Showing posts with label side pain. Show all posts
Showing posts with label side pain. Show all posts

Saturday, May 30, 2015

Could it be?

Husband is back from his scuba diving trip to the Philippines.
He had quite a load of fun. So happy he had that time...
So.
I know I've talked about this pain in my side for a long long time. I also have been dealing with wearing sports bras and supportive tank tops as well. The other day I rotated to sports bras after weeks of wearing supportive tank tops. That day the pain was gone. Hmm. The next day I didn't rotate back to the tank top. No pain. Today? Wore a tank top. Go figure, pain. Could it be? Could I have been treating one symptom (cellulitis in r. breast) and getting another one? Could it be as simple as stopping wearing those tank tops? I love those things darn it. And I was feeling pretty well supported. But I'll try to investigate this further. Crazy body. Crazy reactions. Glad I noticed the connecting difference... I guess... - written Wednesday. Now Saturday: pain has eased up so much, what a relief. Annoying that what I've been wearing has been giving me so much pain...

So on to another pain for the past 2 weeks.... my stomach has been giving me such pain with cramps I haven't slept more than a few hours. So I talked with my oncologist about it. He gave me pain medication. He gave me another medication but unfortunately I couldn't find a pharmacy that stocks it... shall find it soon. Pain sucks. Pain medication helps a little bit. Was able to go book shopping with the kiddo and enjoyed spending time with him... Hoping to sleep better tonight. My oncologist got a little panicky when he found out that I lost weight again (couldn't eat much all week, not sure why, couldn't even swallow pills without gagging...) and he was also concerned about the pain and wanted to get a PET scan done sooner to find out what was going on. Shall see what happens in the next week.

Time is creeping up on us... Yikes to the move happening soon.
This past week I watched a show... it helped distract me from the stomach pain- Chasing Life- was on Netflix... pretty good. Heartbreaking too since it is about a 24 year old woman who finds out she has cancer and her life is turned upside down... I know some might avoid cancer related stories as I dealt with my own situation but watching this was helpful...

Our dog is doing better.... poor old girl. She's flying out before us... getting things sorted for her. She has many issues and one is that she obsessively licks and creates sores on her skin... I decided to try having her wear a t-shirt to distract her. Really worked well. She's adorable in them and I've noticed she's much calmer at night now and I don't have to worry about her licking anymore...
Shall see how the next weeks are. Chilling out and enjoying life as well as I can. Hoping that pain eases up so that I don't have to mask it with medication...
Thanks as always for journeying with me...










Sunday, May 24, 2015

You're turning the corner, I know it is hard

Love my lunch duty time because I can see
such beautiful living things.
I haven't thought about writing much recently. This week has been a little challenging for me. I'm so grateful I had the previous week off. This past week I had 4 evening activities. Two were "goodbye" dinner events which are really hard for me. I don't enjoy goodbyes. I feel socially awkward in them usually. These two events though included some really interesting conversationalists and also some dear friends sitting close which made them special... and a little harder in a way. I was pretty much plugging my way thru each work day with patience. I love school. I've mentioned this before. I love students... they gift me energy and love...

For now though, I'm just fatigued. I've been dealing with some disturbing sleep patterns that I haven't had before where I fall asleep but can't sleep more than an hour at a time without waking up. And falling back to sleep is harder that I've experienced before. And the dreams I'm having are weird and vivid where I'm working out someone else's worries and concerns. For example: One dream I've been having for multiple days is about a woman who did testing on whales of some sort and realized that the testing was emotionally disturbing them so they were beaching themselves. I dreamed about the aftermath where she was heartbroken and having to defend herself. ... so just weird. So serious.
I'm taking it easy and napping a little bit since I'm in the middle of a beautiful long weekend.

Student led conference included science electricity demonstration.
My kiddo is having a terrific weekend... a little time with me and a chance to go to a movie together (Tomorrowland- pretty heavy handed with message but decent enough flick) and enjoyed a little time together but he's mostly away at wonderful friend's homes at sleepovers. Glad my husband and I organized them. Kiddo told me today he just cannot wait to move home to Oregon but he regrets that all these good friends he has now will be left behind... glad he's so reflective, good kiddo.
My husband is away in the Philippines scuba diving, really happy for him... glad he has this opportunity. Miss him though, been a long while since we've been apart for days.

I've had a little time to watch the Hay House World Summit movies... E-Motion, The Shift, and The Tapping Solution are the ones I watched today. Such interesting creations reflecting on the emotional state... appreciate them. They're free for around one more week. Hooray for free healthy resources. Grateful.  https://www.hayhouseworldsummit.com/lessons/the-tapping-solution/
http://www.thetappingsolution.com/

Trying out tapping actually started to distract me from my frustrating side pain and stomach pain I've been consistently having. I also started having back pain, perhaps because of all the bed rest. I went to get a massage (one more prepaid massage left!) and the therapist said to me "so you're getting fat". I chuckled at this for a while. Told her that I actually am trying to gain weight and that my Dr. is concerned that I'm not gaining weight. She was astounded. Funny how someone who works on bodies would state this or be surprised. I carry my weight in my legs, that's where she was looking. Still funny to me. Told a friend about it and she told me about how when she lived in Ghana it is traditionally the greatest compliment for someone to say that you are fat... that would be quite the thing to get used to!

Went to my oncologist yesterday and he told me I should be feeling better. That he thinks I've reached the turning point of this last round of chemo... shall see. Love that he also said "I know it is hard for you" and did the heavy hand pat on my back on my way out of his office, he's a good guy, shall miss his support. I can tell that I'm better than a week ago but the pain in my side is really distracting me, can't just ignore it sometimes... and no way to massage the area.

Was interesting when someone asked me the other day if I ever slow down. I didn't realize I was giving that impression of busyness anymore. I'm still blogging and working but really, I'm so much slower and more purposeful with where I put forth my energy... not sure why it came up. Maybe the person was trying to measure herself to me? Doesn't really matter. I told her that this whole diagnosis experience has made me slower and careful about pacing myself...

My dog can still hear loud thunder and lightning.
There have been many storms recently. Poor girl.
I'm working on the transition moving home. My important things were to connect with an oncologist in the US and get insurance for the few months I'm not covered by either job. I figured out insurance now and also contacted the oncologist I feel confident going to see... I have a load to "to do" things to do here before we move like getting a background check done with the Hong Kong police to show I'm clear when I'm back in the US... also I have to deal with various financial things- taxes, retirement paperwork, and more. Trying to just pace myself and get things sorted carefully. Things will work out eventually...

A friend shared this link on Facebook, really interesting to see which organizations own organic brands... kind of mind boggling.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/business/organic-brands/

Well, thanks for journeying with me. I'm taking things day by day as always... reaching deep in my toolbox for what will help me. Happy I am trying out tapping again. Happy days to all...