that morning. She had battled
cancer years earlier and knew the fear and discomfort that came with a changing
appearance. She reminded me though, that it would probably lift my spirits to
have family and friends who truly love me, come to visit. She was insistent
that I not cancel. She was right. I’m so glad I listened to her.
I
was finally discharged on Monday, August 18 when my numbers had reached 6000. The
rash had mostly subsided by that time, but I was still itchy on and off for
weeks after.
My
regular oncologist was on vacation while all of this was going on, so I didn’t
get to see her until a week after all this madness ended. We needed to discuss
what I was going to do about my final chemo treatment. I had an appointment with
her on Tuesday, August 26. She walked into the room and I burst into tears. I
couldn’t go through all of that again. Thank goodness she was able to suggest a
different medicine that is equally effective. On August 28, I had my fourth and
final chemo treatment. My doctor had me come back to the clinic the next day to
receive the white blood cell boosting shot again. My goal at the end of this ordeal
was to be able to attend Alumni Band Day at the University of Wisconsin on
September 6. There was a time that it was up in the air. I got conflicting info
from different doctors and nurses. My oncologist made it happen. She gave me
the shot and told me to just wash my hands often and be smart about keeping
myself clean. No worries, I was going to do whatever I needed to do to be able
to attend Alumni Band Day. I had a great day and was able to see some of my
favorite people, many of whom live outside of Wisconsin.
A
bit of a fast forward here….my hair began to grow back at the end of September.
I lost most of my eyelashes, which quickly grew back. The rest of September was
uneventful in my cancer story. The kids started back to school, I went back to
work and our puppy continued to grow, give love and challenge us. Ya know, a
normal life. All good things.
Skipping
ahead to mid-October, I noticed a red spot on the underside of my left breast
(NOT the cancer breast). It was Sunday, October 19 and we were only a few days
away from the first family vacation in 2 years. I had decided to call the
on-call doctor once I got home from church. As luck would have it, the plastic
surgeon on-call that day was my daughter’s friend’s father. (I hope you
followed that!) I asked him about it in the church parking lot and he decided
that after church, he’d come to my house to check it out. Around noon that day,
I’m in the kitchen with a family friend who is feeling up my breasts. It is
really funny when thought of in that way. He said it was probably nothing, but
put me on precautionary antibiotics and told me to meet with my plastic surgeon
the next day.
I
went to my plastic surgeon’s office on Monday and he and his physician’s
assistant said they’d seen this before and really had very little explanation
for it. The skin was thin and perhaps the expander had shifted. I was put on
another antibiotic, just in case there was an infection in there. I had another
appointment scheduled in the coming weeks for pre-op (to receive my implants),
so they would look at it again at that time.
We
took our family vacation to Orlando and came home to the spot remaining
unchanged.
I
saw the doctor again on November 6 and was given more antibiotics and told to
come back on Monday, November 10 for another check of the spot. At that
meeting, my doctor told me there was a distinct chance that I would have to
take a step back with my reconstruction. Surgery was scheduled for Thursday
November 13 and he would just take a look when I was on the table. He’d either
replace the expander on the left side, or if things looked good, he’d insert
the implants. I had no idea what I was going to have until I woke up.
Shortly
after surgery ended and I was in recovery, the doctor came out to talk to my
husband, John. He told John that my body was actually rejecting the expanders.
They needed to come out. From what I understand, this isn’t likely to happen
with the gel implants.
Today,
I’m recovering at home with my implants. They’re smaller than we had originally
planned (B-C cup size) rather than the D. There is some healing to be done, but
if I want to trade up to the larger size, I can do that. Also, I have virtually
no pain. The muscle on my right side is a little tender, but not enough for me
to even need Tylenol. Nevermind that I was sent home with an oxy prescription.
Geez….I must have a really high tolerance for pain.
So,
that’s my story to date. I still have some residual effects from the chemo,
including joint pain, which should subside over time. My hair is less than an
inch long, but it’s certainly growing. I don’t plan on getting any hair cut for
at least a year. I have had to shave my legs and arm pits again. Too bad I
couldn’t just put in a request for only hair growth on my head. I kinda got
used to not shaving the other parts over the last few months.
