CT Scan this am

cT scans take a lot out of me. Not sure if it is the iodine contrast, the fact that I don't get breakfast until afterwards, or maybe I just didn't sleep well. I need to take it easy this pm.

Anyway, I will need to see if I can schedule appointments with Dr. K after a CT scan more often. He pulled it up as soon as I told him I had it. The good news ismthat it seems like the blood supply to the latisimus muscle does NOT have cancer involvement, so I will get the easier pedicle flap, which means the blood supply is still attached to the flap with reconstruction. It is a shorter surgery and a faster recovery time!

It was hard, though, to keep my left arm above my head because of the pain. I just tried to deep breath through the pain and when I felt myself stiffening up with the pain, I just tried to relax arm and shoulder muscles.

The other spots of cancer (sclerotic or scarred lesions - where there are calcium layers around clusters of cancer cells - in the bone marrow were stable and the tumor at the sternum) were stable. The lung was okay, we think.

Dr. K did say he isn't a big fan of surgery, but I just kept saying that I wanted this thing off/out of my body. I am so tired of changing wound dressings. I hope he understands that chemo wasn't controlling it.

Anyway, he is okay with the surgery and said he would trust the surgeons when they say that this is the right course of action.

I am so ready!

Countdown: 7.5 days and 15 dressing changes.

Spring Break Plans

Yesterday, I worked on edits for an article in my office. (Eddie is at his dad's house this weekend.) Then I treated myself by driving to Spirit Mountain Casino and playing for a few hours. In the end, after about 4 hours of play, I broke even. AT one point, I was $30 up. It was fun just being on my own.

Today, I need to do some work around the house. Laundry. Filing papers. Dust my room. Mop the spare bathroom. Clean the big bathroom. Maybe take some stuff to Goodwill, in the ongoing mission to declutter the house. Eddie comes home around 6pm.

Tomorrow, I will take Eddie and a classmate to laser tag in Eugene.

Tuesday, it looks like Eddie and I might go to the Coast with a friend and her dog (Eddie really likes this dog).

Wednesday, I have three appointments and lunch with a colleague.

Thursday, I have a CT scan and an appointment with my oncologist.

Friday, I may take Eddie to Portland to OMSI - and then later on, pick up a friend from the airport. I may wait and take Eddie to Portland the next day or the day after. We'll have to see how things work out.

I plan to work as much rest in there as possible. I also need to work on a syllabus for my Spring Term class, Research Design. And, figure out how to use Dropbox.

A busy but fun week is emerging.

Countdown: 12 days and 24 dressing changes - 23 after I shower this morning. Surgery will be so welcome. No matter how I do the dressing, it leaks out somewhere. The damn thing is draining so much. I might have to go to three dressing changes a day.

A Muffin Top

I am proposing a third definition of "muffin top". The first is the real thing - a muffin in which the top spills over the cupcake cup.

The second is also sometimes referred to as love handles - the part of your stomach and sides that hangs out over your pants when you gain weight.

The third is what my wound care nurse and I saw yesterday in my armpit.

Yes, the growth in my armpit is starting to look a bit like a muffin top.

About 11 days ago, I started putting turmeric spice on my dressings so that the growth/wound always has the spice (which has anti-cancerous properties) on it.

I also had a Herceptin treatment.

Now, remember that I have tended to think that the immunotherapy (t-cell therapy) and the Herceptin is effective against the cancer in my body. I also said once or twice that I sometimes imagine that my body is pushing the cancer out of my body, through the wound in my armpit.

Who knows, really, if the turmeric is working in the wound - although it hasn't grown as much in the last week as the previous two (was it the Herceptin, too?). But since I started using it and since the Herceptin treatment last week, the growth is starting to pull away from the skin in a few spots. In other words, the growth appears to be the muffin top that is spilling over, creating a bit of a crevice underneath it. In other words, there is space between the growth and my skin underneath it a couple of places.

My wound care nurse, L., was a bit excited. She said she's used to seeing the cancerous tissue create a bit of mountain, with the slopes of the mountain going down to the skin.

I think, in other words, that my body is starting to squeeze the growth out of my body. Imagine taking a muffin and squeezing the muffin cup (i.e., the bottom part) and having the muffin squish out the top. By cutting off the growth about my skin level, it's making it easier for the surgeon to cut out the growth.

I'm going to start visualizing that every day before surgery: my body pushing out the cancer so the surgeon can get to it and get rid of it. I'm imagining that there's good tissue underneath it.

I go to Portland tomorrow to see the plastic surgeon and to do labs. I'll know more about how long I'll be in the hospital and what to expect afterwards.

Countdown - 15.5 days and 33 dressing changes.

Countdown to Surgery - 16 1/2 days

. . . and 34 more dressing changes!

Can you tell? I'm looking forward to this upcoming surgery!

: )