Jodi's Cancer-cation: Drain Baby Drain (Click here)

Lunch with mom in SB (and dad who is behind the camera)!

It has been two and a half weeks since my surgery. My recovery is going well. Chris was here for the first three days after my surgery and then my parents came for about a week and a half. My friend Adrianna also made it down to help me out last night. I have been most thankful for all of the support and good spirits!

I still need to be quite careful when using my right arm (no reaching overhead or carrying heavy items etc.). The numbness that I had quite a lot of on the back of my upper right arm and into my armpit is mostly gone now. The downside of this is that I can feel a bit more soreness across the surgery site, but it is not too bad. I do still have a drain (the tube is inserted into my lower armpit) with a nice long cord that has what looks like a squeezable plastic grenade at the end (which you can see a photo of in my last blog post). I was told that most people have it in for 1-2 weeks, but some people get it out after as little as five days. So I figured I would have it out within a week - tops - but now two and one half weeks later I have found out that it isn't uncommon to have it for three weeks! Who knew that one woman could produce so much liquid (and some sort of perplexing gunk that is evidently normal, and managed to clog my drain at one point!). So here I am with what my mom and I have now affectionately named, my "drain baby". You see, it is often pinned under my clothes giving the appearance of a small baby bump. We even drew a happy face on it, but the ink has now worn off...

I am slowly emerging from the chemo fog (hooray!). I am feeling clearer headed and more myself. Funny how going through chemo I prepared myself for the worst, and then when it wasn't as bad as anticipated, I felt relieved. But now looking back, I can say wow, that was pretty intense! It was sort of like having a low grade cold or flu, and now it is so exciting to start getting my energy back! I am feeling very thankful for this.

I start physical therapy next week and also have a consultation with my radiologist. Hopefully, I will start my radiation in about two weeks. It lasts 6.5 weeks, so I need to get this show on the road so that I make it back to London in time for Thanksgiving! Radiation will be everyday - Monday through Friday, but the sessions are short (about 15 minutes). Everyone says that after chemo and surgery radiation is pretty easy stuff, but I don't want to take that for granted! You know, it is like when you go for a super long hike and you are just about to return to the trail head and you relax a bit too much and then your tired legs trip over something! So, I still need to do some more research to figure out how to best prepare myself for this next phase of treatment. Let me know if you have any advice...

Waverly, Amelyse and Quincy presenting my poster which they made with Harper and Phoebe!

Friends and family continue to be wonderfully supportive - as is illustrated by the beautiful get well poster Cami and Mindy's girls made for me! It is now proudly displayed in our entryway!

I want to extend an open invitation to anyone who would like to do the Cancer Center of Santa Barbara Walk/Run fundraiser with me on October 11th. Chris will even be here that weekend to walk the 5K with me! More info is here: http://www.kintera.org/faf/home/default.asp?ievent=1124081.

My other exciting news is that my hair is starting to grow back! In a few more weeks I should be rocking the GI Jane buzz cut look...I will do my best to provide a photo!

Sending all of my thanks for everyone's continuing love and support during my treatment!

xx
Jodi