The Next Phase in Here Be Dust

Here's what's been happening in the almost-month since I last posted:

1. I've gotten full flexibility back in my left arm (yay!) and was cleared a week ago to return to yard work (yay!). I've weed-whacked the yard for 3 hours, cut up brush for yard waste collection, and returned to planks about a week ago. I can't wrangle-cut the larger limbs as I could do prior to surgery, and I'm holding at 1-minute planks (versus 4 minutes for basic and 1:45 for sides prior to surgery), but I'm super-pleased at the healing I've done.

2. I developed a seroma (fluid buildup) at my lymph node biopsy incision about a week after surgery, but that has now gone down -- which is great, because those things can stick around for a year or more. I felt pressure but no pain -- it was like walking around with a golf ball tucked under the skin near my underarm. I've got a similar situation by my tumor incision, but this is normal. My tumor incision still has surgical skin in place -- that healing is slow, but it is progressing.

3. Three weeks or so after surgery I graduated to being able to get in and out of a T-shirt versus button-front shirts (yay!), and I can now get in and out of my sports bra without taking all sorts of extra steps.

4. I did several freelance jobs. Three days after surgery I got back on my mini-bike, especially since my legs still work fine.

5. I am almost completely caught up on dental work, which was way overdue. I didn't want anything to complicate my cancer treatment. The one remaining job is a crown (and a scepter!), but that will wait until after treatment. I had thought that the stress of all this was exacerbating my TMJ, but it turned out I had an abscess instead, so I'm very glad I got that taken care of.

6. Here are the testing results so far: a grade 2 tumor with tumor markers normal, clear margins, no lymph node involvement, stage Ia cancer. However, we had expected and hoped that my genetic testing (Oncotype DX) would be low, and it is intermediate. Given my age, the oncologist recommended chemo. After doing a bunch of research and talking with people who are or who know cancer survivors, I have decided to go ahead with it.

On Monday I will undergo a MUGA scan to check out my heart, since congestive heart failure is a potential side effect of chemo. By all appearances my heart is fine (EKG was "rock solid normal"), but heart disease runs in my family and my mother died of it within 3 weeks of turning 57. I'm 55. I've lived a much healthier lifestyle than she had, but I figure you can't be too careful.

I am very, very thankful that I got myself back into fighting form before this all started, because my health and fitness are helping me now. I've read that exercise helps combat fatigue while under treatment.

M is holding up well with all this, though we've had our moments. Her background in biochemistry and immunology gives her a good intellectual cushion. She gets overwhelmed by other things, and I'm sure there are interplays among everything, but she hasn't been freaking out. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't apprehensive, especially after reading this guide to chemo (.pdf).

For me, the most important thing is knowing that I can concentrate on fighting cancer and not have to worry about holding my own against M. She is on board with this as much as she can be, which sets my mind at ease. For example, she made a major OCD concession to re-hook the washing machine up so that it drains outside as it was designed to do. She'd had this Rube Goldbergian set-up where she tried to drain it into a large plastic receptacle so that she could use gray water to flush the toilet. It all made a mess of the floor and then some, and I've taken loads to the Laundromat instead. I don't know what shape I'll be in while in treatment, and my bodily fluids are going to be toxic, so we don't want to fart around with washing. Also, my immune system is going to plummet.

I've been told to expect baldness, so I've gone ahead and ordered a couple of these from the American Cancer Society's TLC shop:

Though to be honest, the first thing that came to mind was trying to find a high-collared shirt like the one Persis Khambatta wore as Ilia in Star Trek: The Motion Picture, to show off the silhouette:

Then I realized that chemo will likely make my skin very sensitive (I'll also have to watch out for any cuts and scrapes) and I'll want to protect my head from the sun. The chemo caps have their seams covered to guard against irritation.

I'm trying to prepare in advance as well as I can, especially since I have no idea how I'll react to chemo. The range of experiences is tremendous. Once we get underway I'll be back in surgery to have a port put in. Chemo will take some months -- fewer or more, depending on how my body responds. Once I recover from that, it's then on to radiation for about six weeks and hormone-blocking meds for at least five years.

It's a challenge to be sure, but I am counting my blessings on several fronts.

In other news, I've been participating in the TinkerLab TinkerSketch Sketchbook Challenge for April. I started out with the April 1 prompt, "Circles":

The prompt for April 14 was "Camouflage":

The full photoset is here. Today's submission (prompt: "Viewfinder") uses images from this video I made of the April 15 Total Lunar Eclipse: