littleprincess's Cancer Blog

June 2, 2008

Lots to talk about

Views: 494

I’m off my pity pot, mostly! I’m trying to let all the new stuff sink in. I’ve got a list of questions for the doctors. Most of them I already know the answer to, but sometimes you just need to hear it out loud.

I just spoke to my Dr and she said I can stop cath-ing. hooray! I’m not able to urinate “normally” but I’m getting my bladder empty enough. I have to actually think about going, and concentrate on relaxing those muscles. Except the other day I waited too long (we were in the car on the way home, and I HATE public restrooms, but it looks like now I don’t have much choice…) and leaked just a little.

The area of numbness on my thigh seems smaller. Its hard to say since I obsess over all my problems, and I’m constantly rubbing my leg and belly to see if there’s any change. I had Robin rub the areas while I had my eyes closed, and she said that its smaller. My friend was in a car accident a few years ago and had several surgery sites. She was telling me it took almost a year before she got all of her feeling back.

I don’t know enough about radiation. I’ve been taking x-rays at work for several years, and we’re always taught about radiation safety. So here I am preparing to go in to be zapped by radiation to get rid of my cancer…even though longterm exposure can cause cancer…my thoughts are really screwy, I hope yall can keep up. In fact, when I first got my diagnosis and before I went to the onc, I was in radiology with my patient and one of the x-ray techs did not have their thyroid shield on. I told them to put it on, “don’t you know you’ll get cancer.”

I have to do some reading on menopause, too. I worry about that. I worry about breaking my pelvis, since it will weaken my bones. I worry about all the damage the radiation can do. I’m sure its silly, but I’m not worried about chemo the way I am with the radiation…

I was considering going back to work, if they can find a position for me. My Dr also told me tonight that I cannot lift more than 10 pounds for 6 weeks. That puts me in a bad spot, as there really aren’t that many dogs and cats under 10 lbs. I took my dog in today for a consult. She will need knee surgery. It was so nice to see everyone. It was so nice to know they are all thinking of me. One coworker’s mother made me a prayer quilt. I plan to take it to all of my chemo sessions. Anyway, being up there made me miss it all even more. I was ready to jump in and do whatever! I figure I’ll go another couple weeks, then try to get back in. And hopefully the treatments don’t kick my butt.

My chemo will be cisplatin. Again, gotta do some reading.

I really have been taking it pretty well up until last week. So now I’m looking at a list of counsellors. How do you pick the right one? There’s a lot more than cancer that is troubling me. The list is from my insurance company. I’ll see if the support center at the hospital has a list, and compare.

Anyone want a dog? There’s a sad looking stray that showed up at my house today. I so wish I could take them all!

To all the new members-Welcome to the family!

Posted on June 2, 2008 at 5:58:39 PM by Lisa ( Lots to talk about, 2 comments)

I’m so happy to hear about your progress..I bet getting rid of the cath has to be a relief. To this day I still have to remind myself to use the bathroom – you just have to remember every couple of hours. Your body will eventually catch up to you, but I’ve been told you have to be careful about kidney infections and the like.

As for the numbness, mine never did come back. It’s a weird sensation, but not the end of the world. Mine extends from my lower ab to the front of my left leg. Dr never told me that was going to be one of the side effects, but I did eventually talk to enough people with nerve damage from surgeries that I think it’s a pretty common occurence.

I hope things keep getting better. Please keep us updated on your journey! I’m going to post a few websites I’ve found in my blog. Hope they help!

Posted on June 2, 2008 at 10:36:17 PM by survivingbeautiful

Hi Lisa, glad the bladder issue seems to be resolving. I received 34 radiation treatments to my inguinals, pelvis and anus. Nobody bothered to tell me what severe skin reactions I would sustain and I was on my own finding ways to relieve the pain from the burns. If you are interested in hearing some ways to care for yourself during radiation and chemo please feel free to e mail me at stargazerlily17@aol.com.
Keeping you in healing thoughts and prayers. Lily

Posted on June 3, 2008 at 6:25:19 AM by stargazerlily17