2 Week Post Surgery Check Up

I have been recovering from the surgery quite well. I have a small amount of swelling which Dr H thinks is mostly from the surgery itself and will probably clear up. My arm measurement is only 2 cm bigger than it was before but it is incredibly painful – I can’t imagine what twice the size feels like. I thought this was from getting the drain tube out too early but he said he only likes to keep it in for 5 days maximum because the chance of infection increases when it is in longer. (I actually had it in for 8 days).

He didn’t have any of the reports back yet because the pathology lab is really backed up. He only had a verbal report that said my lymph nodes were all positive which wasn’t really a surprise but denial is a wonderful thing! Now we are still waiting to see if the margins are clear. If I don't have clear margins, I will have more surgery. He is sending me for a liver ultrasound to make sure it hasn’t spread anywhere else. Scary huh? (Joan assured me that this is routine procedure so I am trying really hard not to worry too much about it yet) That will be on Dec 22. Since the nodes were positive I will have radiation in 2 sites – where the tumor was and under my arm in addition to the chemo. The under the arm one will likely cause lymphedema so he sent me to Pink Tree to get a compression sleeve for my arm. He said it would give me some relief for the swelling I have now as well and that I should take Advil to help with the inflammation. So he didn’t have much news for me today but what he did have wasn’t good.

I have been doing my pathetic little exercises every day but I'm not really very good at them yet. My bicep is really tight and sore so I can't raise my arm very high and when I make my snow angel on the bed I can't quite get that arm to shoulder level (straight out). I thought this was from the surgery but I think it is from the swelling.