Checking in on Amy

The leaves have been putting on a stunning show this year. My morning walks have been full of little delights around every corner. I have been enjoying watching the leaves change over time and some of the sunrises have been fantastic. I'm thankful that these beautiful fall days have coincided with this little break in my treatment. My body and brain are feeling more my own these days and it feels good to be able to get out and move. I started physiotherapy for my lymphedema last week. My physiotherapist specializes in this treatment and it was great to meet with her. Having had about 40 lymph nodes removed from my right armpit, my body can't move fluid around like it used to. My arm isn't particularly swollen but my breast is still quite swollen after surgery, and this is a direct result of not having normal drainage available. Lymphatic massage is used to manually move fluid to where it needs to be. In my case, that means redirecting fluid towards my left armpit, up into m...

After a very long month I can finally announce that the surgery part of my cancer treatment is complete. Pathology results from the second surgery were good. There was no residual cancer in the breast tissue at all. My surgeon removed 31 more lymph nodes (wow!) and there were cancer cells in only 4 of them. These results are what we might have expected after the first surgery. I think I would have been annoyed if they didn't find any other cancer in the lymph nodes; it would have left me wondering whether the more invasive procedure was necessary at all.  My recovery from surgery continues to go well. My surgeon removed the steri-strips yesterday and all of the incisions are healing well. My armpit incision isn't as pretty as it was after the first surgery; since more tissue has been removed the incision looks more prominent than before. All of my incisions are still a little tender and very sensitive. I am finding that by the end of the day even the softest and most comfortabl...

I haven't written in a while because the first few days of healing from surgery #2 were pretty boring and also frustrating. It felt like such a setback to be healing from scratch all over again, especially so soon.  My mom spent a few days in Barrie with me after my surgery, and my sister even came for a quick visit last weekend. It was wonderful to have them here to help look after me and be my cheerleaders. Mom is really good at letting me be quiet when that is what I need. We took a walk every morning, drank lots of tea, then spent lots of time sitting quietly either reading or knitting or stitching. We went on one excursion to do a little bit of birthday shopping for my girls. Mom stayed until Thursday after taking me to my nursing appointment Wednesday evening where my bandages were removed. Gloriously, my drain was also ready to be removed. I can't tell you how much better I felt with the drain out; it was the definitely the most uncomfortable part of this surgery. I thin...

I had my first PICC line removed on May 20th. Yesterday, on September 22nd, I did it again! I had my second Herceptin-only infusion yesterday and they used my PICC for the last time. After this, I will need to have a regular IV started for these infusions which I am a-okay with if it means my arm can be free. I had my first 'freedom shower' this morning and it was great. Right now I look a little beat up without a shirt on. I am swollen and still sore and have lots of bruises. Most of the bruising and swelling is hidden in this picture, but it gives you some idea of the marks cancer is leaving on this body of mine... ...AND, then I put on a shirt I haven't been able to wear in a while (arms were too narrow for the PICC) and all of the physical trauma is hidden. Like magic, right? My new blue nails are courtesy a trip to the spa Wednesday morning. I had a gift certificate to spend. It was one of three I have received in the last several months from colleagues and loved ones....

It has been three days since my surgery and I'm feeling pretty good! I wanted to write an update while the experience was more fresh in my mind, but I've been too busy relaxing. :) My surgery was scheduled for 12:15 Wednesday. I checked in around 10:15 and was changed into my fancy hospital garb by 10:30. At this point I learned from the other patients that things were running behind by about an hour. It's a good thing I'm really good at waiting! I passed most of the time from 10:30 until after 1:00 reading, knitting, doing crosswords, and watching TV coverage of the queue to see the Queen lying in state in London. At some point around 12:00 I was called in for a pre-surgery interview and to have my IV started. They were able to use my PICC for the IV which made me happy - it's good to be able to put it to use while it's here. Before and after that point I made the occasional trip to the washroom to stretch my legs...most of the chairs in the waiting area were p...