1/30/20: My Hands Continue to Have Symptoms

Another week of paying very close attention to my hands and arms. When I wake up, I'm in 1 of 3 possible states:

• Guarded - My hands feel "puffy and tight", and it can be hard to make a fist. This state can take several hours to wear off.
• Moderate Alert - My hands feel "numb and tingly and puffy and tight" a.k.a. "weird". Sometimes only a couple fingers (usually the pinky and ring finger) feel tingly.
• High Alert - One or both hands feel like they "fell asleep". This feeling can sometimes also be limited to just a couple fingers. It's worrisome. I basically can't use my hands. 

In each state, the goal is to improve the status, or at least not make it worse. I need to get up, walk around, swing and stretch my arms. I have to avoid gripping things (e.g., cell phone, knife, toothbrush), which can trigger the next worse state.

I've started a new morning routine that includes arm and shoulder exercises (arm swings, arm circles, shoulder rolls, head rolls), the nerve glide exercises from my physical therapist, and rubbing each arm with moisturizer. My hands and arms definitely feel better after going through all that.

I have a theory about why I'm experiencing this weird arm swelling and nerve-related numbness and tingling. All the symptoms came on after school was back in session (after the holiday break), and after I started driving my dad to radiation daily. Up until then, from surgery through chemo, I was really taking it easy; Ken and the kids helped with household chores, and I only did light driving. For some reason (I think I felt like I ought to be getting back to "normal" by now), when we picked back up after the holidays, I jumped in with full pre-surgery routines, plus I'm driving my dad every day. (It's worth noting that when I drive, I still can't turn the steering wheel hand-over-hand without feeling some discomfort.) I think my arms are swelling from being over-used. Also, my chest and underarms were already feeling "weird", presumably from nerve regeneration. So maybe those two things combined - swelling causing pressure on my nerves - is what I am feeling. I don't know. Just an idea.

Unrelatedly, but for the record, I'm still losing hair. My eyebrows are almost gone, I've got just a few hairs hanging on. So weird. Interestingly, though, eyebrow hair must grow quickly, because I can already see tiny new hairs coming in.