Cody Updates by Mom

Started a new home plan of dealing with my neck burn and I am happy to say that it is finally getting better.  I am still astounded at the fact that it has been over 10 days and it looks like I got the burn yesterday.  Unfortunately, I have a new spot on my arm where the IV was for chemo.  This is a normal occurrence with the Taxotere chemo but they wanted me to watch it to make sure it didn’t get worse.  Well, it got worse so today I got to have an unexpected visit with my oncologist.  While I like my doctor very much I do not think that there really needed to be extra time with him in between rounds of chemo.  Phooey!  However, this was a much better option than spending five hours in the ER like last time.

The spot has not gotten infected however with the issues I have had with the burn and the last situation with the IV area, my doc has decided to put me back on an antibiotic to ensure that I do not get any infection.  Woohoo, another round of antibiotics with their side effects too.  Ugh, not really happy about that.  Could there sometime be a fix for an issue that doesn’t have a list of side effects that are icky?  Really, I’m serious.  I would love some cool side effects, like being able to fly, sudden moments of awesomeness, reduction of the muffin top or maybe even getting smarter. 🙂

Over the last few days I have developed a side effect that I was really hoping that I had dodged.  When I let the doc know today, he was even disappointed.  This particular side effect has to do with the fingernails.  Similar to the hair follicles drying up and the hair falling out the fingernails can become discolored and pull away from the fingers.  In some cases the fingernails will fall off.  They do grow back but the pulling away from the skin is not a pleasant process at all.  Starting this last week my fingernails have started to hurt.  I knew right away that the process of them pulling away from my skin had started.  I do not know if they will fall off or get worse but I was warned ahead of time about this one so it wasn’t a surprise when it started.

The weird thing about it is that the fingers themselves had started getting numb.  If you can imagine the fingers being about half numb so it makes my fingers be clumsy when I try to do things.  Now I am still clumsy but the underside of the nail area hurts.  It’s kind of like when your leg and foot go to sleep and you try to walk.  The foot may have the pins and needles feeling but the leg is numb so it is hard to walk.  Not sure if that helps but it’s the only thing I could think of.

My eyesight has also gotten to the point of needing to purchase a pair of cheaters.  Sadness.  Cody couldn’t stop staring the other night at the restaurant as he has never seen me in glasses.  I am happy he was so entertained.  🙂

All of this extra crud this week has really impacted my mood.  I have been more down and easily frustrated with things.  The last two mornings it took really long to get ready because I not only had to figure out my head gear and matching outfit but I also had to somehow cover my neck so that the burn didn’t cause too much staring.  Matching so many things in the morning has been a pain.  I have also had difficulty doing some very basic things with my hands.  I struggle opening bottle tops, pop cans, even ranch dipping sauce is an issue (which caused a little minor temper tantrum at lunch yesterday and Jim had to take away my dipping sauce to open it).  I can still function on a normal level of being able to type, write and use my phone.  Now with the added pain I of course have been hitting my fingers on everything under the sun.  Not being crabby has been very difficult.  I know all these things are minor but they have been getting to me.

Deep breath, sigh, pout a little and get back at it.  Life is what it is.  There are so many people out there struggling way more than me.  So many that do not have a good support system or a good diagnosis.  I will prevail and I will survive.  So, stop pouting, sigh, deep breath, hope.

Caring Bridge Comments

Lorelie|Jun 18, 2014 10:01am
Hang in there, Mel. You’re so strong that I know you’ll conquer these nasty side effects, but I’m sure it’s not easy. Here’s a remote hug!