Long Time No Post

Happy Holidays everyone! May 2010 bring you all good health and fortune.

As the old saying goes, no news is good news right? Well for me, up until a month or so ago, I would have to agree - hence the lack of posting...

I can hardly believe that I just finished my eighth treatment which began my second to last cycle! God I hardly wait for all of this to be over - I never thought I would wish time to pass so fast, but I can't wait for the next six to seven weeks to FLY by... let's just hope they do!

Since my last post, things have been relatively uneventful: I went to treatment, felt lousy for a few days, went to work, felt better - pretty simple right? Too simple according to my body - you know me, there has to be a hitch...

Let me set the scene for you - it's a few days after Thanksgiving, my bone pain had finally subsided and I started getting this weird tingling feeling in my arms. I thought nothing of it on Monday. Tuesday came and the tingling started to get a bit more prevalent, I decided it was time to e-mail Nurse D. She gave me a few things to look for and all of the "warning" signs I didn't seem to have - no rash, no swelling, no real pain... well then there came Tuesday night.

I must admit come Tuesday night, I thought that something had crawled inside the right side of my chest and my arm and was setting up shop. First thing Wednesday morning I called D, told her I had lots of swelling and in a panic-stricken voice, she insisted I come into the clinic immediately.  In less than 20 minutes I was sitting in a clinic exam room being told that it was highly probable that I had a blood clot and it was imperative that I get in to see Ultrasound within the next few hours.  The next 20 minutes passed with relative quickness as I internally fretted over a blood clot while D called everyone under the sun to squeeze me onto the books for an ultrasound to confirm her suspicions.

Come 11 a.m. I was back in the hospital, trying to avoid the coughing, hacking patrons of the department waiting room. Within a few minutes I was covered in ultrasound jelly making small talk with my technician who I soon gathered was shocked I was so young and had been afflicted with the big C - it turns out we were the same age, I was only a few months older than him.

All in all, my second lifetime ultrasound, time two being of my neck, arms and chest versus my heart, wasn't too bad - except for the digging around my neck. At the time I couldn't quite understand why he was pressing so hard on my neck and into my clavicle bone, but at the end of the ultrasound, he revealed to me that I indeed had a clot, and it extended from my neck down into my shoulder! See I told you - nothing without a hitch these days - and apparently I can't do anything small. Go big or go home I suppose.

After leaving my ultrasound, things progressed quickly - I needed to pick up a prescription for blood thinners and then learn how to administer them. At the time I was so naive in thinking that the thinners would be a pill or something - WRONG. It was my dear friend injection making its way into my life - TWICE a day. After lots of tears I finally learned how to give myself these injections and successfully administered it.

After that very fateful Wednesday, things have really calmed down except for the bruises on my stomach  that keep popping up after randomly selected shots. Lets hope I can get through the new year without a hitch and take on 2010 with a vengeance.

The next post won't be in two months - I promise!