Reporting In:

I am still out here. I'm just exhausted, and achy and not getting a hell of a lot done. The pathology report from my surgery showed no sign that the melanoma had spread. I remain pretty concerned because melanoma is one of the cancers that can reoccur later without other signs of it in the meantime. So while I've escaped further cancer treatment for now, I get to remain on guard from here on, and try to catch any further occurrences of melanoma on my skin or in my lymph system before they get bad.

Thank you to the folks who checked in. I'm sorry if I worried you by not announcing my continued health. I've been a bit tired. Logan and I went out on our own one day, it's amazing how much use one's right arm gets while driving.

Today we have two rented teenagers working on firewood. Splitting came to a standstill with the handle snapping off the sledge. John and the boys have moved the platform that is supposed to be the base of a new woodshed, freeing the laundry room shed to gain a second room, in time. Boys may get delegated to moving wood from the old woodshed to the new. Anything so long as it gets done.

Just Whining

My arm hurts. The right, the one affected in two places by surgery eight days ago, and, of course, my dominant hand. I can type and write reasonably, although typing is easier since it requires less movement of the arm as a whole. Flexing or straightening my arm fully is painful though. There is swelling under the incision under my arm, not a lot, not like dad's cat scratch fever Ping-Pong ball or tennis ball swelling. More like one or two of those little cotton rolls the dentist likes to stick between my cheek and gum while asking me questions about life in general. John says the swelling is going down. Although I suspect it is extending toward my elbow also and is responsible in part fro the pain in the arm. The dr extended my antibiotics an extra four days in case there was infection, but it's fully possible that it's just swollen glands, or lymph fluid looking for the right place to go now that lymph nodes have been removed. It' s uncomfortable at any rate.

We still may go to the fair today. Calling Debbie to see if James can come along to do things with Logan hasn't worked, I think their phone is out, since with six people living in their house it's hard for me to imagine no one being close to the phone any of the times I called yesterday. I slept until the time we'd have had to leave to go in the morning today, but John didn't wake me because he was out dealing with one sick, then dying goat and another who has either an infection in her eye or is now blind in one eye. Where there's stock there's trouble, of course.

I'm at a weird point between feeling as if I'm doing too much and really should just be home resting more, and feeling that I've done almost nothing for days now. I don't know what I "should" be doing, it's more coming down to choices of what has to be done, and whether there's anyone but me who can do it. I continue to be not driving, since I'm taking pain meds and not supposed to be moving my arm much.

For the record, John just now measured my incisions. The one on my shoulder is 5 inches, or 12.7 cm. The one under my arm is 2.25 in or 5.5 cm. Both are healing nicely, as these things go, I think. If they'd just do it without hurting all the time, life might be a bit simpler. Katherine says to check with the doctor about a referral for physical therapy, I hadn't thought of that. It might be a good thing. Currently I hesitate over even things like lifting my quart jar of drinking water with my right hand, because I'd rather not make it hurt. I don't know whether I should be trying to more or less with it. Some guidance might be a good thing.

Thanks folks who commented, here or via email. I appreciate hearing from you.

Pictures:

Ok, I have an assortment for you, posting fairly small for my mom and mother-in-law who are on dialup and don't live with their computers on the phone.

First off is a link, for pictures that have nothing to do with me or surgery, at least at the moment. John's getting around on the web. Pictures John Took

Then we get to the me, me, all about me ones. Sorry about the delay for these, between exhaustion and apathy it's taken me a bit. Katherine took the hospital and her house ones. John took the stitches pictures with the drain in. Lady Logan took the healing stitches ones from this morning, cause I've kept forgetting to ask John to take any and work has the audacity to expect him to actually be there most days he's supposed to.

This is a bunch of pictures, if you're on dial up, go make yourself a cup of tea, get a snack, adjust the fan, etc, then check back.


at the hospital "Day Stay" checking in


Scar from first excision (7/7/05) on day of re-excision


Radioactive dye being injected around scar. OW!


screen showing where the dye is and where it is going --
see the smaller cluster below the big one, that's the sentinel lymph node, in my armpit.


In recovery, with tea -- the mug says "bloody hell".
You can see both bandages. I look cruddy.


Back at Katherine's, it was HOT! And I'm waiting for pain meds to kick in.


Stitches on Sunday 7 August.


Stitches one week after surgery


Up close and personal

That's it. Larger ones later, if you want to see them. But this gives you an idea of the general process. Susan estimates the scar is four to five inches long. I haven't measured. I'm functioning at the minimum necessary - Logan and I have a rented teenager who drives us for exciting things like swimming lessons, and is a good sport in general, for which I'm thankful. I suspect we'll also rent him for things like moving some sheep and goats around, and hauling firewood, because I won't be doing heavy stuff for several weeks, whether they concluded there is more cancer or not. It's not exactly efficient in terms of saving money, but it manages the stuff that's got to be done, and John needs a second pair of hands for some of it, which I'm just not right now.

Final swimming class of the summer is today. We might go to the fair tomorrow, depending on how busy John is versus how much fun Logan would have going on rides with Papa.

Yes, yes, I'm back

I'm just slow about updating. Surgery went fine as these things go. No major screw ups that I know of. I have about five inches of blanket stitch in the back of my shoulder. I'll do something about posting pictures shortly, as in today, tomorrow, or the next day, as I think of it.

Katherine let us stay in her house, gave us her bed, (opting to camp out with her granddaughters one night, and I don't know where she ended up the next! Some floor upstairs I suspect.) And she went with us and held my hand while needles were stuck in me, kept me company, and kept me distracted, as well as taking pictures of what was happening.

Getting radioactive dye injected felt like a bee sting, each time. They did four injections all together, it backed of fairly soon after they stopped injecting it, but it stayed something I was aware of for quite a while.

The nurses listened to me and didn't bundle me up in a warm blanket as I was waking up, and started offering me ice fairly soon, which made me happy. Everyone I dealt with barring one Anesthetist Nurse Practitioner (at the intake stuff the day before) was very nice and kind and pleasant. I should write them a thank you note. We'll see if I actually manage to do it.

Katherine's granddaughters took three extra people in their house all in stride, and one even played chess with John, which gave him something to distract him from having to fuss over me. I was properly fussed over by all and sundry. I remain fluxuating between somewhat loopy on pain meds and functional. I can't drive while stitches are in. Or while loopy on pain meds, so we're looking for the options for getting Logan to and from swimming lessons, as well as keeping her half way busy.

Andrea and family, and Matt came and did animals for us, Andrea filling in at the last minute when we didn't have anyone who could milk. And she brought us dinner the night before we left, and then Joana sent us more dinner on our way back home from Portland. I am hardly thinking about food at all, but if I go looking for it, it is there, which is wonderful. And I think it cuts down on the overwhelming of John a bit, although, as usual, there's so much happening that John gets no breaks. *sigh* Oh and Nonny Susan is here today, both keeping Logan busy and driving me in to town to get the drain in my shoulder removed. So many people filling in!

Hot August Nap:

Afternoon quiet time.

For anyone interested surgery for me on Friday is at 10 am, will theoretically take two hours, and I'll be released in another two. And then we wait for biopsy results for another week or more.