This past Friday I hit three weeks post-surgery, at which point I was “allowed” to resume my previous lymphedema management techniques. For me this means wearing the sleeve and the glove, and using a compression pump most evenings. I tried just wearing the sleeve but the hand is clearly still too puffy for that. I… Continue reading Hand Washing
My surgery was two weeks ago and things are healing well. My first drain (the lower one, from the axilla) was removed the Wednesday after surgery. The second one, from the clavicle, was removed at the one week point, as were the stitches on my arm. (That’s another story in the “minor acts of self… Continue reading Healing Progress
Earlier this week I had my post-op with Dr. FixIt. Right after the surgery my post-op was just with his nurse, to get rid of the Teddy bear stuffing and make sure I was fine. At this appointment, I graduated into the next phase of nipple building. Apparently after surgery, there are 3 phases of… Continue reading How to Build a Nipple
In my previous post I mentioned that finding clothes to wear to work was tricky. Not so much because of how things look – my job does not require me to dress up, and most of my co-workers are engineers who are oblivious anyway. Finding pants that would comfortably cover the bulky corset was the… Continue reading What to Wear With a Lumpy Bra
On Tuesday I had my first post-op visit with Dr. FixIt’s nurse, where I got to see under all the Teddy bear stuffing. For each of these surgeries, the thought of what things will look like has always been thankfully worse than what things actually look like, and this was no exception. The flood of… Continue reading The Incredible Shrinking Woman!
Cancer has faded into the background, and work has come crashing into the foreground. I started this blog partly as a communication tool, but more so as an outlet for me; a way to keep a record of my thoughts while I dealt with all this. So it’s a good thing – a GREAT thing… Continue reading The Official End of the Cancer Era
Yep, looks like it’s gonna come in curly!
My hair has been growing back nicely, but it’s still really short, and I’ve gotten used to wearing a hat – it feels chilly without it. I don’t know how bald guys do it. I figured I’d be wearing my hats for another few weeks – both to give my hair more time to grow… Continue reading Going Hatless
Last week I had a follow-up appointment with Dr. Cancer. It’s been about twelve weeks since my final round of chemo. Every time I see her, I need to get a blood test beforehand, and I’ve learned that I can schedule that, so I did that the day before – and again, it required lots… Continue reading 12-week Oncology Follow-up
It’s been a busy last couple of weeks and I have not had time to blog, so I’ve been writing this post in my head for awhile. Prior to starting radiation therapy, I did a little Googling around for the best lotions and creams to use to manage the inevitable skin redness and irritation. Here… Continue reading Lotions and Potions and Creams, Oh My!
