Follow Ups and Continuing Treatment

My internet is back up now. So I may be able to post more regularly. As it happens, I'm writing at least part of this at the hospital. I have a follow up with my surgeon today.

All my wounds are completely closed now. I still haven't finished shedding all the dead skin, which means I'm quite itchy in a number of places, but at least I know I'm healing. I still have most of the neuropathy, that I had after surgery, though some of it is slowly shrinking

The worst things that are going on now are 3 fold. 1) It would seem that a nerve or two has come too near the surface of my skin, as a result of all the treatment. 2) I have a lot of nerve regeneration pain, that occurs multiple times a day, at random. 3) And I have lymphedema in my left breast, which is causing significant swelling (inside the areola), unless I'm wearing a bra. Even with a bra, there is still some swelling where the bra doesn't provide support.

Day 2. Being as it is that I forgot to post the above yesterday, I'm just going to continue from here. 

I had an appointment, just now, with a new doctor. He seems to think it would be a wise decision to remove the IVC filters (both of them), that I've had since 2012. The doctors, at the hospital where they were installed, never discussed this with me at all, except to say they would be permanent, if they could not be removed within a fairly short period of time. And that time passed years ago. So I had long since grudgingly accepted them as a permanent addition to my body. 

Anyway, apparently both have parts poking out of the vena cava wall. And one of them is penetrating into my aorta.

So, as you might imagine, this new information comes as quite a shock to me. And it's more than a little frightening. I'm currently thinking that there is a threat either way. Removal or no removal, something could go horribly wrong.

Oh yeah, and removal involves a tool-wielding scope, inserted down one of my primary arteries, FROM MY NECK.  OMG  OMG  OMG!

Day 3 of this post. It's Saturday now.

I've basically been just too good at avoidance, my dominant form of defense mechanism, today. Aside from a little art, and a lot of  Netflix, I haven't completed (or even started) anything I should have done. It took a lot just to pull my head out of the sand long enough to "finish" this.  So now I'm going to just stop here and post this.

Comments and words of encouragement are welcome. And if you'd like to help, or if you appreciate the provided information, please use the following link:

Help LilMischif

Post-recovery Catching Up

As I may have mentioned, the last two weeks of my radiation treatment were extremely painful. I was, for the most part, unable to do anything other than feed myself and do some stuff on my computer. I mostly just "focused" on keeping distracted from my pain. Even wound care, though necessary, was very difficult and painful.
 
Now that I'm making progress in my recovery, I can finally think about organizing my thoughts, regarding those last two weeks.
 
I don't know if my doctors were trying to shield me, or if they were just too squeamish themselves. In any case, there were some things they didn't warn me about.
What I was told is that there would be burning. It was likened to a sunburn across my chest (possibly even a bad sunburn). To be fair, by the end of my treatment, there was what appeared to be a serious first-degree sunburn across my chest, which was accompanied by a LOT of heat.
They did not, however, mention that there could be wounds opening up, especially in the damp areas under my arms and breasts. And it would have been nice if I could have been braced for the serum leakage in those open areas. As those symptoms occurred, my treatment team and my doctor all said that it doesn't happen to everyone. "Radiation affects everyone differently." Although I did warn them that I have extremely delicate skin.

The actual "burn" symptoms started with my incision sights opening up (first the right, then the left under arm incisions). Contrary to what I was warned about, I got wounds opening up pretty much exclusively in the contact point under my arms and beasts. Not actually bleeding but certainly leaking serum. At least I can say that, although the serum dried to look like puss, it did not smell bad, so there was never any infection.
Towards the end of my radiation treatment, large areas of affected skin begin to turn a sickly shade of gray and eventually peeled. Also, some of those peeled areas turned into further wounds. For that matter, I am actually still peeling in places.
Unlike normal skin, after a sunburn, the skin that was peeling was kind of gooey. At first, this took me by surprise but I did eventually get used to that being status quo.
As new areas opened up, each began to leak serum. And toward the end of treatment, at least one large area was leaking serum with some blood cells, making it a kind of watery red.
There have also been areas, particularly around the edges of where the skin has peeled, that are even still painful to the touch. Everything is now improving though.

The Healing Process;
On the last day of radiation treatment, when I was in too much pain to even wear clothes that make contact with my under-arm areas, my treatment team assured me that it would get better soon.
By that time, I was generously slathering my wounds with the prescribed Silvadene cream and covering them with a single layer of gauze, to keep the cream in place. The gauze was very difficult to keep in place, especially if I had to commit any movement. And never mind the trouble I had dealing with wound care under both arms.
Eventually, having projected my bed with a towel, I eventually gave up the need for the gauze. This did seem to speed my recovery, at least a little bit.
 
I would like to offer a simple product recommendation, that helped in my recovery. I'd add a link, if I could.
Parent's Choice unscented wipes worked the best, for me, for wound care cleaning.
 
UPDATE
The previously mentioned post-surgical neuropathy, while still present, seems to be reducing.
I had previously been under the impression that my recent complete lack of sex drive was just a side effect of being post menopausal. To my surprise though, I've recently been having some return. The doctors tell me that I'm not really ready for "aggressive activities" yet. And I'm thinking that Tamoxifen may also affect my sex drive. But at least now, there is some hope I might, some day, enjoy some semblance of a sex life again. [For the record, I'm not taking new applications.]
 

 
In the event that anyone would like to show their appreciation, or assist me, please go to one of my previous post, that has the link at the bottom.

Internet Down Again

Posted from my tablet.

I'm posting from the hospital today, since I haven't had Internet at home for a few days now.  I'm getting a "bone density scan" today.

Apologies for not posting, during the last 2 weeks of radiation therapy.
I am healing pretty well now, but it was really kicking my butt those last couple of weeks. A lot of pain. And I was having difficulty focusing on anything at all.

I have no idea how long my internet will be down.
I will post a notification, as soon as its back up.