Monday, December 14, 2015

I'm cured, but it's not over yet

If you missed the announcement on facebook, I found out last thursday that the pathology report from my surgery came back clear. No residual cancer, four lymph nodes removed with no trace of cancer--the chemo basically melted it all away. I'm cured! However, this does not mean I'm done and get to go back to my life now. Not yet. I still have to do the six weeks of radiation treatments starting in January as a preventative measure against recurrence. Then it will be a few more weeks before I start to feel normal again.

This is the first time since the surgery almost two weeks ago I've felt up to getting on the computer and typing, so I'll keep today's update brief but will give a complete accounting of the surgery experience in another post.

I'm slowly getting a little better each day. I still have one drain in from the surgery, so I have to be careful not to pull on it (ouch) or try to lift my arm over my head. Yet, I have to do low exercises with my arm to keep the shoulder from freezing up. I am able to do little things like use a fork or my tablet, but the range of motion is definitely limited and I get sore if I try to do too much. I try to get out for some kind of walk each day, even if it's just shopping. the pain is not bad at all, and often I don't feel any. The worst is having to sleep on my back until the drain comes out, and even then the soreness in my right armpit will make it difficult to sleep on my side, I think. I'm generally propped up on pillows.

I haven't taken a full look at the surgery site. I've glanced down from above, and it looks weird but not scary. I'm not ready to get a full frontal look...that will be too real. I know, I'm just being silly at this point--after all, it's been almost two weeks. Soon. If this is in your future and you want to see what it looks like, I'm happy to take a pic for you. I just figure not everyone wants to see that!

That's it for today. I'll work on a post about my surgery in the next couple days.




4 comments:

  1. Battle scars are not for the faint of heart, but I'm proud of yours and i'm proud of YOU for handling it with such grace and good humor!!

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  2. Yeah, Rissa said herself that a lot of the worst part of her healing came after the cancer treatment was done and trying to get the body to go back to normal. Of course, her type of cancer is a blood cancer, so hers wasn't as easily contained. Given how long you waited to go in, you are so incredibly fortunate and blessed. I am so grateful this is turning out the way it is going. I know it's not nearly as easy as you make it seem on the blog... but you've been a near-textbook case and I hope the rest of it goes as 'easily' as the first part of it. (Again, not that any of this has been 'easy'.) I love you and think of you often.

    Love and stuff,
    Michy

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  3. Congratulations Jennifer! The complete chemo response result is phenomenal news! Excellent to hear from you! Good luck in your continued recovery. J&S - Minnesota

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