Category Archives: Health Issues

Health Issues

Pam's on the move!

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Just talked to Pam (10 PM)and she told me that she is being transferred to Royal Colombian in just a few minutes. She will be in 4-South, an actual room! No more hallways in the Emergency! So that’s a nice thing.

Still no word on her surgery. I’ll be heading out to see her early in the morning and I’ll update you as soon as I hear more.

However, being in the actual hospital where the surgery is taking place is a big step forward. I’m certain when the doctor sees how she is suffering they will do something quickly.

First snorkel as locals
Health Issues

Wednesday Update

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I spent the morning with Pam. She had a relatively quiet night, but not much sleep. They are giving her as much morphine as she needs or wants to combat the pain. I took her KOBO e-reader, so she tried to read some Sherlock Holmes, but she couldn’t really concentrate or focus.

They gave her an MRI this morning while I was there and it was much less painful than the CAT scan, since she was already on the mobility board.

The trauma surgeon who will be doing the surgery, still does not have her scheduled. She is to be transferred to the Trauma Center at Royal Colombian “soon.” It is 5 pm here and they have not moved her yet. The nurse told her that the latest they would move her would be in the morning, but it could happen anytime during the night. At least when she is at Royal Colombian we can see some light at the end of the tunnel.

She’s had no surgery and no procedures. The diagnostic tests are complete, so that when the trauma surgeon does see her, she will not need any more tests! She has still not eaten since lunch yesterday. They are keeping her “NPO” in case there is a surgical spot open that she can take.

I’m heading up to see her now. I’m hoping by the time I get there, there will be some concrete news!

She is in pretty good spirits, considering the difficulty, but again, the pain is so severe, and so constant, it’s wearing on her.

I’m sorry if I don’t email or call you all personally, but I’m going to try to keep the blog as updated as I can.

First snorkel as locals
Health Issues

Pam's horrible year continues

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There is an old joke – good thing I’ve got bad luck, or I’d have no luck at all… well for Pam, that’s been her motto for the better part of two years.

I am just home from the hospital, it’s half past midnight, and Pam is not with me. We went to Home Depot today at around 4 o’clock, and were walking through the garden center. I stepped over a hose and was walking down an aisle, when I heard Pam screech and as I turned I saw her leg hyperextending as she slipped on a puddle. She had tripped on the hose, slid on the puddle and went ass over teakettle as they say.

Her leg was bent at a horrible angle and there seemed to be a “hole” just below her knee. She was in an awful lot of pain.I asked a clerk to call an ambulance, and she ran off. A few minutes later another clerk showed up and tried to give Pam first aid. I said, no, her leg is most likely broken, note the awful angle and someone has called an ambulance. I tried to comfort her, but she was in an awful amount of pain. Finally another clerk arrived and asked if we should call an ambulance! Arrgh! She called the “Supervisor” who showed with a phone and FINALLY called the ambulance.

After another 15 minutes, the ambulance finally arrived – I guess because she was conscious, she wasn’t a priority. We got her on a board they use for back patients, as she simply couldn’t move her left leg without tremendous pain.

We got her to the hospital, and after five hours of waiting, we got her into X-Ray where they discovered lots of damage. They contacted the orthopedic surgeon but he was in surgery! After he got out, he ordered a CAT scan and confirmed the worst possible news. ALL her ligaments were torn, the MCL, the LCL, the ACL and Posterior ligaments too. The knee is dislocated, and broken. Her tibia (the long bone below the knee) has been “shattered” (worse than a break, I guess) by the femur as it broke through her kneecap. There may be damage to the femur as well.

The damage to her knee was too traumatic for the orthopedic surgeon, Dr Malone, at Surrey Memorial, so she is going to be transferred to the Trauma Center at Royal Columbian tomorrow. Dr. Malone said he had a week back up on knee surgeries, but that hers was so severe, he was certain they would operate on her tomorrow, or perhaps Thursday.

He gave her an estimate of at least six months to recover. When I said months?? He said, there are knee injuries and then there are knee injuries. This is the worst you could possible have. Hockey players take six months to recover just from an ACL tear! Add in the other three ligament tears, the two broken bones, the dislocated knee and you’re talking major pain.

At least it’s not cancer. sigh.

I’m heading back to the hospital early in the morning to see what the final details are. I hope she is able to sleep somewhat tonight. Gawd… I can’t believe it.

Health Issues

Post Radiation Pain – May 28th 2011

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Well, just when you thought you had jumped through all of the hurdles… got through the surgeries and radiation, a new symptom has developed.  About the middle of May, I started to get a dry cough and some pain in my rib cage area, on the radiation (right) side. It’s pretty bad and feels like someone has taken a fist and punched me in the ribs from inside. It burns and the pain goes to 8-9/10 when I cough, take a deep breath or sneeze. It also hurts very much to lay down, and to recline in recliner.

At first I wondered at a pneumothorax (partial) but I don’t think so, as my respirations seem to be ok. It feel pleuritic, and that is what my family Dr felt as well, that it was pleuritic pain. Last week she listened to my lungs and thought I had good air entry, but she listened on side and back, not in front at lower ribcage under the breast, where it’s really hurting. I see my onco-radiologist on the 31st so will tell her about it. I suspect that she is going to tell me I have radiation pneumonitis  as it fits as to when the symptoms started. But I can’t diagnose, so I’ll hope for the best and see if it’s just something else. 🙂

I am doing the gradual return to work and am trying to do 8 hr shifts. It’s difficult with the pain now because if I get coughing it really hurts, and if I can’t splint myself fast enough, I feel it big time. I am feeling tired, but so far energy levels holding at about 70%. I am pushing myself to get back to working full time.

I’m sounding like a whiner and I don’t mean to. I am lucky, I have a job I love, I have a loving husband, dog and family, good friends, good people I work with, good Drs. It is all good, it’s just that next hurdle is all, I thought whoever had the voodoo doll and pin had finally put it away, but alas poor yoric, is not to be.

…Pam…

 

Health Issues

May 6th -healing

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Hi everyone 🙂 Sorry for the long space between posts.

Well I’ve been to the family Dr a couple of times since the radiation was completed. I was told by all Drs that the radiation would continue to make changes in me for 2-3 weeks and I could expect that the skin would continue to change. Well it did, the skin under the breast had continued to redden and get angry looking, and finally the skin broke down. When I saw my family Dr she looked at it and said “ouch”. She advised me to try canesten cream on the area x 2 days, because it’s just the sort of place yeast likes to go. I did that, and it did seem to be helping some, but the skin continued to break down and be open, with blisters and open areas, so I started on the flamazine cream that I had been prescribed as well. (They told me not to use it unless area’s became the size of quarter or so and open) .  My family Dr advised I start taking it after the 2 days of canestin and so I did. After about 2 days of that, it felt so much better and the angriness of it started to subside. Now it’s still healing but it’s much more comfortable.

I still am feeling some fatigue but am hopeful that it will lift soon. I am at about 60% of my normal energy levels, but am on a stretch of days off now so hopefully that time will allow more rest and the levels to rise. I am starting back to work, which for me is a blessing. I feel like me being back to work gives me some normalcy back. It’s been a strange year healthwise and I can’t say it’s been easy. I am hoping the worst of it is done. Since last June 2010 = pinched nerve C6-7, still ongoing numbness in fingers of right hand from that,  Vaginal bleeding x 2 out of the blue, gyne consult and 3 pelvic US and 1 surgery (D&C) , Torn Left knee MCL (partial tear), routine mammogram and that showed the cancer, then repeat US’s, biopsyx5, then surgery Jan 11, Surgery Feb 1 as metastases to lymph node, then 5 weeks of radiation and 5-6 boost shots, fatigue throughout and continuing, my dad died Feb 22nd, so I flew home to be with my mum, sister and brother… and so now I am finished all of the treatments, and am on pills x 5 yrs, and get blood work done every 6 months or so. Plus I’ll have to have more frequent mammograms.

The hope is, that the cancer that spread to the  1 lymph node, did not even microscopically go elsewhere in my body. The hope is that I am cancer free. 🙂 Once this breast heals up, I will feel like I’ve jumped the hurdle and am back on the road to health.

I am doing a gradual return to work to see if I can get back to my regular hours. I have done a couple of 4 hr shifts and I’ll admit I was surprised at how tired I felt after each of them. I am doing another block of 4 hr shifts, and then will gradually increase so that I am back to doing my 12 hr shifts. It feels good to be going back, and I’ve been gone 4 months so there is some catching up to do, but it will be alright. 🙂

Thanks everyone who has called or phoned or visited, and helped me through this. It’s been one hell of a long haul. I hope it’s over!

…Pam…

Health Issues

Post Radiation – April 22nd

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I finished the last treatment and boost treatment on Tuesday April 19th. It felt so good to be finished this all. It has been tiring. I had a headache all of the next day, and I’m not sure why, perhaps a stress letdown or something, I don’t know, but I am not prone to headaches so it surprised me.

I had to go to the hospital and get 9 vials of blood taken from me and see the nurse for clinical trials. I am taking part in a clinical trial called MA 32. It involves taking a pill a day x 28 days, and then 2 pills a day x 5 yrs. The pill can either be a placebo or metformin 850 mgm I don’t know which I have.  The theory behind the trial they are testing is to see if early stage breast cancer patients do better with metformin than those who don’t take it. I believe they found women who were already diabetic and taking metformin seemed to have better results for both survival and have less recurrance rates. Anyways when I met with my cancer Dr, Dr. Oja initially, I asked him if there were any clinical trials that were going on that I would be suitable for, and he told me about this one.  Suits me. 🙂  I like the idea of being part of a possible solution to help fight this disease.

The radiology gals warned me, as did my radioncologist, that the radiation will continue to affect my skin and symptoms x 2 weeks. I have to say that is true. The skin continues to get more fragile even though the treatments have stopped. I am getting some pains in the breast, like zingers, and the crease/fold under the breast is red and raw and open. I continue to put hydrocortisone on it. I do have a prescription for flamazine, but I don’t have bigger weeping areas bigger than a quarter yet. The Dr told me to get the prescription filled if that happened.

I did a soak of the breast with cool water today and man did that feel good, it took some of the heat out of the breast for a time. They said to use saline soaks but I am not going to do that, I can’t see putting saltwater on the already irritated and open skin, so I’m sticking with water. 🙂

Yesterday we went for a walk in one of the woodland parks, and it was lovely. We went to Surrey lake park, and there we saw an eagle nest, with mama eagle’s head sitting up high in it, and daddy eagle came circling the nest. Cool stuff 🙂

I’m trying to make myself get up and do stuff, just to push through this fatigue. I have to say for the first time in months (even before the diagnosis I had told the Dr. I was feeling fatigue ++ ) (no doubt because of the cancer I didn’t know I had then), I woke up this morning and I don’t feel like an absolute dishrag. The morning is early yet, but I am hopeful that the bone crushing fatigue I’ve been feeling might actually be lifting.  Hope. 🙂  Fingers crossed, and lets see what today brings.  If I can get this inflammation down in the breast area, then I might feel like I’m getting back to normal here. The Dr told me they are inflaming the breast every time they radiate it, and I have not had alot of pains/zingers thusfar, but I am getting them now that the actual treatments have stopped. WEIRD. 🙂

…Pam…

Health Issues

April 18th 2011 – Monday

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Today was my 24th/25 radiation treatment. One more to go!

I think I’m doing pretty good. My skin is getting more sensitive as the days go on. Right after the treatment my skin is fairly reddened but it gradually subsides during the day so that it is looking more darker than the other side, but the last week or so it’s been feeling more sunburnt for longer. I am having some pain especially under the right breast, the crease is inflammed and reddened but no large weeping areas. The bra certainly is a gift and a curse, as it holds the girls in place but it also can cause some rubbing on sensitive burnt skin.   I do believe that I have different skin type than most people as I rarely do burn, and have a great ability to tan. The Dr’s are impressed with how my skin has held up thusfar. I’ve been impressed too, but I’ve been religious about slathering on the moisturizer 2x a day and I am putting some hydrocortisone cream under the breast along the inflamed area.

One thing they did advise this last week, was to do saline soaked wraps of the right breast. I guess they thought week 5 it would be the worse. I am not doing that, because I feel saline (salt water) on a burnt skin can dry it out more. Instead I’m doing just cool water wraps and that feels so good. Once you get zapped so many times, you start to feel cooked inside. I know that sounds gross, but it’s the best way I know to describe it. I saw my surgeon Dr Janzen last week and she said my skin looked GREAT. She said most come in with skin that is bright red and burnt ++. Maurice told her I was a good tanner 🙂 hee hee

Tomorrow is my last day of Radiation. The gals at Fraser Valley Cancer Center asked me if I am going to celebrate. I said I didn’t know, I had not thought about it. Cathy, my sister also thought I should celebrate the accomplishment of getting through the radiation. I will have to think about it. My first inclination is to say I’ll celebrate the day after it’s done, by taking a nice walk in one of the many beautiful parks in Surrey. 🙂  Energy levels continue to be an issue.

I saw the onco-radiologist on Friday, and she advised Maggie and I that the fatigue can continue for 2-3 weeks after the radiation. I am glad that my family Dr had the wisdom to recommend my gradual return to work start May 2nd.  🙂

…Pam…