It looks like all the teaching, a late-night party and trekking around the Royal Adelaide Show have started to take their toll on me. I did relief teaching at a high school two days this week and I am done - I certainly don't have the energy I used to.
The dripping and raw nose has started to go, only to be replaced by a mouth ulcer and back pain. These are all signs of being run down, or having your platelets and red blood cells anihillated. But they are slowly coming back, I guess, and you need sleep, vitamins and exercise in order to increase their levels. It is interesting to observe the body's changes in response to chemotherapy, and it's true that it's just as you are coming right again you get zapped with more. Luckily I have one more to go. Next Wednesday, before chemotherapy, I have to have another cardiac gated pool scan to see how my heart is holding up under Herceptin. Hopefully all will be well so that I can continue with Herceptin (immunotherapy) for the next seven months. Besides possible side effects to the heart, it should be much less of a stress on the body than the chemo.
I was dismayed to read earlier this week that wearing a bra for over 12 hours a day can contribute to breast cancer because it prevents good lymphatic drainage of the breast region. I have always worn a bra, even to bed (softer ones), but it kind of upset me that such a thing could have contributed to me getting this cancer. That, and drinking processed (non organic) milk - who would have thought milk would be bad for you?! I have tried to give up milk but it has proved to be very difficult to give up pasturised, homogenised milk in my tea, so I use it sparingly. And I'm hoping that not wearing a bra to bed will help with the lymphodema (swelling) that is starting under my arms where the lymph nodes were removed.
I have started yoga. It is fun!
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