I've been hooked by Facebook!

Yes, I admit I am now hooked on Facebook - c'mon friend me!

Finished my 1st week of radiation. It is not so bad. I have still been binding/wrapping my chest (remember seroma?) and I can't tell if the slight pain I feel is related to one or the other. One benefit of the radiation therapy is that Chris and I spend about 3 hours in the car each day, just talking, or not.

I have an appointment after my radiation tomorrow to see Dr. Silva about the fluid in my chest. It's not much, but I don't see it going away by itself.

Last week at work we had auditions for our spring play, remarkably, we have a budget!!! They went well and it's going to be charming.

Last week I got a haircut(OK, trim.) The nice lady gave me the child's price 'cause I have still not much in the hair dept. Either that or she was just being sympathetic - I'll take it. She thinks it's going to grow faster now that the split ends are gone. All the white baby hairs that came in first were all frizzy and frayed and longer than the underlying gray hair. Now I look tidier. I asked her if she could make me look like I have this style "on purpose." She may have done better than I thought since I saw one of my students from last year and she asked me why I cut my hair.

Chris tried to make "Chico's Tacos" last night, and although it was a valiant effort, it wasn't quite right... Today he finished setting up my new computer. It has a beautiful large screen, and I'm using it this very moment. Funny, it doesn't make all the funny noises I have become accustomed to.

Really am feeling better, healing, whatnot. I actually find myself rolling over in my sleep or sleeping on my stomach! The side/stomach position is my preferred one, so being able to sleep that way with no pain - priceless.

Qua'nisha and Our Bunnies

Qua'nisha takes some time to introduce you to our little bunnies. Their names are Haas and Coinin. We love them very much and they bring us a lot of joy. They do not live in the cage all the time. They spend the entire day out of their cage in a big area they have to hop and play and have fun. They sleep in their cage at night. They even hop around the living room and come visit us while we watch TV. They are good pets and fun to watch. Haas is around 7 years old and Coinin is 6 years old. We used to have a third rabbit, Toki, she would be 6 years old now too, but she died in 2006 and we were very sad.

Selena has been feeling OK. The hole in her tummy is not healing well and we started her on some new debridement ointment to help clean the wound out. Dibridement means to get rid of all the dead tissue so the new viable tissue can grow.

Namaste,

Chris

I got a prison tattoo...

OK, so it really was a radiation therapy tattoo, not a prison tattoo. AND I got three of them.
Today was my "simulation." Chris and I went to St. Josephs and had the following experiences:

• Chris went with me so we were able to use the HOV lane!
• We got lost in the basement of St. Jo's
• We got to park in the employee lot 'cause Chris' pass/ID still works
• I had to sign papers that acknowledged my understanding of the possible side effects of Radiation therapy: burns, trouble swallowing?, lung damage... Sounds fun huh?
• They lined me up in a CAT scan machine that has these weird attachments like stirrups for your arms and a shelf/ridge that goes under your booty
• They marked my body with some stick-on measuring tape and three ball point pen X's
• They tattooed me "prison style" with a dot at the intersection of the X's. One under each arm, and the other on my chest - a little to the right of where my cleavage used to be. I asked Kwame, the radiation guy, if while he was at it he could give me a dragon or something and he said sorry, he sucked at art. He does have a great accent that sounds African to me, but I'm no expert.
• Made an appointment to go back next Wednesday for my 1st treatment. 7:45.
• Got a note from the Doctor saying I could have a massage - NEED ONE!

I have been binding my chest for over a week now, to try and cut down on fluid buildup. It seems to be working. I will probably need to be aspirated this week, but not nearly as much.

The wound in my abdomen is not healing quickly enough - you know the one from my hysterectomy? Well, Chris cleans, irrigates and packs it daily, but it still is rather deep, hurts and bleeds. Dr. Arristea prescribed some antibiotic gel or cream BUT my pharmacy is not able to get it and there is a hold-up in re-connecting with Arristea to prescribe something comparable that is available. Its been a couple of days.

I know I'm a ray of sunshine, but... In other news, I got informed on Wednesday that I do not have a job for next year. I was one of the teachers "impacted" by the reduction in force. Yes, I know, just what I needed. At least, I have some time to line up something for next school year. I'm just really concerned about my insurance - I have a lot of research to do. Do I have to rush and have my reconstruction this summer, so I'll be covered? This is one heck of a pre-existing condition.

On the positive side - besides my tough, sexy new tattoos - my fingernails look great! Oh, and on the way home from Houston we stopped at Taqueria Arrandas. This is my spring break, so we didn't have to rush back. I had Huevos Rancheros which were awesome - my taste buds are coming back!

Qua'nisha Goes to the Doctor

Selena had to go to see Doctor Sylva last week and Qua'nisha decided to come along.

Coming along

I worked all week last week! I came home right after and crashed, but I worked the whole week. This week has just started so I won't make any predictions... I already had to miss half of today.

I've had a little bit of complication with my mastectomy surgical site. I keep producing fluid, which I have had removed twice already. Today they "aspirated" 208 cc's of fluid from me and Dr. Silva decided to wrap me (ace bandages) to put pressure on the site to help the body absorb these fluids. I see her again on Friday to check on progress. I don't want to gross anybody out but it sure is interesting to watch your breast begin to grow back! That's what it looks like.

We are still treating the wound in my abdomen and Chris cleans it and packs it daily. WOW is it painful. Not all the time, but when Chris has to poke stuff into it, yes. Dr. Arristea said that we can stop doing this on Friday.

This Wednesday I meet with Dr. Hatch (radiation oncology) to do "simulation" to get ready for my Radiation treatment. I am not sure what that involves yet, so I'll update you later.

Also, big news for this week: Layoffs, or RIF (reduction in force). I should find out on Friday if I have a job for next year. There seems to be no rhyme or reason to the process, so I can't predict anything. I certainly could work off the island in another school district, but I don't want to. I have been building my department and it has gotten to the point where kids can't get into my classes 'cause there aren't enough slots - a big change from when I started at Central.

Next week is spring break, and if my fluid problem resolves, the beginning of my radiation therapy. Whoo hoo, we are getting closer to the end...

Jackson-Pratt Drains

Here is what Selena has been talking about when referring to her balls. She had two drains. One that went into her chest wall and one that went into her axillary region (armpit).