4 days post surgery

Well I am feeling great; far, far better than I imagined.  I think this is due partly to a propensity to heal well, partly due to sheer determination to not be 'ill' anymore and mostly due to the fact this is the longest number of days away from a dose of chemo since October!  It's now four and a half weeks since my last Docetaxel and a few weeks ago I really never imagined feeling 'normal' (whatever that is!) again.  Not that I'm quite there yet, but it is within my grasp and I just cannot explain in words how amazing that feels.

I am aiming to walk one or two miles every day as fast as I can.  Today I took out my mp3 player with me and listened to my usual running music while walking.  It felt amazing and made me so happy, I would have started running had it not been for the disturbing glugging noise my breast was making (more on that in a minute).  Also, my burning legs remind me I'm a while away from being able to run, but I can see it in the not too distant future.  So long as no further surgery is needed I probably have about eight weeks before radiotherapy so, lots of time to build up my strength and stamina (once I get the surgical all clear of course).

Once again I am left marvelling at the body's ability to regenerate and recover.  I have about a four inch incision down my breast and a three inch incision in my armpit.  The actual breast surgery is less complex and less painful than the surgery to remove the lymph glands.  They don't sew together the tissue left where the tumour and breast tissue was removed from, they just sew the skin.  So that glugging I referred to is the cavity left behind that has filled with fluid......sorry I should have written a warning first for any squeamish bods out there ;-). Apparently the fluid will eventually solidify and the body will sort it all out itself...amazing!

The main pain currently is the armpit incision, as you can imagine it is in such an awkward position.  I have physio exercises to do to keep my shoulder mobile.  There are longer term implications from removal of lymph glands too, I have to be careful of any cuts or insect bites on that arm as the lymphatic drainage is now impaired and I'm at risk of lymphoedema, basically swelling of the arm.  I shouldn't have this problem as only four or five glands were removed but if any of them turn out to have had traces of cancer in them I will need to have full clearance of the 20-40 glands and then I'd be at more risk of lymphoedema.  For just now I  just need to be careful lifting heavy things with that arm as this can trigger lymphoedema.

My hair is making great attempts at a comeback but unfortunately doesn't seem to want to grow at the front!  Due to the chemo my skin will be very sensitive to the sun for a long time so even with hair I'm going to have to continue with hats through the summer so I'm on the lookout for funky sun hats now.  I love an excuse for shopping :-)

Eyelashes are making an appearance on one side only!  Eyebrows only want to grow the big thick, awkward ones that you usually pluck out!  Other body hair that I could happily live without is growing like cress on a warm sunny window ledge.........typical!

Chemo's final lingering gift of oedema and disintegrating nails is ongoing but I think I'm winning the battle on both counts.  The oedema is miles better thanks to using pressure stockings on my lower legs and tablets.  I am using a protein nail thing for problem nails and it seems to have stopped the deterioration of most of my finger nails.  Unfortunately the night before surgery I caught the corner of my right thumb nail and it ripped half way from the bottom......eeeek, I know, cringeworthy, I cringe now just thinking about it.  I would post a picture but it really is grim.  I can't bear to tear it off completely so I have just been taping it together every day.

So that's a run down of my brilliant, brilliant body, and it really is brilliant, every imperfect little bit of it :-)