"I'm not just going through this, I'm growing through this." -- Deb Schiff
Welcome to the next installment of The Breast Cancer Diaries. I figured it needed an appropriate name since it will be an ongoing series here. This particular chapter is a painful one.
But before I start, I'd like to give all possible shout outs and huge thank yous to my very dear friend and spiritual sister, Patty Scott, who cared for me from Wednesday through Friday afternoon. Not only did Patty provide for pretty much all my needs, she also repaired my grill! Took the thing apart, replaced the failed portion, and put it all together again. Suffice to say, we enjoyed some freshly grilled delicata squash, green onions, and Halloumi cheese afterward.
The Mighty Ms. Fixit also helped me remove the pressure dressing and all that awful tape and adhesive. It was a brutal process due to my adhesive allergy and my naturally sensitive skin already being tender from the tape pulling on it for 2 days. What follows is my explaination of how we did it together. Patty might have more to add in the comments.
First, I had to prepare myself mentally. I knew it would suck. I had no idea how much it would suck, but I knew it would. So, I spent some time in meditation. Then, I asked Patty to help. I decided that I would try to remove as much as I could by myself first because 2/3 of the tape was on the front of me. It spanned nearly the entire left side of my chest and wrapped around my left side onto my back and up under my armpit.
I was able to get pretty far before Patty began on the tape wrapped around my back. There also were other parts I couldn't reach because I either couldn't lift my left arm up higher than my shoulder (from the large incision where the surgeon removed the lymph node) or, the motion irritated my breast where the lumpectomy took place.
Another complication that made things difficult had to do with gravity. Because we had removed my sports bra, I still needed to support the left breast. The weight of it pulling downward hurt and there was adhesive under it, so I supported it as much as possible with my left hand and did what I could to remove the adhesive with my right. It was awkward to say the least. My left shoulder ached by the end of it.
Pulling the tape was painful all the way through, but it became so severe at one point that I burst into tears. It had been the first time I really wept about anything having to do with the whole breast cancer business since the uterine biopsy. Patty was very patient and supportive, and we stopped until I could pull myself together and start again.
While she was working on the side of me, I started to try to remove the adhesive residue stuck to my chest. There was a lot of it all over the area. Without thinking, I tried acetone, which stung like mad. I got some cool water on it right away. Then, I remembered that I had some Band Aid Hurt Free antiseptic in the medicine cabinet right in front of me (this whole ordeal took place in my bedroom's bathroom). I soaked a cotton ball in it and washed the whole area. Patty did the same on her side. It did a good job of calming everything down. Eventually, we were able to go back and use acetone to rub the adhesive off, but that also hurt like hell.
I decided right away to leave all the steri strips on the incision areas. About the incisions, we inspected them to see if there was any sign of infection, but they looked they way they should. The one by my armpit is curved like a smile and extends about 3 inches at a 35 degree angle. The other extends the same length straight across the breast from the middle of the left side toward the front. Both are longer than I expected.
Eventually, I was 90% less sticky, although I kept finding small, balled up bits of adhesive on my skin here and there. Afterward, I used Boiron's Calendula cream (recommended by Sam Cummis for radiation treatments) on all the irritated skin. That also helped to calm things down, but today I've still got some very angry red patches from the adhesive and pulling. I'll just keep applying Calendula for a few days.
Afterward, I was exhausted, but ate and took some Alleve because I was just so sore. By the time Patty headed for home after lunch, I had begun to gather my strength a bit to take a shower, but waited for another very dear friend, Joy Robinson, who came to stay for a few hours. It had been my first shower since the surgery, so I asked Joy to please stand by in case I needed help.
I had to think about how I was going to do everything because I had to support my left breast with my left hand as much as possible. It was tricky and took much longer than usual -- long enough for Joy to call in asking if everything was OK. Eventually, I was able to gently let Lefty down long enough to towel off.
Many of the steri strips on the top incision peeled off during the shower, but some remained on the lower one. They seem to be peeling off easily on their own, and I'm not doing any more pulling, especially around incisions.
After the shower, I was completely wrung out. Joy made us some very buttery popcorn, and we plunked down on the sofa to watch Dune (part 1). My quick review of the film: It was easily 30 minutes longer than it could have been. It was beautifully shot and well acted. The cast was highly inclusive. The soundtrack paid great homage to the original Dune film, however, we had to use closed captioning because the spoken word portion was very low in volume despite having it turned all the way up (mine goes way past 11).
This morning, aside from the general skin irritation, I'm a bit sore around the armpit incision site, but not sore enough to take anything for it. The day ahead is an easy one, with a visit from my archivist pal, Sheridan, who is bringing Thai for lunch.
If I haven't said it enough, please consider making an appointment for your mammogram if you haven't already done it. Early detection is key.
No comments:
Post a Comment