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Pre-Surgery Day 2 & a Pre-Surgery Farewell
Today was somewhat more leisurely. Linds had a call at 9, but we slept in till 8ish. She completed her call and then we were off to my first appointment of the day: a COVID test! Unfortunately, the COVID test was NOT like the last one – I had two swabs, one in each nostril. The nurse always feels bad to make you cry, but it’s kind of comical when you consider you’re breasts are getting cut off the next day. I laugh. After the COVID test, we popped over to my surgeon consultation. The surgeon had gone to another building, so we got to spend some time with the…
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Surgery
Linds and I were up early for. 7:30 check-in time. I was probably the most nervous this morning. Things were getting real. We arrived at an admissions desk and checked in. Mayo has a slick intake system – they sent us up to the fifth floor and I already had a room assigned. We arrived in the room, which split with another patient, but we didn’t see them (they had it timed where our surgeries were opposite). The nurse asked about medications and all that good stuff. At this point, things are a little blurry. They put me in a purple gown (my favorite color!) and I got my IV…
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Post-Surgery Update
I think I’m recovering pretty nicely. The worst part about surgery is the damn ITCHING. Itching around the drain area. Itching from the corset/binder I have to wear. Itching from the dry skin you get during Minnesota winters made worse from chemo. Taking oxycodone probably doesn’t help but I’m taking it less often than I thought. The lidocaine injections they gave me in my chest have helped dull the pain significantly. The weird part is now those lidocaine injections are becoming less numb and more tingly and that makes for more itching, of course. Still, not a ton of pain. Mostly discomfort from being bound and limited arm range of…
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Surgery Post-Op & Radiation
Mayo Appointments Linds and I traveled to Rochester on Thursday night for three Friday appointments. We took the long way down, headed east towards and into Wisconsin. Stopped in Red Wing for the cool pottery and antique shop. For those who aren’t familiar with Minnesota, this is where the Mississippi carved our river valley (the closest thing we have to mountains). It’s a really pretty drive. Then we stopped at a local restaurant in Rochester to grab dinner. I knocked off a couple of bucket-list/post-chemo list items: eating steak tartare and oysters. First appointment of the day was survivor’s clinic. Normally in these appointments you determine the next steps in…
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Pre-Surgery Day 2 & a Pre-Surgery Farewell
Treatment Plan #2
Chemotherapy: Round 1
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Elasticity
Poor Me I know it’s terrible of me to make this joke, but I keep telling people that cancer is the best thing I have going for me right now. Out of all the things to go well, I’m glad it’s that. But the rest of the world either doesn’t know or doesn’t care that I’m still going through cancer; it still manages to slap me across the face. Not that I enjoy vague-writing, but it’s important to me that I’m honest about what I’m going through. And life doesn’t stop with a cancer diagnosis. I’ll admit to breaking down a few times this month. I can feel my nerves…
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Radiation Simulation
Well, I was partially right. I got tattoos but they were not for where the protons go. It’s where my body lines up with the CT machine. I’ve had CT scans in the past but I’m still unsure how the radiation happens. We’ll find out April 4th. Most of my appointments were for studies through Mayo. One was a urine sample (I am NOT pregnant), and then the actual “simulation.” The simulation is positioning me laying on a CT bed with my arms up behind my head. They measure the distance between my elbows. I had some face mask made so my chin stays out of the proton beams. So…
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Accommodations
It dawned on me just a week before radiation that I needed a place to stay. The local cancer place has a waiting list and it’s at limited capacity thanks to COVID. One option was to hold out hope and rent a place week by week. Depending on that gamble, I could be looking at a couple hundred dollars or a couple thousand. Airbnb places ranged from the $40s to $100s. Some of the lower-end places looked a little sketchy, and I don’t want to move from place to place for 5 weeks. I plan on brining a monitor and setting up camp for work, and that’s a pain in…
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Chemo Side Effects: Update
The worst of the chemo side effects are over, but there are still some lingering ones. Nails Several of them are starting to lift towards the end of my fingertips. None have fallen off yet. I’m keeping my nails short so I don’t catch them on anything. Right now, they haven’t lifted completely off, which is good. Several of them look pretty dark/bruised, but the rest look normal. I can tell that the chemo side effects are starting to fade – my nails got kinda thick and strong during it. My normal nails break pretty easily…which is what a few of them are doing now. Hot Flashes I get these…
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Tony
That was his name. Tony. I went to high school with Tony. He was a grade ahead. We went to a tiny school where everyone not only knows everyone else but is also related. His family had one of those last names everyone knew. But Tony didn’t care who you were, he was always the kindest person in the room. I remember when I found out he had brain cancer. Terminal. I thought he was kidding at first because he said it all while laughing and joking. If you think I’m upbeat, you should have met Tony. He died of brain cancer the other day at 37. We weren’t best…
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The Final Countdown
This week has been a shitshow. I’ve been pretty nervous about being alone for five weeks. Then on Friday, I’m driving the kids to school when we get hit by another car. We were going straight on a light and this guy merges on but instead of staying in the lane that’s created from the turn (the right lane) he immediately veers in front of us. I luckily was paying attention – I braked and honked. He still managed to damage the right front, but missed Evelyn by a few feet. We called the police right away. It took them a while to get there. Meanwhile, this guy is telling…
