Last night while I was getting undressed to take my bath, I noticed a huge lump on my left arm right above the bend in the elbow crease. This is the same arm that is being treated for lymphedema and cording by my Occupational Therapist. At first I was unsure as to what it could be and then a horrible thought crossed my mind. What if it was a clot? I immediatly called the DR and she told me to go to the ER and get an ultrasound so they could rule out a clot. I was so scared at this point that I was in tears and I think my kids were getting a little scared also. I didnt want to do that to them so I tried my best to calm myself and them down. My daughter was the one telling me that everything would be OK.
When I got to the hospital I was seen immediately by a Physician Assistant who knew nothing about pain control because she thought that 1 Percocet was going to help me. No, I dont think so deary especially when I take Oxycontin 2x a day in addition to oxycodone for breakthrough pain. Yup, 1 Percocet would be enough for my pinky finger pain. If she read my chart she would have known what meds I was taking to begin with. They called in an ultrasound tech to do my test and it happened to be one that my husband is pretty friendly with so he was telling me what he was seeing as he was doing it. He did the entire left arm and all the vessels including my carotid artery. All of them looked well according to him. I felt better after getting the results after the report was out and officially in my chart. So they ruled out a blood clot and I was extremely happy about that but still they didnt give me an answer as to what this lump is. My husband and I have our own theory of what it is. We both think its the lymphedema and fluid pooling in certain areas of my arm which is very common. It also could be that the cording the OT has been working on breaking has actually broken and thats what the lump is. The tissue and fluid there has to be readsorbed into my body and the only way to do that is to wear my compression stocking on my arm, which I am still waiting for, and to go to OT and have the therapist 'decongest' the arm and re route the fliud out of my arm. Sounds complicated but I dont think it is, just a pain in the a** or I should say arm
All I can say is thank God for pain medicine otherwise I could not be able to do anything.
On another note my friend called me yesterday afternoon (finally!) and we talked a bit. I feel better and less angry about the whole situation.
This Taxol is really causing my whole body to hurt especially my joints in my legs, hip and back. I know I mentioned it before but I thought it was going to go away and it hasnt as of yet. I am 3 days post treatment and I am hoping that it starts to feel better soon. I want a few pain free days between treatments, or almost pain free.
On the subject of hair~I have noticed that there are a few new hairs on my head that were not there last week. I am not sure if that means my hair is starting to grow back or what. I am going to continue with Moonchaser's SS Hair Oil at night and keep an eye on it.
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