A quick update.....
A couple of things to update you on since Monday.
Firstly, Bertie (my drain, see previous post) is still with us. This has caused much hilarity from Briony who I think is secretly quite pleased. We named him so that Briony wasn't too upset about the drain. I went to have him taken out last night and it turns out that I am draining about twice the volume they want me to be before they are happy removing it. I've been re-booked for tomorrow morning for another attempt. but to be honest I'm still draining the same volume so am half expecting it to be staying for the weekend too. It's a bit of a pain as I need to keep carrying it around, but apart from that it doesn't hurt, so if it needs to stay it isn't the end of the world. The risk of taking it out too soon is that the fluid then doesn't have anywhere to go and ends up accumulating under the skin and needing to be aspirated. I think if those are my options I would prefer to keep it in a couple of days more.
The pain hasn't been too bad and I've also had a sneaky peak at the wounds and they don't seem too bad either. I'm still a lovely shade of oompa lumpa orange from the antiseptic, which despite scrubbing doesn't seem to be shifting. I wouldn't mind if it were uniform/not quite as orange as we are coming into summer! I've been doing my exercises and have a good range of movement in the arm that they have taken the lymph nodes from, although I am still completely numb under my arm. I was warned about this as a possible side effect. It may be temporary or permanent. As I quite often say, it is what it is and it isn't too much of a problem.
I've also received some beautiful flowers. The only problem is that I have absolutely no idea who they are from! If they are from you, then please own up as I would love to thank you personally!
Roll on a quiet few days and continued progress x
Firstly, Bertie (my drain, see previous post) is still with us. This has caused much hilarity from Briony who I think is secretly quite pleased. We named him so that Briony wasn't too upset about the drain. I went to have him taken out last night and it turns out that I am draining about twice the volume they want me to be before they are happy removing it. I've been re-booked for tomorrow morning for another attempt. but to be honest I'm still draining the same volume so am half expecting it to be staying for the weekend too. It's a bit of a pain as I need to keep carrying it around, but apart from that it doesn't hurt, so if it needs to stay it isn't the end of the world. The risk of taking it out too soon is that the fluid then doesn't have anywhere to go and ends up accumulating under the skin and needing to be aspirated. I think if those are my options I would prefer to keep it in a couple of days more.
The pain hasn't been too bad and I've also had a sneaky peak at the wounds and they don't seem too bad either. I'm still a lovely shade of oompa lumpa orange from the antiseptic, which despite scrubbing doesn't seem to be shifting. I wouldn't mind if it were uniform/not quite as orange as we are coming into summer! I've been doing my exercises and have a good range of movement in the arm that they have taken the lymph nodes from, although I am still completely numb under my arm. I was warned about this as a possible side effect. It may be temporary or permanent. As I quite often say, it is what it is and it isn't too much of a problem.
Roll on a quiet few days and continued progress x
Well done Emma, keep fighting the fight. We can do this
ReplyDeleteGabrielle xxxx