Really, I am not at death's door by any stretch of the imagination, but you might think that by reading my last few posts. I am not so depressed that I am sitting in a lump in a closet waiting for the world to cave in. Really.
And - I am certainly not suicidal. Quite the opposite!
When one is melancholic....one gets therapeutic and writes. That's been my modus operandi throughout my life.
It's no different now that I have had another monkey wrench thrown into the works. I write when I am feeling down or confused. I actually advise my own patients to do this....because it does help.
It also provides amusement when I am feeling better. You see, you can look back and realize things weren't so bad after all.
My doc phoned me up on Monday last and we had a 30 minute conversation about everything that had gone on this summer. Very good of him to do so. He did it because he wanted to connect - because he felt that it was difficult for me not to have ongoing contact with the MD that did the surgery.
I thought that was very commendable of him. It momentarily made me feel better.
I sent him a recent photo of what the scar looked like and he in turn sent me a photo of the scar as he saw it at my first post op visit. He reassured me about the pigmentation and thought it was a result of the surgery and also thought that some of it was already there.
I will still monitor it - and that is what he advises also.
He also advises monitoring my lymph for lumps, because that is the only way I am going to know if there is metastases.
Each year that passes, I will celebrate with a bottle of wine that I had made and specially labelled.
I believe I will get to polish off all of them!
Meanwhile, here are the photos my Doc and I exchanged:
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| What a difference 3 1/2 months make! |
4 comments:
He did a wonderful job with those stitches. I have an obvious scar from a surgery, and I wonder why it couldn't have been avoided.
Your scar is amazingly unnoticeable. Wow! Of anyone who has to monitor one's lymph nodes (i.e. any of us who have been touched by this disease), I'd vote for you being the best able to do it/detect a change. Big hugs to you!
My surgery was done by a plastic surgeon...so I guess they are a little more specialized. If you are worried about a scar, they can re-do it, but depending on the elasticity of your skin and how you heal etc...it might not be any improvement. Try silicone pieces on it. Research shows that that is the one thing that really improves scarring, even years later. You have to put it on constantly and it can be expensive, but I rewash the pieces and put them on.
Well thank you ohi!! Hopefully it will be easy to detect. As for scars...I don't see yours at all on any photos...and for the extensive surgery you have had...!!
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