Celebration

Thank for all the support & - it seemed like it was going to be such a long journey back in July and now that treatment is over it seems like it's been a whirlwind! Now I need to adjust my mind set from "getting through" to "moving on" and while this will be another long/short journey I know that I will be equal to this task as well ... with the support of my friends!!

I met up with my friend Joan on Saturday for lunch and a knitting afternoon. She surprised me with a "Celebration Scarf" from the Toronto Spiders Back to Back team!! Everyone contributed - spinning and/or knitting - to a scarf that I can feel the love in. There's a square with a bit of sparkle, awesome variegated sections with fleece that was donated by Louet and OMG - check out the bottom LF square (or RH as you're looking at it ) ... yes, it's a spider!!! You ladies rock - we've won & lost the B2B title together and now we're winning the battle against (breast) cancer together! I'm especially looking forward to our Challenge & Relay for Life this year ... no matter how hot it is I'll be wearing my Celebration Scarf. Thank you my friends!!!

Are You Ready to Frolic?

It's getting to be that time of year again - the Annual DKC Frolic. I'm happy that I'll be teaching again - my favourite subject, Finishing!

There are a lot of excellent teachers & the vendor list is enticing ... put it on your calendars!!

What Am I Now?

Today was my last day of treatment for breast cancer!!!

I am happy.
I am hopeful.
I am recovering.
I am discovering.

I am no longer a Cancer Patient - though that seems to be a bit of a non-PC term, I felt like I was a patient while I was in treatment. And believe me, the term "patient" is apt considering how much waiting there was to be done. Though I have to give a shout out & props to the staff at the Radiation Clinic at RVH. They were all awesome - always a welcoming smile, care, concern and they made me feel cared about & for.

I am a Cancer Survivor. I have survived & I will continue to survive & thrive because of and despite what I've had to overcome.

Am I Cancer-Free? No, I can't use that one.
Because the surgery got all of the tumour & there was no cancer in my lymph nodes I got asked a lot why I had to do the chemo & radiation. There is no way to seek & destroy an individual cancer cell free-floating around your body; for me the chemo & radiation were precautionary & preventative. It's different for each person who has been diagnosed based on cancer type and other risk factors for recurrence but for me it was definitely necessary weighed against the risk of not doing them.
It's kind of like being the President of The United States; even once you're no longer the current President you are entitled to be addressed appropriately as "Mr. President". I still "have" cancer. Or maybe you could just call me Madam President! Even after 5 years - during which I will run the highest risk of having a recurrence of breast cancer (though not necessarily in a breast) - one is not considered "cancer free". My surgeon said that I'll not be considered "cancer-free" until 30 years of non-recurrence.

No worries, I now have a new anniversary. March 22 will be my first day of non-recurrence and it will be an anniversary that I will look forward to celebrating for a lot of years to come!

Change of Body Part

Enough of the thumb pics - it's still kinda gross, swollen, still a bit of oozing & a bit warmish. I only have one more dose of the Clindamycin so I will be giving Dr. D a call first thing tomorrow morning to see if there should be another course of antibiotics. I'm not sure if it just needs more healing time or if the infection has not entirely cleared up. I'm just a Dr. Mom but my experience is leaning me towards the latter.

I have been knitting a bit, mostly worsted weight. Yesterday I started back into the sock for Elise in between swatching for Rowan Marsha (Ravelry link) out of Rowan Kid Classic in Pinched (a discontinued pink) which is close to Lipstick. I'm still not knitting nearly as much as I would like to be nor enjoying it as much as I should be. I need to pay too much attention to not poking the sensitive spots on my thumb and then there is the shooting pain that is completely unpredictable.

Monday will be my last treatment!!! After 32 of 33 radiation treatments I am totally dark, the skin that had been raw & sore has dried - though it's still sensitive and itchy. It's healing nicely though.

Improvement

It's okay now Holly - I think that I've got you pretty much desensitized to the mutant thumb pictures.

By the end of day 4 of the antibiotics there is a significant decrease in the pain in my thumb/hand. Thank God!!! There is still, however a significant amount of swelling, redness & visible infection along with a definite relief map of the infection. Varying shades of red and accompanying numbishness and sensitivity tell the story of how far & deep the staph infection went. It feels like some sort of a slightly stiff sheath over my thumb, which if I could just lift off would reveal a perfectly lovely, normal thumb underneath.



I got the stitches out today! The rest of the thumb nail will be forfeit - I can tell that it's coming off soon.
I spend some a lot of my time lancing and draining infection pockets. I really believe that it will help the healing proceed faster and it satisfies an OCD compulsion.

The Dr. was satisfied with the healing and while he would not commit to how long it would take for my thumb to totally heal he said it was looking good - that must be totally relative!!! - and to call if I had any questions.

I made the mistake of Googling about staph infections in surgical wounds. I know that it's only day 4 of a 10-day course of antibiotics but now I'm thinking about that MRSA that the nurses always ask about when you check in at a hospital. LOL!!! As long as there is visible,daily progress I'll be fine and won't obsess over the more dreaded possibilities. It seems silly but thinking about how icky the skin peeling will look once the blisters heal seems trivial compared to the real grossness of the lack of a thumb nail!!! The nail will take 2-3 months to grow in.

I am going to take mmy friend Dr. Paddy's advice and get plenty of rest ... as soon as I finish my mojito.