Hello! It's been too long (there wasn't much to report). I finished radiation on Feb. 20th and have been healing up from that. My skin looks ok in most places, and then there are a couple of spots under my arm where it's cracked and the new skin underneath is very pink. I have been putting aloe on the general area every morning and night, and I have silver sulfadiazine (aka Silvadene) cream for the areas that are a little raw.
Next week, I will have surgery to remove my uterus and ovaries (uterine cancer risk increases with certain cancer drugs, and my particular cancer is fed by estrogen, so the ovaries -- which produce estrogen -- must go). Today I went on for pre-surgery tests (EKG, chest X-ray, blood work) to make sure I was healthy enough to have the procedure done. Mostly things are looking good, but I'm neutropenic (my white blood cell count is low). This is not unusual for someone who's been through chemo and radiation, but it does mean that they'll need to check the morning of surgery to make sure my levels are high enough for them to safely operate.
The surgery itself will be laparoscopic, and done robotically! They'll make three small incisions and take everything out through there, it'll take two to three hours, and I will (assuming all goes well) get to go home the same day. After that, no driving for a week, and a number of other restrictions (basically "limit movements that engage your stomach muscles, no lifting anything heavier than 10 pounds" and a couple others) for six weeks.
My partner will again be staying with me as I recover, and I'm going to take a week off of work in theory (I can check email on my phone so I might forward some emails?). I assume the cats will keep me company as well.
It's always a little bit of a bummer to find out that my white blood cell counts are low, even though it's totally understandable! It just makes me feel fragile. I hate it. I'm looking forward to getting through surgery (and it's fine if it needs to be rescheduled) and getting to the next phase (pills every day for 5 years, bone builder infusions every 6 months for 2 years).
Cancer takes a lot of time.
No comments:
Post a Comment