Bliss was doing well and was able to come home last Monday. She was feeling good and things were going good. Then Tuesday morning she started getting sick and in lots of pain and she is back in hospital. Lots of things going on she is very sick. I will keep everyone posted as soon as we know more details.
Thank you
Bliss's Daughter
Donna came out of surgery just fine. She is doing well and seems to be on the road to recovery. She should be coming home from the hospital on Monday. Our family would like to thank you for all your thoughs and prayers. We greatly appreciate them.
Thank you so much,
Donna's Daughter M
What's new around here? Well...a prom, a pooch, and a promise of surgery on Thursday.
First the prom...
It's hard to believe Kiddo is an all grown up sixteen year old with a driver's license and all. This was his prom as he was a senior. You could have knocked me over with a feather when my blue-jean-wearing, very-few-dress-owning daughter decided she wanted a BALLGOWN prom dress! More than a few tears were shed that night seeing her in that dress. (Including her bf who teared up a little when he saw her.)
Kiddo is just a wee thing, so she is wearing four inch heels to try to even out their height differences a little. I suggested she wear ballet slippers and let him pick her up to dance with her. We were all pleased to hear that she managed to make it through couple announcement, and down a staircase without going head over heels in a heap of blue tulle. Why yes, those smiles ARE brought to you by the American Orthodontic Association.
Next, I have a new baby...
I have an 8 lb. Shih-Tzu who is 2 years old, spayed and such a sweet baby. I got her from a breeder who was going out of the business. Krissy is my constant companion, and soaks up attention while giving a ton back. She visits others in the house, then always quickly returns to be close to me. She sleeps with me every night. Winston is very jealous and it has taken him awhile to come around. He still likes to take care of me during the day, but he still clocks out when someone else get's home - heh!
It is very difficult to take a picture of a black and silver dog with a black face. Especially since she wants to get up close and inspect the camera, or give kisses. She needs a trim, but I promise she is much cuter than she appears in this pic. She loves to lay around with her little pink tongue sticking out slightly, which I think is adorable but the other cave dwellers here think is weird.
Krissy
The surgery...
I am having a mastectomy with full lymph node dissection on Thursday in the early a.m. I will also be having a d & c and biopsy for possible uterine cancer. I did not want to have a full lymph node dissection under my arm because of the increased probability of developing lymphedema.
Your prayers are welcome. My daughter M will be giving you an update when she can.
I have the best intentions to keep my blog up to date, but they seem to fall by the wayside in the fog of chemo.
In my last post I talked about some problems I had following a dose of my new chemo drug, Taxol. Well what I reported was just the beginning. It got worse. Taxol is known to have several side effects, but there are two that everyone seems to get. Bone pain and neuropathy of the hands and feet. I got them both in spades.
It was distressing when the neuropathy hit my feet immediately, but it was beyond the pale when a few days later it hit my hands. It is mostly in my fingertips of the thumb and first two fingers of each hand. I hate it. The numbness turns to pain at times, and affects what I can do. I have difficulty handling pills and small coins. I haven't tried knitting yet.
Just when you think it couldn't get worse it does. I began to have open sores appearing over parts of my body like my stomach, back, and thighs. As many as twenty appeared overnight! I called my oncologist in a panic and she palmed me off on my primary care doc. My primary care doc was afraid to see me in his office because it was full of sick kids. He knew I was having difficulty keeping my blood counts up making me susceptible to catching everything. He prescribed an antibiotic until I could get to the Wound Center five days later, hoping to keep me out of the hospital.
It's a good thing I am not single I think. Nothing says sexy like bald, bloated, browless, blotchy and covered by open sores. Hoo baby!
I was due to see my oncologist and have another round of chemo the day before my appointment at the Wound Center. When my oncologist actually laid eyes on what I had reported, she was aghast and cancelled my chemo. She was very skeptical that the chemo had caused these open sores, but I told her I had found reports of them on several websites listing possible side effects. Also reported by breast cancer patients on a board I frequent.
My doctor at the Wound Center was not surprised to see them at all, and said they see it all the time as a side effect of Taxol. Thankfully the topical medications they gave me (along with the antibiotics) cleared most of them up within a few days. I returned the following week to my oncologist, who still had problems believing they had been caused by chemo - even when I told her what the Wound Center doc had said. With great reluctance, I went for another round of Taxol.
It has gone a little easier this time. I have the bone pain and increased neuropathy but no sign of "the leprosy" as I referred to it. Unfortunately between the pain and fatigue, many days are spent in bed. I also lost my eyebrows and eyelashes in the last three weeks. Now I look like Uncle Fester. To amuse myself, I put my hand on top of my bald head like Thing is visiting or trying to suck my brain out. It never ceases to make me laugh because I have long fingernails that are painted navy blue at the moment - Opi "Yoga 'til you get this blue."
The company that supplies my caregivers to me decided to quit the business in this area. It has been devastating to me and my caregivers to see this play out. Our last day was Friday. Many tears have been shed, as our relationships run deep after so many years. We have been tossed into a stormy sea where the caregivers are scrambling to find comparable jobs, and social workers are moving us to other companies. We hope to end up with some of our caregivers, but so far it hasn't happened for me.
A nurse from the new company came on Saturday (yesterday) to do an intake on me. I should have new caregivers coming Monday, although no one seems to know exactly when or even if. Details do not seem to be this company's strong point. That doesn't exactly give me a warm, fuzzy feeling. This change could not have come at a worse time for me, but my social worker assures me nothing is permanent, and I can be moved to another company if this one is not satisfactory. Keep your fingers crossed that my favorite caregiver gets hired by them.
In case I had any doubt exactly how lovely I was looking these days, the nurse asked me "Are you 62 or 63?" Great. I'm bald, bloated, browless, blotchy and look TEN YEARS OLDER THAN I AM! Why yes thank you, I will take some cheese with my whine.
Let's get this party started.
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