Sunday, March 22, 2009

Long Time

Wow, yet again, it's been a while. No news is good news, right? My treatments have been fairly uneventful, which is a good thing. I have heard and read of nasty things happening to people undergoing the same chemotherapy as I am, and I have to admit, I feel very lucky to be feeling as well as I do. Last week, however, I did have a small issue. Even though I have the port now and haven't had an IV infusion in over a month, last Monday my right arm began to hurt around my wrist area. My last IV infusion was the 24th of February, in the right hand. By Tuesday, my hand was swollen and the area over my wrist began to swell and get very red, and my left arm also began to hurt. By Wednesday, both areas were very red and warm to the touch, and so painful I couldn't even wear long sleeves. My onc's PA Tara advised me to use heat for twenty minutes out of every hour to see if that would relieve the pain and swelling, and it did not. I went to see her on Thursday, and she ordered another ultrasound of those areas. I have large clots in the veins over my wrists, which accounts for the pain and swelling. The right wrist is a lot worse, and Tara is worried about an abcess. I was prescribed antibiotics for ten days, and when the pain subsides enough for me to be able to put something on it I'm supposed to be using heat on it again. Tara will look at them again when I have my infusion on Tuesday. My right wrist looks like I have a goose egg stuck to it. My left one looks better than that, but it's still puffy. The good news is that the swelling has gone down in my right hand--for a while it looked a little like the Stay-Puft marshmallow hand.

My cousin, Dawn, and her husband Aaron were in town this weekend and we went to breakfast with them and some of their friends. It was nice to see everyone, especially Aaron since he just came back from Iraq. Hopefully we will be able to see them again soon.

Ted borrowed his parents' steam cleaner so we could get the carpets cleaned. I told him that if we weren't going to pay someone to do it, then he would have to do the cleaning because I absolutely HATE cleaning carpets. He got one of our living rooms done this morning, and he wants to do the other one and the stairs tomorrow.

Well, that's all I have for now. As I mentioned before, my next infusion is Tuesday. I will update then if I'm not sleeping, Wednesday if I am.

Thanks again! Talk to you all soon!

3 comments:

  1. Wow Nicole. You have been through a lot! But you are blessed compared to other people who are going through the same thing you are. I am glad that you are keeping your head up and looking on the bright side of things. :)
    Keep on plugging along my darling! :) We are here for you! Keep up the postings! Its great to hear about your life.
    I miss you my dear! We totally need to plan something out when I get back!! :) Take much care of yourself. Love you! <3

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hey Nicole!!

    Clean carpets are sooo exciting! I borrowed my mom's carpet cleaner a few months ago and it's like I live in a whole new apartment now :)

    I can't believe you have such swollen wrists! I really hope the clot clears up ASAP.

    I hope you start feeling better soon!!

    PS I made my dad buy season 1 of Damages last week :)

    XO

    ReplyDelete
  3. im glad they are figuring it out. I hope your wrists feel better soon! hang in there! and it was great seeing you! :) you are a rock star!

    ReplyDelete

Thanks for reading my blog, and I hope you will be commenting. I enjoy hearing from others. NO SPAMMERS! NO SOLICITING! I do appreciate feedback, but please keep it relatively clean and try not to be a jerk. Trolls are never welcome. Offensive, condescending, or irrelevant posts will be deleted and the poster will be blocked and reported. The comment section of my blog is not a place for dialogue or chatting so please kindly take this elsewhere.