Last night I discovered a little pokey thing sticking out of one of my incisions! It's tiny, I can't actually see it, but it feels like a tiny fishing wire. Thanks to some helpful posts I saw in Facebook support groups, I suspected it was a stitch sticking out, but wasn't sure what to do about it. I called the Breast Center this morning, but no one answered. I left a message, and told them I'd be in the Cancer Center later today.
Today was the first time a friend drove me to chemo instead of Ken. Ken is able to take off as much time as he needs, but practically speaking, it's difficult to juggle his lesson planning if he misses too many classes. I'm still hopeful that I may be able to drive myself eventually, but in the meantime, it's super helpful to have friends who have offered to drive.
I am pretty bad at asking for help. I just don't like inconveniencing other people. And this is a big inconvenience, potentially taking several hours. But as my infusion nurse pointed out today, if it's something I would do for someone else, then it's okay to let someone else do the same for me.
The friend who drove me today is one of my dearest friends. It was actually really fun spending the day with her. I mean, I would call it a pleasant way to pass the time, if only I wasn't getting cancer treatment at the same time. Hahahaha.
Ideally, my appointment in the infusion room would be 15 minutes after my port access appointment, so I can go directly from one appointment to the other without delay. That has pretty much been the case up until today. Today my 1:00 PM infusion appointment was 45 minutes after my 12:15 PM port access appointment, and all 10 infusion bays were occupied when we arrived. There's a small waiting area, and we had plenty of time to chat! We were given menus to order our lunches while we waited.
Also, my infusion nurse used this time to ask me about my side effects, so we could jump right to the meds when I got to my bay. I said I seem to always feel fine on Saturdays (day 2), and she said that's because of the Decadron steroid; it takes a few days to wear off.
I told her about the blood in my stuffy/runny nose, and she said that was not surprising if my platelet count goes low. (My platelet count has been on the low side, but still in the normal range.) If my nose feels irritated or dry, she said it might help to put a humidifer in my bedroom.
I also told her about the tiny pokey thing. She said it's probably a stitch, and she would consult with another nurse who previously worked in the Breast Center.
Once I got assigned to a bay, I started the pre-meds around 1:30. The regimen was the same as last time.
I got Herceptin starting at 1:45, then Taxol starting at 2:15.
During the Taxol, my physical therapist came in, and my friend stepped out and went back to the waiting area. The physical therapist worked on my cording while talking to me about ways to manage my tiredness. She referred to cancer-related fatigue and emphasized the importance of getting my heart rate up. Like if I take a nap during the day, I should get my heart rate up for a few minutes afterwards; I could go up and down the stairs a few times, or even just swing my arms around for a while. She reminded me that my walking should be "moderate" exercise, a brisk pace while still being able to carry on a conversation; it's all about the heart rate.
She also said I can start massaging my incisions to help break up the scar tissue, which can help make scars less noticeable. At this point, most (but not all) of the surgical glue and scabbing have come off, exposing the pink scars underneath. She showed me how to very gently massage my scars, basically the "vertical" and "circle" methods described in this "Managing Your Scar" document from the Moffitt Cancer Center that I found online. But my physical therapist said not to use lotion while massaging for now because it's important to maintain the friction between my fingers and the scar. I didn't think to ask if I should use any lotions otherwise.
Finally, I asked the physical therapist about the pokey thing in my incision. She didn't look at it, but she said it sounded just like a stitch. She said she's seen it a few times, and the first time she encountered it, she was advised by a nurse to recommend applying triple antibiotic ointment (besides preventing infection, it helps to soften the stitch), and covering it with a band-aid to keep the ointment in place.
I finished the Taxol at 3:15. The infusion nurse gave me my blood work report (nothing remarkable this time), and also took a look at my pokey thing. She confirmed it's a dissolveable stitch, and the other nurse who had worked in the Breast Center had advised her to snip it as close to the skin as possible! It was really tiny. She did the best she could, and now I can only feel the stitch if I run my finger over it in one particular direction. She said to use the triple antibiotic ointment and band-aid at night when sleeping.
We left around 3:30, so today's appointments were about 3 1/2 hours total, not including driving time.
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