Thursday, March 19, 2009

So sore

Things aren't going well on the right arm front. Even though I had a 2 day break from radiation, I'm beyond uncomfortable. This pain on my right side is rivaling the pain right after surgery. I was worried about my little "pocket" filling with fluid again so I mentioned it to my nurse today at radiation. Dr. A checked me out and declared this whole thing a mess.

Because my implant was filled 3 weeks before radiation, my tendons and muscles haven't gotten used to the pressure. As the skin tightens from the radiation skin changes, it puts pressure agaunst the implant. So basically, the implant is being shoved around a little. It really hurts. We went on a walk last night and I couldn't even handle the regular swinging motion of my arm. Dr. A said he could see the pain on my face. I'm exhausted. Not sleeping. And when I do, for some unknown reason, I always end up on my sore side.

I'm now on a Fentanyl pain patch 24/7. God I hope this works. The idea is to low-dose me with this to try to keep me from being too loopy. And to make me more comfortable. I'm sure I don't need to tell some of my sisters and brothers in cancer about pain taking a toll. It's doing that to me.

The topical pain is still pretty bad too. I now have a cream I'm allowed to apply it twice a day. This is a step up from the Aquaphor I was using to control the itching. I did remember to ask Dr. A if I was being a drama. He said my complaints are legitimate (isn't he nice?)

They gave me flowers today - Daffodils. Such nice people.

Maryland won today. You go TERPS! I am so excited about this team. What a bunch of kids. And Gary is just a great coach. We're up against Memphis on Saturday. So much character, so much a team.

The only saving grace to this whole nightmare is that I get to watch basketball while I sit here like a princess.

*blows you all a kiss*

2 comments:

Renee said...

I am so sorry that radiation is being so hard on you and your body. This just sucks!

Glad that you have a compassionate doctor. Not sure why this radiaton places suggest Aquaphor. . I saw that it's mostly petroleum jelly. Hope you have some Biafin (sp?) or some other prescription that helps with the pain.

Sending you major hugs!

Renee

deborah d. lattimore said...

dear princess! we're all hanging in there together. i look forward to the day we are writing to each other and saying, "remember when..."! xoxox