Well... clinging to hope

Choosing the temperature of the air being
pumped into my hospital gown.

Had the endoscopy and was disappointed. My surgeon decided once he was in my digestive tract that a stint wouldn't stay in place. So nope. No relief from the food hell I'm presently in. He strongly encouraged me to get a feeding tube set up. :( I said no. I'm going to try try try to eat enough when I can eat to maintain and gain weight. And I hope that when I start the immunotherapy drug the tumors will shrink and lessen the pain/pressure. Shall see. Family and I are thinking on creative fatty foods, especially drinks and soups. Shall see...

Serious me... Just a had time smiling at a hospital...

Ever see a hospital gown 

I honestly did melt down for a while last night going through doubts and regrets over my stubbornness and how the feeding tube could have been put in during that procedure... money, going thru the procedure again, etc. Oh well. Debating and hoping still. Shall see. Hoping for that immunotherapy to help me... trying my best to stay positive. Might give in eventually to a feeding tube but perhaps one that is actually through my nose vs. another incision/tube sticking out of my body.

Still heartbroken by cancer taking special people's lives and impacting other people's lives. Made the mistake of watching a inspiring but upsetting movie- The C Word.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3568218/

So there's good things happening lately...
1. My husband got a job and begins next week, hooray.
2. My parents are supporting us for a few weeks with our kiddo while we transition day care situations.
3. My son was just accepted into an after school care program that will give him a lot of practice in Mandarin, thrilled since we knew that his knowledge was fading quickly since he didn't have any new practice in talking Mandarin in months. He starts in November and is open to the classes, phew.
4. Soon enough I'll get to go on immunotherapy that will hopefully knock out these tumors... I know it is a stretch but miracles happen, every day.

Hoping, believing, and loving every day I'm alive, even the tough ones...  thanks for journeying with me...

Gettin' along

Buzzy smiling bees this time!

Well.
Been a over a week.
Doing better now.
Harsh lesson.
Don't be stubborn.
Don't be stoic.
If you are nauseaus and feeling shaky/weak for many days, something is wrong. Waiting just one more day to see if it goes away isn't wise at all.
I went after 8 days feeling terrible to the doctor.
She lectured me about simply calling and getting advice at least.
She told me that I needed to even email if I need help.
Sigh.
I know this.
I'm capable of asking for help.
Do I do so? Sometimes? NO. I'm darn stubborn.

So, anti-nausea medicine is a godsend when needed. As is cough medicine when needed.

I'm actually sleeping ok and stomach isn't terrible- it doesn't love anti-nausea meds but that's life.
Pain is actually ok overall. Sort of like arthritis pain in my chest and back. I can deal with it and if I'm hurting? Tylenol has simply been enough in the past days.

My dr. thinks I might have heartburn so we're trying a few tablespoons of apple cider vinegar at night to see if that will help me.

Also drinking warm happy lemon water with honey thru the day to help my throat out.

Chemo/Avastin went ok. Bruise from the needle looks hideous. Thank goodness it is long sleeve weather. Shall bring up what happened next time. Harumph. Haven't had a bruise like this in a long time and I honestly know exactly what went wrong.

My sweet snuggler

My dog is doing ok. She's gettin' along and snuggling with us like the beautiful soul she is.
My kiddo is settling into school ok overall. Grateful.
My husband is dealing with many job interviews. We have hope.
Birthdays are upon us. Husband's is first, which he really doesn't want to celebrate much.
Then mine next Friday. I'm all about saying HELL YEAH I'M STILL HERE AND LOVING LIFE!!! Here's to turning 42 without chemo or a hysterectomy on my birthday. Seriously. I'll take a peaceful, happy birthday. Enough already with the drama.

Feeling stronger on my end. I wrote my 1000th blog post on my Styling Librarian site. Feeling accomplished. Happy with what I do there.
Tired and know I am grateful for where I'm at...
Found a new massage therapist who specializes in cancer patients- pre/post/fighting, etc. She's lovely and likes essential oils, hooray.

New massage place

Appreciate the naturopathic dr. I found and the 20 mg. of Melatonin he prescribed me. Sleeping so much better than the past few years.
Enjoyed a new qi gong instructor and look forward to another class with her.

Grateful for my mom's support at chemo.
First time she could come with me.

My acupunturist said tonight, you're really getting your healthy ducks sorted out!
I also met with a Breast Friends support group. Lovely women. Good talk. Appreciated them telling me about the Dougie Center. http://www.dougy.org/  Not that we're dealing with death but they also deal with children who are affected by severe illnesses. Nice to know a resource, not that we find a need at the moment, but good to know it is there.

Still waiting on Foundation 1 testing on my tumor sample. I waited 3 weeks and then emailed since I was frustrated... they said they'd send when they knew anything.

Can't believe we've been home over 11 weeks and I'm not on anything I was hoping to be on. I'm happy I'm doing Mannatech and I have faith that it is helping heal my immune system, but man I'm annoyed with delays here in the US.

Hope everyone is gettin' along and finds those moments of joy all over their days!
Thanks for journeying with me...

Favorite book arrived from Hong Kong

Taking my time

Now I bought a little bit... think it would be quite bitter for juicing.
Must use soon! Must find a way to use this! :)

Well. I'm done with chemo for the first time in the US. So Debbie, what's different? Not too much.
1. Avastin only. It provides me hope. A little bit. Until I can get some type of immunotherapy- no I'm not giving up. If you didn't notice by now, I'm a pretty persistent bugger. :)
2. They are not only vampires collecting my blood at the beginning of a treatment, they also enjoy collecting urine. Seriously, what's with the urine collection? Every time? After insurance not covering any of those tests for over a year, I have this foreboding feeling when they are administered now... but I honestly was reassured to have a blood test after 2 months free of them.
3. They take stinking FOREVER. Seriously. Even though I had a wonderful companion (thank you Joyce, so grateful) with me who helped me be distracted, it took over 1 1/2 hours to get going and administer the Avastin. Avastin only takes 30 minutes and doesn't need any pre/post drugs (hooray!) and so the time it took for everything else really was dreadfully long in comparison to Hong Kong. Made me appreciate that private clinic that had a blood lab and pharmacy right there taking care of everything efficiently.
4. They didn't poke me twice. Seriously. I found this to be so pleasant (as pleasant as getting a needle in your arm can be...) so pleasant to be set up with the needle in my vein and a blood draw from there vs. an initial blood draw in another location. Hmm.
5. The US does a cheaper set up with the needle. I don't mind it. Just different. Less firm. Do you notice? Seriously, dinosaur bandage. And when they finished and pulled the needle out they gave me a pink heart bandage. Hah. I'll be entertained. One nurse said, "Oh, we only use the special ones for you guys." Ok. Made me chuckle...

Laughing about the dinosaurs...

6. 3 weeks in between is going to be an adjustment. Not complaining. Annoyed that I have to go a day or so before to talk about how I'm feeling when an email would simply do. I did talk with the nurse about that yesterday. Waiting to find out about location/next appointment, etc...
7. Side effects? I'm stinking moody. I wondered today why I was so low and I've decided... Avastin. I also am having terrible sleep and am off from that. Starting a new job and that learning curve of meeting new people is also something that throws me off. I have a few friends at the new school but there's just so much darn "unknown" that's in my life at the moment... working on smiling. Going to get up earlier so I can do qi gong each morning to lighten my mood. It worked before!
8. Other side effects? Meh. My poor stomach. It is not happy. At all. But it isn't too scary. Shall see. Also I noticed a tiny nose bleed on Monday but nothing since... I'm still having those annoying hot flashes (I know they're NOTHING in comparison to what my friends go thru)... thank goodness for layers. Grateful I'm not getting to the fainting stage. Watching and pacing myself carefully.

I'm a little distracted with work. Have a feeling that my posts might be stretched out and then on chemo weeks I will share more...
Here's what I've found useful/fascinating lately online:

I liked this yoga routine- one you can do in bed, going to try it out, so simple and easy:
http://www.mindbodygreen.com/0-21395/a-relaxing-yoga-sequence-you-can-do-in-bed.html?utm_source=mbg&utm_medium=email&utm_content=daily&utm_campaign=150831-a-relaxing-yoga-sequence-you-can-do-in-bed

Appreciated watching this 60 Minutes report, my mom shared- thanks as always mom:
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/using-polio-to-kill-cancer-60-minutes/
Using Polio to kill cancer- what a fascinating possibility this is. I watched 3 videos through this link.

Hope for the future: messing around with MicroRNAs:
http://m.dailykos.com/story/2015/08/27/1416021/-Breakthrough-in-cancer-research-Off-switch-on-cancer-cells-may-have-been-found?detail=facebook

Hmm, this is quite the claim:
http://www.healthyfoodhouse.com/amazing-herb-kills-cancer-cells-in-just-16-hours/
Hmm.

Thanks as always for journeying with me...

Just Exhausted

This week was good overall. I've been dealing with numerous Skype interviews for job positions in Oregon. Don't have anything I'd like to share about those interviews at this point. Just finding positive hope for the future as a teacher librarian/school library media specialist.
Visited with my oncologist this past Friday. I was happy I gained weight. I'm not happy I'm dependent on pain medication. He's happy with my progress. I've "turned the corner"... said he knows the last round of chemo was a bit aggressive and was really hard on me. He thinks June 29th PET scan will be fine. I don't have to see him for almost two weeks which is a first in many months... so many Dr. visits! Grateful insurance has at least covered the visits...
I'm presently exhausted. I know I can't control everything but am working hard to get utilities sorted at home and also in a few days I'll be dealing with closing accounts in Hong Kong... Job searches are interesting. Shall see.
Husband is dealing with my rare meltdowns... A pretty major one occurred tonight, feeling better once I have one... that release. Part of life, that being overwhelmed thing. As much as I focus on the positive and know I can't control everything, the things I can manage are piling up a bit... Thank goodness I have family and friends I can lean on at home. My parents are helping so much with everything and my sister and brother-in-law are helping a ridiculous amount as well... plus many friends helping me with the job interview/search/selection process... good to rely on them. Grateful to have people I can quickly Facetime/Skype when I'm overwhelmed.
Started shipping boxes by boat home... we'll arrive home before they do but that's ok.
Looking forward to the transition home even though every goodbye is so hard. Today we had our Jewish community final goodbye. Kiddo was fine with it but I had a hard time with it, hugs and such... such a wonderful community. So I've said goodbye to my wonderful writing community and teacher librarian community... next will be goodbyes with my cancer support group... work goodbyes will be close to the hardest... my close friend goodbyes will break me. Some friends I'm trying to see on a weekly basis because it is just so hard to imagine not seeing them consistently soon. Thank goodness for online connections... I know it isn't completely goodbye. These friends are like my family here so... will be hard but will get thru...
Thanks for journeying with me as always...

For those who like the idea of qigong, I'm planning to purchase videos from here for continued practice once I move away:
http://taichi18.com/online-video-course/silk/
Looks like I can watch many videos for free here as well:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCHEraxjZzHRVCvW9zqZl5bg

Careful day by day even on down days

These days have been really rough. More than other chemo reactions, I think.

Monday- stomach flu plus chemo side effects left me almost fainting in bathroom trying to take a shower, etc. Barely ate anything.

Tuesday- pushed myself to go into work thinking I'd get thru like other days. Unfortunately, I got shakey and weak and couldn't even figure out how to get myself home until my kind principal sorted me out, walked me to get a taxi and sent me home. Barely ate anything. Tried to do qigong in evening but unfortunately I didn't have energy, class changed to Friday thanks to patient teacher...

Wednesday- felt shakey, didn't want to take the risk. At mid-day I got a call... received the gift of two more recovery days. After a little protesting I thanked my wonderful admin and then thanked my lucky stars. Still can't eat much, got some soup down.

Thursday- FINALLY I had ability to eat. Took two hours to eat breakfast but ate lunch a tiny bit speedier and my husband cheered for me at dinner when I ate my rice and veggies. Feeling weak still but just grateful for healing time.


Missing work and kids. Didn't expect to miss a whole week of work. Oh well. Last chemo, being patient with myself. Doing deep breathing. Now that I'm not as shakey, looking forward to doing qigong exercises again.


From my beautiful good friend who is recovering from a serious operation and has a clean bill of health, thank god:

If this experience has taught me anything it is that we are all in this life together...through the good times and bad. The only thing that makes it bearable is the love from family and friends. The Brazilians have a word called 'saldade' that does not translate to English well but in essence means a sweet longing. Sometimes it is for something you know will happen someday, you just do not know when, sometimes it can mean a sweet longing for something that may never happen but you always carry it with you with such hope and longing that words cannot describe it. Sometimes it is both things together. I feel such saldade for you, a sweet longing that your health straightens out, that your energy returns and you can return to the life you had before this all began.


Thanks for journeying with me...

Last Day of Chemo

Actually smiled.

I'm keeping faith.
Faith that this is really my last day of chemo.
Faith that the exhausting, expensive, emotionally draining experience over the past 10 months has successfully helped me rid cancer and extended my life. I'm continuing positive thoughts, deep breathing, qigong once or twice a day, and all the other things from oil pulling to essential oil treatment and I really do believe this is helping me. I've been dealing with pain in my side and more recently in my stomach and doing the deep breathing and acknowledging the pain has really helped me actually ease the pain.

Found out I have the stomach bug which helps me understand why I had stomach pain. It is difficult to distinguish sometimes what type of pains I'm dealing with. Good to have a solution, rice water to drink, and meds to take.

Happy moments and a feeling that an anvil has been lifted off my shoulders.... that's how I feel after finishing the chemo experience.

Hope this view is done in my life.

Author/Illustrator Debbie Ridpath Ohi made this for me.
As sad as I am to be wearing hats again,
I feel like this picture represents me.

A wonderful friend mentioned to me that some of my random shares in these posts have helped her out with her own medical needs. Hooray. That just makes my day. Touched by all wonderful people I'm keeping up with on here, Facebook, and other places...

Here's what has inspired me recently:
I LOVED the idea of these greeting cards created by a former cancer patient... this woman is an inspiration:
I'm grateful a friend sent this my way (thanks Candy!) and I agree, each person is different and it is really challenging to know what to say to someone who is dealing with cancer in their life.
Now, I do not refer to my illness as a journey, my journey is celebrating life itself every day. It has been interrupted slightly by this darn cancer but I am still celebrating what I appreciate, spending time with those I love and care about, pursuing my passions, and not letting go of my dreams...
http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2015/05/07/404976537/are-you-sick-and-sick-of-hearing-everything-happens-for-a-reason?
Here's lovely card examples:

My beautiful qigong teacher sent me a link about gratefulness. 

Really appreciated this link and this song - 

Grateful  - A love song to the world: http://www.karmatube.org/videos.php?id=4460

I watched a video on Positive Psychology, enjoyed watching, most of what I know but I appreciated watching the research reinforcing it. (Shared by wonderful colleague at my school...)

I've added the mantra from this meditation link/video to my daily practice with my deep breathing. Really helpful reminder every time...

http://www.ishafoundation.org/Ishakriya/Learn-online

Moving ahead, taking care of myself... thanks for journeying with me...

Day by day....

I love my dog.... last picture of me BEFORE my hair all fell out.

Allowing my emotions to flow thru these ups and very downs kind of sucks sometimes.
After clumps of hair coming out this morning, I acknowledged that I'm past the thinning stage and going back to the bald stage. Unfair. Sucks. Must I really live through this again? I loved the curls that were finally growing out! Sigh. I know there are many worse things but I do not find the silver lining of having to go bald again after 6 months of bald already and 3 months of seeing hair. Not cool. Like I'm getting teased in a bullying way... but I chose this. Chatted with the kiddo about it and told him I'm willing to deal with hair loss and chemo side effects if in the end I can be with him much longer...
Many of my students asked me if I was ok today. One said I looked sad. Not too many asked 'why' today, but I was ready.
My good friend told me what her friend used as an answer to students: "I took some medicine that makes me lose my hair but it will grow back out."
I've had a few times today when I'm just feeling miserable. Many people kindly avoided pointing out the freaking hat and just led on with normal life, having interesting conversations and being good distractions. I appreciate work distractions so much. I'm certainly aware and recognizing my emotions, but I really don't need to be fixated on them 24x7. It is much better to be working than to be staying at home on my own trying to be healthy and balanced... So much more is accomplished and I just love being around my colleagues and students.
Appreciated snuggling and silent side by side reading with my kiddo. Love when he's lost in a good book.
Loved snuggling and talking life things out with my husband, grateful for our time together...
Also snuggled with my dog for a long long time, to the point where she looked at me with those "mommy, I really want to sleep now" eyes... So, to bed I go.
Got thru this day.

And so wearing hats begins again... At least they have style!

Another day has passed. I was tired and found that old pains that hadn't tortured me in a few weeks had returned. Thoroughly annoying. Did lots of deep breathing and stretching. Think they helped.

Many days ahead.
Will plug my way through each one gently and carefully. Thanks for journeying with me...

Oh, duh!

A glimpse:
Gee. I feel pretty terrible. I wonder why? Shaky, weak, stomach issues, and more? Blood test says? Very low blood cell count. Ahh. That's right, chemo kills off blood cells. Glad I changed my oncology appt. to today. Answers on the spot, helpful. Might not get chemo on Saturday unless cell count goes up? Great... just want to be done already.
Gather up energy, head home. Jump in bed. Ask husband for a burger. Yes, that's right, a burger. Plus eat dinner. Time to feed the body. Rest. Rest. Rest. Kiddo time. Finish book together silently reading side by side. Reading aloud won't happen til the last few pages. Coughing fits galore equal my evening. Rest. Rest. Rest. Qigong. Sleep.

Appreciated this meditation video my acupuncturist told me about, good one: https://youtu.be/wHnl_XugJyE

Can't wait to make this horchata recipe- I LOVE horchatas, this one being healthy with chia seeds, etc. sounds terrific...
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/05/01/horchata-recipe-rice-free_n_7185014.html?ncid=fcbklnkushpmg00000063

Quick journeying share but I got thru a low day and family time made things quite positive... so did a few classes today, enjoying unit I'm teaching and students I'm seeing. :)
Thanks for coming along as always...

Just a quick check in...

Weekends are helpful. Healing has been my focus.
This morning I got up early and volunteered thru midday at a tournament of the minds competition. My son attended as part of his school team but I didn't get to see him compete, just got to judge a bunch of other teams which was just fine, I like helping out...
I came home after a long walk with my son through Kowloon to Mong Kok (30 minutes, humid day) and then an MTR ride home and pretty much rested for the afternoon focusing my energy on this paperwork I committed to reviewing and providing feedback for online... So. Tomorrow. Rest. Grateful for a playdate and a patient husband who wants me to rest. And a kiddo who's excited to go for a playdate, etc.
I missed yoga today, sad but part of life when you have activities. Hoping to go next week.

Went online and found an interesting article on healing chakras...
http://www.elephantjournal.com/2014/06/the-ultimate-guide-to-self-healing-with-yoga-chakras/
I know this is my chakrah I need to heal:

4th Chakra

Location: Heart/center of chest
Sanskrit: Anahata/”unstruck sound”
Color: green
Element: air
Issues: love, friendship, kindness, forgiveness, devotion, generosity
Associated with: thymus gland, lungs, hands, heart, blood; immune and endocrine systems.
Governs: love, compassion, unconditional acceptance
Malfunction: high blood pressure, respiratory problems, heart and lung problems, feeling heartbroken

Healing Techniques

Music: classical, heart chakra playlistAffirmations: I am fresh. I am clean. I am unstruck. I am unstuck. I am loving. I am loved.
Poses: standing back bend, camel, reverse warrior, triangle, bridge, wheel
Connect with: the heart, the breath, the wind, maitriPranayama: full yogic breath
Practice: Bhakti yoga, yin yoga, restorative yoga
Meditation: forgiveness, Metta/loving kindness

A dear friend just got through surgery and I'm so relieved. It was six months of waiting for a surgery and she's been on my mind heavily. So happy for a successful surgery.

Waking up every morning and still feeling grateful. Appreciating life. Happy to be here on earth... I'll work on those affirmations though. Not certain about the yoga poses...
Will work on forgiveness as well. Dealt with a little disappointment with someone this week and working to refocus on forgiveness vs. feeling anger... plus feeling pity...
Been appreciating practicing qigong breathing exercises this week. Morning and night I've been giving time to it.
The coughing has not eased up yet. Annoying. Really annoying. Taking meds, being patient.
Going to see my oncologist on Monday. He's taking blood, checking on me, etc...
Then I'll find out when my next/last chemo round is... 8 more hours... I started doing art in focus of that day. That last day.
Going to refocus on reading and blogging for a little while. Sleep and rest as well. My sweet dog is still a little off, we're not certain what is wrong but think it is a little more than old age so probably bringing her to the vet soon.
Fridge seems to be working still, grateful for that. Plus it is nice to have a new washing machine...

Pretty quiet post.
Thanks for journeying with me...

A spin for the positive

Well. I was a little upset this morning having to go for another chemotherapy round. But after an hour, I was feeling pretty positive. This week I didn't have to get blood drawn which is always lovely. I saw my oncologist and talked with him about all the pain and coughing I've been having. He poked, prodded, looked at my bruise, listened to my lungs, tapped me in all these different places and concluded that I had bronchitis but that my lungs were surprisingly clear. I have to be on a few medications to clear things up but that's ok... It is bearable to swallow pills that could stop me from heavy painful coughing. That's all I needed to hear from him, deep breath in, out. Reassurance.
I am so glad that I got to do these last two rounds of chemo with my oncologist. I'm comfortable at the clinic. I like and trust the nurses. They make me feel valuable and cared for. There were 6 patients all getting chemo today. I got to the clinic a bit early at 8:10 and saw my oncologist at 9am. Then at 9:30 am they started the heating pad on my hand. Then around 10:00am I got the line in my left hand. My veins are recovering from the last rounds of chemo. I can heal. At 10:30 I started getting the pre-drugs- allergy and antinausea medication. At 11am I got Taxol and it took 3 hours to get it in me. It is normally 1 hour but since I'm only doing two chemo infusions for the last two rounds, I get the triple dose. Then I got Avastin at 2:00pm and Carboplatin at 3:00pm. Then at 3:40pm they started pushing saline into me to clear out my vein, this lasted til 4:30. That's a long time overall. Like a full time job.
I shared with my nurses about an interesting new invention that lessens the complications some have with their veins, the ladies thought it was good to read about:
http://www.industrytap.com/veinviewer-means-no-poking-people-relentlessly-locate-veins/27706
They were also excited to talk with me about the lyphodoema specialist I saw... I felt useful and able to share a little knowledge, made me feel more at ease...
I had a book to read, it was good. I am enjoying an audiobook called You can change your life by Louise Hay which is really helpful. I had magazines and games to play as well. I even got to Skype with my wonderful parents until my mom noticed that I yawned a few times within a minute. I did nap on and off, didn't fight it but there were so many people around me I didn't deeply nap/sleep. I finished with a smile.
I walked back to the MTR feeling at peace. I found a place to sit down. I got back to Causeway Bay and visited the pharmacy. As I was walking to the pharmacy I tried out what Louise Hay mentioned in her book, that you can have positive intentional thoughts... so I thought "I'm going to have a good visit to the pharmacy and they will have what I need." I went to the pharmacy where they recognize me and are really helpful and friendly. I talked with the owner who asked how I was doing and feeling. He looked at my list of medication (8 drugs in one prescription sheet, sheesh) and said, I am giving you a discount today. So I got reasonably priced medication. Then he said to me, please make a copy of this receipt and then when you visit again, I will match with the same price for the prescription you buy. Ok, done. That was certainly a good visit to the pharmacy.
I enjoyed the visit with my son when I got home even with a few glitches in our interaction and then had a delicious dinner and a really helpful qigong session packed with breathing exercises which was just what I needed. The anti-inflammatory has really helped me plus I think I'm feeling mentally better about things so the pain in my lung, side and back has lessened. I'm so relieved about that...
Getting thru the days. Will see about tomorrow. Take the day carefully. Take my anti-nausea medicine. Not push myself. Looking forward to it. Think it can be a good day. My husbadn has asked me to take taxis for his peace of mind as a journey around for the next week. I can certainly respect his wishes. I did take the MTR home but that was because the appointment was in Mong Kok and it is a new place for me and I felt calmer just taking the elevator down and going into the MTR to go home vs walking around buildings looking for a taxi stand, felt like I was protecting my energy...
As always, thanks for journeying with me, visiting on my ups and downs, for a chemo treatment day it had a few downs but I'm just really surprised how many ups I've had... One more and then I am done with chemo. Wow. I can take it all day by day but "one more" makes me smile presently.

Still can't quite smile at first in these sessions but I got my bottom to the seat.

Drugs working their way into me...

I appreciate that the needle is mostly covered...
Heat pad underneath me to ease the pain and stinging as the medication went in...
Was ok, not terrible pain, just eased with a little heat.