Back in the Saddle in Here Be Dust

I had my three-month checkup with my oncologist on May 5. All of my blood work results were normal – for the first time since April 7, 2014. *fist pump*

I felt good stepping back in there. It feels like a reunion now – catching up with the front desk staff and phlebotomists. I popped into the chemo bay to say hello and hoped that my brief presence could serve as encouragement to people in the same position as I had been in a year ago. (Today marks one year and two days since my first infusion.)

My mild bouts of vertigo and low BP led my oncologist to suggest that I increase my sodium intake. My blood sodium is normal, but dietary sodium is a different story. I’ve made a couple of food substitutions and will see how that goes. It’s a tricky balance because increased sodium tends to increase my carpal tunnel flare-ups. Those flare-ups have already been exacerbated by the anastrazole I’m taking.

Case in point: it took me longer than usual to shut off my alarm (I use a small travel alarm) because my thumb, index, and middle fingers on both hands were completely numb and couldn’t detect a thing. That left me fumbling in the dark with my ring finger, which is not used to finding and flipping a small switch by feel. I also had to hold my alarm in place with my other hand, which could give me signals only from my ring and pinky fingers.

(That’s how I know that this is carpal tunnel syndrome and not chemo-induced neuropathy. Neuropathy would have affected my ring and pinky fingers as well. I’ve had CTS for about a quarter-century.)

Fortunately, it took just a couple of minutes for my hands to return to normal, and my numbness had not escalated into pain as it sometimes does. Even after just a few days I feel less lightheaded, so I’m keeping my fingers crossed – that is, when I can feel them. :-) My wrist braces help somewhat, but they can do only so much.

As side effects go, I call this one manageable. I’ve been lucky in that this seems to be the worst of it. I get an occasional hot flash, but those have been minor and brief. I’ll have a bone density scan later this month, because osteoporosis is among the more severe potential side effects of anastrazole. My last scan had been two years ago, so even without the meds I’m due for a follow-up.

I can no longer use the diagnostic imaging center close to home, due to my hospital’s acquisition, and the center to the east is not covered by my insurer for screening bone density scans. Fortunately, I can use the center to the west. That led me to double-check with the center to the east with respect to my follow-up screening mammogram; they can still do that.

My recent dental checkup included X-rays, now that I am far enough away from having finished radiation. Thanks to good hydration and prescription-strength toothpaste, my teeth have held up fine through chemo. They had looked fine at my cleaning last fall, but the X-rays formed the real test. This time I had worn a lead collar in addition to the usual apron.

Last weekend I weed-whacked my yard for three hours (and was pleasantly surprised to get no trouble from my hands). That marks my first such session in more than a year, since before chemo. I repurposed one of my button-front, long-sleeved, light cotton “chemo shirts” as a yard work shirt and headed out in that, long pants, and broad-brimmed hat.

(I call them my “chemo shirts” because I normally live in tees. The button front allows access to my port. The long sleeves are for protection against the sun; the light cotton is for protection against the heat. Chemo made my skin very sensitive to the sun. I save my yard work for early or late in the day, weather permitting, and have also draped a towel over my clothes.)

I felt plenty tired after the job (the same as I had felt prior to diagnosis), but oh, so satisfied. The repurposing felt good, too.

Am honored to have been profiled at Breast Cancer Social Media (#BCSM). You can read the profile here.

“Good Wishes” was the prompt for my Creativity Heals meeting in April:

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One of my final pieces done in the April TinkerLab TinkerSketch Sketchbook Challenge was to the prompt, “Stencil”:

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More art pieces from the challenge are here.