Chest update

Well, today I didn't leave the house. I did five saline rinses, five Burrows soaks, 3 antibiotic creams, and 2 Biafine creams. I kept my chest open to air most of the time (and decided that a cardigan with only the top button buttoned counted as "open to air" because otherwise I'd freeze, even with the thermastat turned up to 69), as well.

The result? I think I'm looking pretty good. A lot of the black stuff has come off (slowly, painfully, I might add) and there are only a couple small bloody spots. There are only two small spots with ooze, each about one inch long, and this is a HUGE improvement. At the worst, my entire chest (the treated area, anyway) was covered with ooze. Yesterday, there were still two big spots: one about 4 inches by 3 inches, and the other about 2.5 inches in diameter. Two oozy small spots is better than two oozy big spots.

This is all, I must say, more disgusting than I thought I signed up for.

I didn't take a painkiller today, and I did pretty well. I also sent Ryan and Tessa away to amuse themselves, and didn't lift a finger. (Well, I made lunch, does that count?) I'm not at all my usual self, and I still feel some pain, but it's so, so, so much better that it's actually bearable. I hate to think about how unbearable it was earlier this week, but the comparison is immense.

Tomorrow I hope to be active (at some level) with Tessa, to leave the house for a while, and to continue healing. I know I'm going to shed another layer or two of skin (there's still black skin that has to be shed) but I do believe that I'm healing.

I try not to think of it, but I do think that I will be okay'd for radiation on Monday. This is good, because anything that fights breast cancer is my friend...but it's also terrifying. Will it get "bad" again? How bad will it get? Can I handle much more of this?

Time will tell.

With love,
Kristina