Christmas, Torture, and More UGH!!

Christmas in May.


It felt like Christmas morning on Tuesday evening!!! Todd called me on my way home and told me I had a package. I was so excited; it was my new fake one. The first thing I did after pulling into the garage was go get my package and opened it up. My new FO came in its on box (it looks like a hat box.) It was huge!!! And even has a nipple. We held it up to Ham bone’s chest and it is as wide as her little body. The next day I did not wear it. I opted instead to bring it to work to have a show and tell. Several people told me they wanted to see it…so instead of having to take it out every time..I just choose not to wear it. The most shocking thing about it was that people wanted to touch it. Believe me, it feels very life like!! It is a lot heavier than what I am used to so it has take me a while to get used to something being there again.

Here I Go Again…

I have been having issues with swelling under my arm pit again. I am in a wedding with a lower cut back and you can see it. So I called my doc and she sent me to the torturer again (lympadema specialist). The last time I went it was very uncomfortable because I had cording in my chest; the therapy was not pleasant (lots of pressure on the cords). When I meet with my torturer on Wednesday, I was happy to hear that this therapy is not torture like it was before. YES!!!!!!!!!!! It was very comfortable, thank goodness. I was prepared for the worst and was excited to learn this is more like a massage. After getting the treatment, the torturer taped up my back to help get the fluid moving from the problem area to other lymph nodes. I can keep it on my back for 5 days. This type of taping is called Kinesio Taping has swept around the world as a new and exciting treatment option for many conditions, including lymphedema. The concept is by lifting the skin and by the stretching of the tape during body movements, lymphatic flow is improved. So we will see it how it goes.

UGH!!

I don’t know why I do it but I hear stories about women or young people dying from cancer and I begin to panic. Last week a relative of my co-worker died at the age of 29. He left behind three kids. So what did I do, I got on-line and started to remind myself of the statistics of living with IBC. Reading that only 40% of us will make it past the five year mark….

I guess I accomplished only a few things with this dumb move:

1. Reminded me to enjoy every minute God has given me. Who knows when he’ll decide my work is done here?

2. Reminded me to look at the whole picture and figure out what is really important in my life. Is what upsetting me at this moment truly going to make a difference or reflect on me as a person?

3. Reminded to me to laugh and to realize that not everyone will see your struggles the way you do. And that is o.k.