Below are the 20 most recent journal entries recorded in Intermittent musing of a breast cancer patient's LiveJournal:

[ << Previous 20 ]

Tuesday, May 19th, 2009
1:12 pm	Something else cancer is good for.... On June 7, I'm getting a free massage.  The Massage School is looking for folks with cancer/in treatment/done with treatment for a cancer-massage workshop. Oh, YEAH, baby!!   :) See...  it's the little things.  *grin* (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Saturday, March 7th, 2009
2:47 pm	Today It's March 7. Know what that means? THREE YEARS, BABY!!! (srsly - does it seem that long to all of you?) (6 Comments |Comment on this)
Sunday, January 11th, 2009
9:20 pm	phone numbers A year ago at this time, I had lots of phone numbers memorized - my surgeon, plastic surgeon, radiologist, oncologist...  I have to look them up now when I want to call.  Yay!  :) (3 Comments |Comment on this)
Wednesday, November 12th, 2008
12:57 pm	scar tissue I had my every-six-months oncology appointment today.  Everything's fine, but I have some scar tissue in my non-mastected breast. This scar tissue is in the form of a lump.  It's also can be a bit sensitive to touch.  So, just to be safe, off I went for a mammagram and sonogram.  FUN STUFF! And everything is fine.  Which I knew it would be, but why wonder? (3 Comments |Comment on this)
Tuesday, September 9th, 2008
9:53 pm	*siiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiigh* My curls are gone.  :( And I'm not quite sure about my new haircut, so next time you see me, tell me how fabulous I look.  And don't use the word "Cute." (4 Comments |Comment on this)
Wednesday, July 30th, 2008
10:58 am	leave time For the first time since March, I actually have vacation and sick hours.   Not quite enough to take a day off because I want to, but enough if I get sick (for a day).  Yay!!    (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Wednesday, June 11th, 2008
10:46 am	ego boost I'm having a really good Hair Day today.  (Comment on this)
Wednesday, April 30th, 2008
8:26 am	Stick a fork in me... I'M DONE!!! Yesterday I had my last follow up to my last reconstruction surgery.  MY LAST ONE.  \O/!!!! I'm on a six-month rotation with two of my doctors and a yearly rotation with the other two, but other than those, I have NO MORE TREATMENTS, APPOINTMENTS, EXAMS, SURGERIES, related to anything other than monitoring.  SCORE!!!! Final  Scar Tally: Two-inch scar on my left collarbone from the chemo port. Scar surrounding the nipple of my left breast and one from the nipple straight down to the edge of my breast from the reduction.  These are mostly faded. Scar completely surrounding right breast in a non-perfect circular pattern. Scar extending from left hip to right hip from the DIEP flap procedure. Would it be accurate to report the belly button scar?  Because, technically, it's a scar for everyone.  I just have more than normal scar tissue. Current Mood: jubilant (8 Comments |Comment on this)
Sunday, April 20th, 2008
9:42 pm	chemo angels I just signed up to be a card angel.  Eventually I want to be a gift angel, but I figure I'll start small.  :)   www.chemoangels.com (not chemo bagels.  :) I got cards and gifts at least three times a week while undergoing chemo and radiation, so I thought it was about time to reciprocate. (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Friday, April 4th, 2008
11:13 pm	Now with 100% fewer stitches!  Dr. R. took the rest of my stitches out Tuesday.  Yay!  Well, actually, the nurse did it.  She saw them and said, "Wow, you've got skin growing over them!" which I didn't really want to hear.  However, I don't have much feeling where the stitches were, so it didn't matter. When Dr. R. came in to check me, he had with him - guess what - an intern!  That's four!  This one was another woman, and she didn't look vacant, so that's good.  I have one more appointment with him for the surgery followup and then I'm on a yearly rotation.  \O/!!! After the stitches were removed, the nurse put steri-strips on me.  They should fall off by themselves within a couple of weeks.  Well, you know, I'm tired of adhesives.  So I took them off yesterday.  Don't tell. (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Monday, March 31st, 2008
2:15 pm	I'm such a doofus  So, I woke up this morning with a dry throat.  Okay, not bad on its own, annoying, but nothing drinking water won't cure.  However, I also woke up blazingly hot. Uh-oh.  Fever.  I better stay home from work. I realized about 30 minutes ago that it was probably a hot flash. *sigh* Current Mood: at myself (9 Comments |Comment on this)
Wednesday, March 26th, 2008
11:25 pm	Still stitched! I had a follow up appointment Tuesday, and I was all excited about getting out my stitches.   Only Dr. R. didn't take them out.  *sigh*  He wants them in for one more week.  It's so freakin' irritating. So, my newly constructed nipple was covered with medicinal-smelling bandages, and the scent would constantly be in my nose.  These bandages were also stitched to me (I had a lot of stitching going on).  These bandages, however, were taken off Tuesday.  So now I have a nipple!  I can't really describe it because it's now covered in a protective bandage, but at least that doesn't smell.  I'm also very bruised. But I'm done.  No more surgeries.  Score!! (7 Comments |Comment on this)
Sunday, March 23rd, 2008
10:45 pm	adventures in adhesives I had so much surgical tape on my body that my skin is now sticking to itself.  I've been picking it off for DAYS.    (4 Comments |Comment on this)
Thursday, March 20th, 2008
2:13 pm	Bit more of a followup So, yesterday I had my first experience with a bed pan.  Apparently, not eating or drinking but being pumped full of IV fluids creates a need to pee.  Since I still had about half an hour before they could release me to the second recovery, I had to use a bed pan.  I know nurses are used to it, but it was still gross.  I almost had to use it again but I was in the second recovery this time, so I was allowed to get up. The nurse kept asking if I had any pain, and I didn't.  She seemed to think I did and didn't want to tell her.  My hip sites feel like I scraped them, but they only sting a little, not hurt.  I've learned a have a decent tolerance for pain. The doc ordered a shot of demmerol, and the nurse wanted to do it in my hip.  No way.  I just had surgery there!  So she put it in my arm instead.  The injection site is still a bit sore, but I'm glad it was in my arm! The put-me-to-sleep guy did my initial IV and I asked him to tell me when he was going to do the saline so I could hold my breath and avoid the taste.  Instead, he made it a slow drip, and that worked better.  I barely tasted anything at all.  Vision is still a bit blurry and I'm tired, but other wise doing A-okay!  Especially since I can get up when I need to pee. (6 Comments |Comment on this)
9:16 am	Home again! Well, I was home yesterday, but too tired to say anything. Surgery went well, which to me means I didn't vomit.  :)  Didn't even want to.  I was ready to go home almost as soon as I woke up.  I haven't looked at the surgery sites yet, as they are under multiple layers of bandages.  I'm not sure how I'm supposed to shower. I did tell the doctor to make sure he removed *all* the staples this time.  (6 Comments |Comment on this)
Monday, March 17th, 2008
11:40 am	Milestones Last week I brought every mastectomy bra and camisole, padding, hat,  prosthetics and other breast cancer-related items to the Gift Closet at the American Cancer Society.  Who-hoo! I had a radiology follow up today, and she said that instead of coming every six months, I could drop it to every year.  Who-hoo!  I have three other doctors checking me out and she said I've healed so well that I don't need one more.  She also made sure I knew that I could call her ANY TIME I had a question or wanted to come in and see her. ONE MORE SURGERY.  THEN I'M DONE.  (8 Comments |Comment on this)
Friday, March 7th, 2008
10:00 pm	Thank you! Instead of having ten million comments of "thank you" for my last post, I'm lumping (hee.. get it?  lump?) them all together and say  Thank you, everybody!  (2 Comments |Comment on this)
8:31 am	Two years... Today's my survival anniversary. (16 Comments |Comment on this)
Sunday, February 24th, 2008
11:39 pm	my hair I put my hair into a ponytail today.  ALL of it. I haven't been able to do that for close to two years.  Yay!  (4 Comments |Comment on this)
Wednesday, February 13th, 2008
9:42 pm	surgery rescheduled I'm sick.  Dave's sick.  Sick leave dwindling for both of us.  Surgery rescheduled to March 19.  Edit:  On the plus side, now I don't have to worry about which drugs I can take. (3 Comments |Comment on this)