Revenge of the Chews II

The pink spots on my leg are now just that, pink spots. Induration and swelling gone, just red marks. My teeth however are still a little jacked up. I found that I couldn't chew on the right side and when I flossed I felt like I was ripping my tooth and filling out. You know, that sharp shooting pain that lets you know you are doing it correctly.

12 days after the first filling I called the dentist to let them know something was not right. When the Dental Assistant brought me in she very condescendingly said "So your having some sensitivity to hot and cold?".  I explained to her the problem and wanted to say, no I am here for actual reasons. I did let her know that sensitivity was something I could handle (c'mon lady read my past medical history).

The Dentist came in and tested out the flossing and when his piece of floss shredded and with a little more poking he decided he needed to drill the current filling out and replace it. He said it was for the best and I agreed. He then brought out the Novocaine and made me numb. He had me sit and get numb while he went to finish up with another patient.

Someone in the dental office has a sense of humor, because I kid you not this is the song that came on:

And yes, I was beginning to get comfortably numb.

Apparently redoing a filling is a lot more complicated, or from my novice opinion it would seem that way. The dentist used 4 different drill bits to dig out the current filling and apparently make the hole bigger. Time out was called at one point because it was very important that a 34 be found. Now I have no idea what Big Papi  has to do with my teeth being fixed but apparently the 34 was found. Phew.  At one point I had the metal vice clamp on my offending tooth as well as two sets of metal pliers, two suctioning things and two sets of hands. No big deal. I couldn't feel it, but I am pretty sure that was the breaking point for my lips which decided to split on the corner. On hour later I am a proud owner of another new filling. This time one that I can floss.

The feeling is starting to come back in my face. My lips this time were totally numb. Which means when I came home and drank water a lot of it dribbled out onto my shirt. Sweet. Then I attempted some cereal and lets just say I got some chex and some milk on my shirt. After dinner I changed my shirt. Good thing there were no witnesses.

My new 400m hero is Novelene Williams of Jamaica. She found out she had breast cancer right before the Olympics, ran them without telling her teammates and won a bronze medal in the 4x4 relay. Also, after a double mastectomy she is already back running a 50 point 400m! Read her story here. I will be rooting for her Monday August 12th to bring home the World title!

Word of the Day: Induration

3rd round of vaccine shots are complete.

Wednesday at work I ran around and saw some patients and then changed into a tshirt and workout shorts. It's always interesting to do the reverse Clark Kent at work. It's fun to then walk back through the halls to get to my appointments and get many a confused look and the occasional "Are you going running?"

The clinic was packed with people and their families and everyone was in a chatty mood. Usually in the oncology waiting room there are a couple of people who like to compare what therapies they are on and what they have for cancers. On Wednesday everyone wanted to talk. When I moved into the smaller waiting room for blood draws, it was packed. I was the youngest person in there by 30 years-which meant everyone wanted to talk to me. However, in the blood draw waiting room the topic of discussion was Aaron Hernandez and they were all interested on my take on it. Our waiting room consensus was that the proper word for the situation was "a waste". This conversation seemed especially poignant to me because here you had a group of people who had either fought and won or were in the process of fighting to extend there lives. You betcha the agreement was "a waste" and it made everyone a touch mad.

After making new friends and giving more urine and 6 tubes of blood (more good luck with the left arm veins, they are making a comeback!) I had a brief physical exam where we discussed my good looking blood work and the results of my MUGA (heart) scan. My first scan gave me an ejection fraction of 78%, which the Nurse Practitioner told me she has never seen-in a good way. My oncologist said that it was super excellent. The results of my second scan 3 months later revealed the my ejection fraction was now 69%, which is still super excellent (usually it's 50-65%). My oncologist explained that these tests aren't calibrated to test the super excellent hearts and she did not think the vaccines were effecting my heart. She and the NP told me not to worry. The NP told me I didn't need to run more because I in my sarcastic manner told her that it was probably from missing 3 weeks of cardio. I assured her I had no plans to work out more.

After all of that I was deemed perfectly healthy are ready to get injected! Yay more sharp objects poking me in the name of science. This time the nurse who does my injections brought in the other research nurse so in case she was sick or on vacation there would be a back up. I assured the new nurse that I had yet to hit the nurse injecting me and she need not fear. She paused and looked at me for a minute, and then got on board with the sense of humor. She especially got the sense of humor as one of the injections was particularly painful and burned a little bit longer than all of the previous injections. This injection site would turn out to be the biggest sweller of the bunch.

Over the past 2 days the 4 spots have swollen a significant more than before and been a little sore. Also earlier and larger than previous was the onset of INDURATION. Induration is the hardening and thickening of the skin. Yes, it is as pretty as it sounds. Now for the study I was given an induration bullseye which I previously did not have to use and laughed with the research nurse at the size of the bullseye because it goes up to 10 cm. 10 cm a piece which would be pretty hard because my 4 shots would then have to overlap each other because my thigh is just not that big.  I wore shorts into work because I wanted to share with the research nurse my 5 cm in diameter hot big hard bumps on my thigh. (Painting a pretty picture...). She confirmed that it was induration and finds it equally fascinating that the reactions seem to be getting larger,  as a cumulative effect. Hopefully, they don't get 10 cm large!

The ladies in the office looked at my splotchy leg and were concerned. I explained that it was in the name of science! One of my colleagues looked at me and said "Yes, but your testing it on your body".

SCIENCE!

Having fun in the hot summer sun

I am back up and running! 3 weeks off from bronchitis and projectile vomiting was a lot easier to get back into then time off for cancer treatment;thank you Captain Obvious. Even with the short hiatus I am realize how much fun running is even in the heat.

I also have been cramming a lot of fun in between tests and appointments. Friday I had 3 month heart scan to make sure everything is ticking like it should. There were many major wins here. First, they didn't need to call the IV team and were able to gt my left arm all injected! My veins are starting to get better. Second, while having my heart scanned I noticed the EKG hookup and spent the 30 of the 40 minutes of scanning watching my heartbeat. Or I should say scrutinizing my heartbeat. I don't really know how to read these things, but I do know what they should looked like. And mine was textbook. It looked like this:

 

(image source)

Also, I know that all my working out is paying off because my heart rate is back down to 58 beats per minutes. More wins! 

After having my MUGA scan completed I packed a lot of friends and fun into the weekend. I danced the night away to our favorite 80's coverband, had lunch with a friend, did a little bargain hunting, had brunch with friends and celebrated another friends birthday! Fun filled 5 days to kick of summer and getting it rolling. 

Tomorrow is vaccine day. That means urine, blood, poking and being observed. All worth it to prevent recurrence.

Right now I am obsessed with this song and it's pretty dominant in my head right now. I love the video. I doesn't have anything to do with the rest of this post, but trust me it's awesome!

Revenge of the Ginger Chews

I can't imagine what would have happened if I didn't do baking soda rinses 4 times a day during chemotherapy. I went to the dentist last week and found out that I had 3, THREE, cavities. All on the right side of my mouth. All in my back molars. All where I kept a ginger chew 4 times a day to alleviate the metallic taste. Oops.

Sometimes when I go to the dentist, I wonder if they forget that your lips are attached to your face. Or if they ever get tired of hearing "Open Please". As I am writing this the right side of my face is still numb. The appointment started out with the Dentist numbing the lower and upper right side gums. The dentist is concerned because I don't even flinch when he stabs me with the needle. "Sara, are you sure your numb?". Drool. Yup. At this point I have been stuck with so many sharp objects it doesn't bother me. He drills all three holes and asks me if I am ok while there are no less than 4 instruments in my mouth (drill, suction, mirror and unknown other metal thing) and I decide thumbs up is appropriate communication. The drilling was the easiest part of the appointment.

Next up was the fillings. The bottom molar; easy peasy. The top two molars that are touching and the dentist had to drill deeper than he originally thought he would need to, not so much. These fillings involve separate process of tiny little teeth vices that go on the tooth and then are tightened up with little little hand screws. Now I can see the metal portion sticking out of my lip. The assistant decides to tell the dentist that other dentists at this office would do both teeth vices at the same time. The dentist explains to her that it was not possible given how close my teeth are. At this point I have had my mouth open with other people's hands inside it for 45 minutes and have one more tooth vice to go and do not take kindly to the assistant attempting to correct the dentist. Franklly, I would appreciate not having the man with a drill annoyed while he works inside my mouth. I spend the rest of the appointment cussing her out with my eyeballs (that are under protective shades). It is very effective as she is completely unaware of my annoyance.  After an hour I am the proud new owner of 3 fillings. I get to keep the numb face for another 2 hours. The cold sensitivity for the next 2 weeks is just an added bonus.

I think this calls for some Dr. Teeth!

I got a Haircut!!!

Another step towards normal (well as normal as I've ever been and what has become my new normal). I paid someone to cut all my hairs today! My hair, like the plants in New England, has been growing and curling like a weed. I really needed the sides cut down and the unruly-ness of the back of my head fixed. The woman who shaved my head was more than happy to give me my first real haircut post treatment. She was impressed with it's thickness and texture. She was amazed by the curl too. She has permed my hair twice (when I was in the 5th grade) and knows how my pre-chemo hair would never take the curl.

This is my attempt at a "selfie" with my iphone post hair cut

Post hair cut my mom and I noticed that there are more and more straight hairs returning (now that their curl has been cut off). I told her I am relieved. I don't know what to do with this curly hair and I am happy to have had this adventure and I will take the added texture, but I want my hair back. 30 years of stick straight hair makes it hard to learn what to do with a totally new type of hair.

Also, I forgot how much fun it is to get a haircut!!! My mom wanted to come because she is still traumatized from the head shaving. She was amazed by the amount of hair on the floor once my trim was done. I feel like a new woman with my haircut, always my favorite part of having one. The photo doesn't do justice, but there is a smile on my face.

Happy Father's Day

Today we celebrate a man, who like an ogre and an onion, has many layers. Today we celebrate the man who gave to me my coping mechanism; my sense of humor. My dad found almost every post funny and would try to explain to my mom why things were funny. His favorite video posted was after surgery, and when I could hear him watch the video and laugh, every night after I had surgery and was staying with them. Hearing him laugh helped me heal faster. 

My father has his on special brand of encouragement. He will tell you that "It's not that bad." and "You'll be fine". It somehow always makes you feel better. You know when you've really turned a corner because he will say "That's old news". Even when bald and pale my father would say "You have cancer? No, that's last weeks news". It made me feel wonderfully normal at a time needed.

My father is extremely difficult to stress out, it's a quality we've all been thankful for. He's who you call when "your a donkey on the edge" and he'll talk you down every time. He knows you just need to come up with a plan and "You'll be fine". Then he'll help you come up with a plan. Or when your being totally irrational and are ready to chew the head of the genetic counselor who is doing her job and trying to help you he'll shoot you the look to know you should knock it off.

Happy Father's Day! And in your honor one of our favorite songs (and a place Mom thinks we should go)

This post is kinda gross

Last Friday I had to skip dinner with a friend because I was coughing to much to carry on a conversation. This Friday I thought I was feeling better. You would think getting immune boosting vaccines and being a cancer free individual would mean you didn't catch every bug that rolled it's way through the hospital. But, alas, when I sat down to have dinner I start to feel a little nauseous (red flag #1). We were at one of my favorite restaurants and I ordered my favorite meal. I ate about 1/3rd of it (red flag #2). As we were paying the check I started to get really hot and for a minute thought maybe this was all hot flash related (red flag #3). I hurried out of the restaurant and did something I have never done before. I vomited for a solid 10 minutes into a sewer grate at a busy intersection. In public. At 8 pm at night. I wanted a really large sign that says "I am not drunk and this is not a reflection on where I just ate".

As it is well documented on this blog that I am, as my mother would say "soft as a grape", I immediately thought of this gross SNL video.

I'm happy to report I woke up feeling better this morning and hoping to go for a run tomorrow.