This post is long overdue but each time I've gone to write it, I'm either too tired or my heart just isn't in it. For this I apologize. I know there are a lot of you who are wondering what has been going on around here so hopefully this will bring you up to speed if you don't already know the latest.
I'll go back to my radiation treatment back in August...in all, I had ten sessions. Luckily, I had minimal side effects. It was the fatigue afterwards that really hit me but we muddled through :o) DH extended his time off until October 1 so I had another month to recoup with someone else helping out with Junior. As the days went on, I was feeling better and better. My pain medication was decreasing and so was the pain in my sternum. Things were going well until...
During the Labour Day weekend, I had picked Junior up when something went funny in my left armpit. The pain sliced right through me. As I waited to see what was wrong, it became apparent to "me" that it was my lymph nodes. Over a period of time, the area would swell and then go back down again. I went to the ER, my family doctor and the Medical Oncologist (MO) and they all said that it wasn't the lymph nodes. My family doctor thought it might be in the bone so I went for another bone scan. It came back clean. My sternum area was still lit up but that can either be from the radiation or the cancer but since it was showing improvements, it's more likely that it was just the radiation causing this.
The MO decided to do a CAT scan as well since it was at least three months since my last one. The good news is that there were no other tumours anywhere and my pelvic area was clean. Even the lymph nodes that were enlarged in that area were good. The bad news...there was an additional 'hole' in my sternum, close to the original one AND I had three enlarged lymph nodes in my left armpit. DH says I should be a doctor ;o)
The MO felt that since the new 'hole' was within the radiated area, it would be treated and he wasn't worried about that at the moment. Based on what he saw and my history, he felt that the lymph nodes were an indicator that the cancer was back :o( He talked about doing radiation on the area but the Radiologist said it would be best not to. Now there is talk of chemotherapy.
Unfortunately this is all the information I have for you at the moment :o( This Wednesday we'll meet with the Radiologist and then on Friday, the MO. DH and I are full of questions since we pretty much feel we've been left in the dark. The lymph nodes are constantly swollen now and have put pressure on some tendons or ligaments in my arm, not allowing me to straighten my arm without a lot of pain. This runs the whole length of my arm. Because of this, my pain medication has been increased a bit; otherwise, I'd probably be off of that right now.
I wish I had more to tell you at this time. It was a huge blow for me to hear the 'C' word again :o( I'm SO TIRED of this and it's been very hard to keep my spirits up lately. Thankfully DH and Junior are my cheering squad and they do look pretty cute in their cheerleading uniforms ;o) LOL!
As soon as we know more, I will post again. Hopefully it won't be a drawn out thing. DH and I just want to get on with our life...
Again, I want to thank everyone for their support. It truly means a lot to me and us :o)
