Time For An Update?

I guess it IS! Whew! A lot's been happening the past month. Most of the time I was supposed to be healing from the latest surgery, but our 11 year renters chose this time to move out, so since June 1, I've been at that place just about every day. Most days, I didn't last too long. Around 2:00 P.M., I'd hit a wall, and I'd literally be done for the day. (Of course, I didn't get going until around 10:00 AM, either.)

My tubes came out at week 2.5 and 3.5. Now, folks, that pain is truly something to behold! Luckily it's so temporary, and lasts only about one minute. And then it's completely gone. I'd had a drainage tube in before for a surgery, but it was only in for a day or two, and when it was removed, I must've still been on the morphine so never felt that at all! Those things are like a 6 inch long miniature plastic paint stirrer you get from Sears, only probably 3 times the size of the hole that the tube's been coming out of. Of course, I'd had my tubes in for over 2 and 3 weeks, so there was quite a bit of healing around the tube area. O-U-C-H! Ah, but the relief at having those buggers gone and being able to finally sleep on my side instead of my back all the time made it all worthwhile.

My wounds still are not completely healed, but today I had my first radiation treatment. I go again tomorrow and every Monday through Friday for the next 6 weeks. I was really dragging my heels on this one, since everything I had read was that radiation is used if you have only (yeah, right--"only") a lumpectomy, not a masectomy. The radiology doctor finally informed me that because of the size of my tumor, I had a 40% chance of it coming back in 2 years if I DIDN'T have the radiation vs. 10%. Well, gee. What are we waiting for?

I've also been seeing a physical therapist to learn how to give myself (or maybe Fred can?) massages so I can manage the lymphedema. That's a fancy name for swelling in the arm where some lymph nodes have been removed. Actually, it can become a serious problem since the lymph has no place to go, and then infections can occur. That's why that arm can no longer be used for blood pressure readings, IV's, or taking blood. And, I'll have to be especially careful about cuts, bites, etc. Now, that's the hard part. Mosquitoes LOVE me! They always have. Good thing I live here in Eastern WA where we don't have a problem with them like I did growing up in ND. I still have scars on both arms from those nasty suckers!

On the whole, my life seems to revolve around medical appointments, painting, cleaning, and trying to find a bed so I can sleep! Actually, I'm not the painter, but they use me mostly to haze the aisles at either Home Depot or Lowe's, call them to report my findings, and to ask them what it was that they sent me there for. (Chemo brain)

Thank goodness we've had some awesome help from some friends and former neighbors and of course, Fred's cousin, Myron. They spray painted the entire interior--ceilings included, while some of us others tried to stay ahead of them by doing the taping. I've even figured out how to fix vertical blinds. Then the blinds company told me they were not meant to be fixed! Ha! I fooled them!

Tomorrow we're going with 10 others to a dinner theater. (It's really my birthday, but we haven't told them that--I wanted to just go OUT!) It's Tim Behrens as "Scrambled McManus."
We saw him a few months ago doing "McManus in Love," and we all had such belly laughs. Shoot, I laugh everytime I read one of McManus' stories from his books--even when I've read the story 10 times already! His Rancid Crabtree and Crazy Eddie Muldoon just jump out of the pages, and now we get to enjoy them jumping out on the stage!

So, tomorrow will be a busy day: 11:45 radiation, 1:30 PT, and then 5:30 Dinner Theatre.

I think I should rest this weekend.