It could be that I am on the mend!!! Very slowly I am getting some energy back and it feels so good!!! I can drive myself to the hospital and even self park and walk across to the clinic. Two weeks ago I was maxed out at stumbling from the valet drop off, through the door and into the clinic.
On the home front, I am cooking again. It still takes some planning on my part to break up the preparation tasks with some rest breaks, however it is getting easier each day. I've lost some of my organization practices so end up with excessive dirty dishes in the sink after I get done. I like to load the dishwasher as I go but seem to be having trouble making that happen after so many weeks of being away from my kitchen. The good news is that I can still cook!!
The lymphedema is slowly resolving. I go to the Physical Therapy clinic 3x/wk to have the bandages changed and get a specific lymph drainage massage. The goal is to encourage the lymphetic fluid to move from the lower arm upward to the arm pit area and then to the trunk area to eventually be flushed out by the kidneys. I really want to get past this bandage wrap because 3 ace bandages plus the padding makes for a bulky deal covering my arm from fingers to arm pit. On the hand it is hard to keep the bandage clean and the bulk makes sewing almost impossible. At night I sleep with the arm elevated on several pillows so the fluid drains downward. This also keeps any throbbing down to a minimum. Hopefully by next week I can graduate to a compression sleeve which isn't nearly so bulky and has finger gloves rather than the ace bandage wrapped around the palm.
Radiation hasn't started yet, thank goodness. I'm enjoying making steady progress and feeling better each day. I'm not wanting to rock the boat at this point. I just want to keep enjoying feeling better today than I did yesterday and having hope that tomorrow will be even better.
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