A week in review

Wow, where did the week go? I guess it's a full time job being sick...

As the previous post said, I was back at the plastic surgeon on Monday. There was some liquid collecting under the skin on my right side after they took my last drains out on Friday. So, they did a one-time draining, which basically means they take a big needle and suck out the extra fluid.

Then I went home and tried to not do too much, and put something cold on it, and waited. The fluid did come back, but over the next couple of days it seemed to get absorbed again. So by now, that issue seems to be resolved.

Then on Wednesday, I had a couple of appointments. One was the "chemo-teach". It was an hour spent with a nurse, going thru the different chemo drugs, how they are administered, what side effects they have, what to do about the side effect, etc. In general, what to expect when you are on chemo. Really interesting, I feel much better prepared now. And, we scheduled my first chemo appointment for Wednesday next week. I'll have a total of six treatments with three weeks between each. The first three cycles include three different chemo drugs, the last three are only one (different) drug.

The second class on Wednesday was called "Look good, feel better", and was put on by the American Cancer Society. Great class! I learned a lot about skincare for chemo patients, and about how to maintain a wig, and how (and where) to paint your eyebrows if you loose them. Lots of information that I would not even have thought about before.

Then Friday I went back to the plastic surgeon. As mentioned, the collected liquid is starting to be absorbed and is no longer much of a concern. There were a couple of other little concerns, though. On the right side, there is an area that is healing slower than the rest. We've known from the beginning that that would probably be the most problematic area. It has something with how the blood supply to the skin is in that area, which they measured during my surgery. Not a huge concern, but enough that the plastic surgeon didn't want to give me a fill on that side so that we don't stretch the skin in that area right now. On the left side, the plastic surgeon was also a bit concerned. He thought I might have a small leak. I had to bite my tongue when he said that, all I could think of was this episode of Will and Grace:





(Scroll to time index 09:50 to see what I mean...)

So, the plastic surgeon gave me a fill on the left side only, so that he thought the two sides were about the same size. I can't really feel if it is leaking. It's just saline, so the liquid will be absorbed by my body if there is a leak. I think it is a very slow leak if it is there. Anyway, I'll be going back to the plastic surgeon on Wednesday morning (before the chemo) so he can evaluate. I guess we'll just wait and see.

In other news, I started fighting off a cold on Friday afternoon. I guess it's better to do that now than in a few weeks... So, for now I'm off to the couch with a warm cup of coffee!

Have a great weekend!