The first week in July I was scheduled to have my right tissue expander that had a leek fixed with surgery. The surgery was going to be an outpatient procedure. After the surgery I had to recover for about a week and then the plastic surgeon would start to fill it again.  I was given about four fills of saline which brought the tissue expander to about 400 cc. During my fourth fill my doctor had told me that he would no longer be able to treat me and I would need to find another surgeon. He told me that Bay Health was doing away with his practice. Wait I said, “What”?  “I am in the middle of getting my second implant put in.” He said, “I know I have made Bay Health aware of the situation.” He said, “I have you and one other patient I am treating. I said, “How can they do this?” He told me to call them and see what they would be willing to do for me. He told me there is another plastic surgeon in Dover that I may be able to see. I said, “what If I want to see you?” He said, “You would have to take a plane.” I was upset. I liked my plastic surgeon very much and did not want to go see someone else in the middle of my treatment. If it wasn’t for the stupid leak I had, I would have been finished and not have had to worry about this. I asked the girls in the front office what was going on and they told me I would know more than them. She said, “Bay Health hasn’t told us anything. I was not happy when I left his office. I would be going home and discussing this with my husband. 

That weekend I realized how hard it was to just have the use of one hand. The wrap was itchy and sweaty. It was on tight to my skin so I had no room to with my fingers to scratch an itch. I could not make my jewelry. I just used this time to relax and not do anything that would involve using both of my hands. Monday morning I went in for physical therapy. The wrap came off and my left arm was the same size as the right. My arm looked normal again the way it should be. The therapist was right the mummy wrap worked. He told me we will do massage and the machine and he would give me a compression sleeve to wear. He would like to wrap it again but he was going to wait a week. My compression sleeve he ordered was not in yet so he gave me one. The one he gave me was a sample one he had gotten from a company called lymphadiva. He told me they sell compression garments and I could find them online. The temporary sleeve had tattoos all over it. When I had it on I looked like I had a tattoo sleeve. It was a tad to big so the therapist wasn’t sure if it would help. I would have to wear the sleeve all day or I could wear it all night when I sleep. I could choose to wear it day and night if I wanted to. The first time I wore it out my husband and I were eating at a restaurant I had him take a picture. From afar it didn’t look like a sleeve but just a bunch of tattoos. I sent the picture he took to my mom via text. I got a txt back from her asking what I had done. She said, “Tell me they are not real.”  I said, “No it’s my new compression sleeve for my lymphedema.” She was relieved. It wasn’t until my therapy sessions were just about to end that I had received my own compression sleeve and machine. I had gotten a call from a gentleman of the company where my sleeve and machine was ordered. He wanted to deliver the sleeve and machine to my house. The day he arrived he showed me how to use the sleeve and the machine. He had me use the machine while he was there to see if it had been working properly.  He left me with a video tape and some books with information about the equipment. The sleeve had Velcro going all the way up so I could fasten it snug to my arm. The other sleeve I had just fit over my arm like a stocking. I have to use the machine every day for about forty five minutes. I usually use while I am watching television. A couple of time I used it while lying in bed before I go to sleep. The sleeve and machine has helped me to manage my lymphedema. My arm still does swell with fluid but I was told it will do that. I might need more therapy from time to time. Since there is no cure, the sleeve, machine, and physical therapy would be the only way to manage the fluid and swelling from the lymphedema.

In my second week of therapy, I had what is known as the mummy wrap. The physical therapist wrapped my arm after he massaged it. He told me with this wrap, my arm would shrink back down to the way it was before the lymphedema.  The therapist put a sleeve witch looked like a sock on my arm. He then took this white light bandage and wrapped it around the sleeve. The therapist took some white cotton and wrapped that around the bandage.  He then wrapped some ace bandages around the cotton. When all was said and done I looked like I had and arm from the Michelin Man.  The therapist then asked me to bend my arm to my chin. This was not easy to do. My arm was wrapped so tight I could not get it to bend.  I would have to wear this wrap until I saw him again. Unfortunately this was a Friday appointment and I would not see him until Monday.  I would have this wrap on all weekend. I basically would have the use of just my right hand. I am glad I am right handed. My arm with the mummy wrap felt like it weighed a ton. It was so tight I thought my circulation would be cut off.  I could not drive with the wrap on. On days when I knew I would be getting the mummy wrap my son would drive me to therapy. 

I was evaluated by a physical therapist that specialized in lymphedema of the arm. Based on his evaluation of my arm he told me I would need to be treated. He told me I should come in three days a week for about 2 hours each time.  During my appointment he would give me a massage of the lymph system of my legs, stomach, neck, and arms. We would have lengthy conversations about the lymph system and other things like family and my cancer history. The first hour was for massage and the second hour I spent with my left arm in a compression machine. My arm was in the machine for forty five minutes.  I asked the therapist if there was a way to treat the lymphedema. He told me I could get the fluid removed but that it would just come back. He fit me for a compression sleeve and compression glove I could wear at home. He ordered a compression machine for my arm that I could use at home. He told me that lymphedema is an ongoing issue I will have it for the rest of my life. I He said, “If you use the machine and the sleeve at home you should be able to keep the fluid down in my arm.”  If the lymphedema keeps coming back I would need more therapy. I was scheduled to see him for three times a week for four more weeks. He would then reevaluate me to see if I need any more therapy. 

I had three weeks in between my chemo treatments to rest. I was fatigued and I was having fullness and stomach pain from my gastroparesis.  I would type my blog or watch television. My husband is in a band and I would lie on the couch some evenings and listen to him practice upstairs. I had a hobby of making jewelry and I would do that on days I felt up to it. One day my husband noticed that my left arm was bigger than the other. It looked swelled up. I told him I will let the oncologist know at my next follow up appointment. I saw my doctor the second week after my chemo treatment. He had asked how I was and I told him about the arm. He wrote me a prescription for physical therapy. He told me the arm was retaining fluid and called this lymph edema. He stated that when they take out the lymph nodes during surgery fluid can back up causing the arm to swell. He told me physical therapy and a compression sleeve could fix the problem. So when I was done with my appointment, I headed over to the physical therapy department of the hospital and made an appointment with them. I would be getting an evaluation to determine the need for physical therapy. If I did get physical therapy I would be going three days a week for about 2 hours. They scheduled me with a physical therapist that specialized in lymph edema of the arm. 

My sex drive is not what it used to be either since chemo. My husband and I have had to find other ways to be intimate. Lately it’s mainly all about him. I have no desire to have sex. With my boobs gone and the loss of hair I don’t look or feel attractive anymore.  My husband still finds me attractive and he tells me all the time.  I will be researching alternatives to hormone therapy. I love my husband and I would like to have sex with him. When we have tried it just hasn’t been the same for me. Sex has been painful even with lubricant. When I am on top I look down at my chest at the scares and I feel less attractive.  Breast stimulation was a big turn on for me during sex and now it’s gone. I do not get the same feeling from my implant. I have some numbness around and under my armpit from the doubles mastectomy. I have a scar that goes from the left end of my breast to the right end of my breast. I do have scare cream I can put on to diminish the scar. Not having my real breast and desire for sex is just one more thing cancer has taken from me.

I was still tired from the chemo and I was getting hot flashes every ten minutes on a daily basis. I hadn’t had my period since my diagnosis in December two thousand and thirteen. I was told by other cancer fighters and by reading cancer books that chemo can put you in permanent or temporary menopause. Well that explained the hot flashes and night sweats. I was getting night sweats and would have to change my pajamas throughout the night. My bed and clothes would be soaked. I have turned our air conditioner up because of the hot flashes. I have found that a hand held fan and eating Popsicle help. I had asked the oncologist if I could take hormones that my gynecologist prescribed to deal with the symptoms but he told me not to. He had said that even though my cancer was not hormone driven he suggest I do not take them. So in the mean time I deal with the hot flashes until I can find a save and approved by the doctor alternative. It is not just the hot flashes but I have also had issues with vaginal dryness. I noticed this when my husband and I tried to make love one night. We used lube but it still hurt. That’s why I went to the gynecologist and he prescribed me hormones. He told me when you go through menopause your vaginal tissues become thin. He said the hormones would help with this and the hot flashes. I was already taking Selexa for depression so he increased my dosage because this medication can help with hot flashes as well.  I will be looking into alternatives because I still have symptoms.