Troughs and Valleys

Life is about falling.   

Living is about getting back up.  

It's been a tough few weeks.  Firstly the surgery on my port was not successful so had to go back in to have a new port put in on the other side and have the old one removed.  What was to be a simple procedure became a bit more complicated.  The tube from the new port was inserted into the external jugular vein and then was to be pushed down to close to the heart.  Unfortunately there was a stricture in the vein and the doctor had a lot of trouble threading the tube through - turned into a much longer and somewhat brutal procedure.  The old port on the right side had a lot of scar tissue around it with adhesions so it too was not a quick simple procedure to get it out but took quite a bit of digging.  I also had a bad head cold at the time so felt pretty miserable.

Recovery over the next days seemed to go ok.  My neck was very sore and it was painful to swallow but otherwise no problems.  Then I started to get some pain on the left side of my chest.  Just intermittent and not too bad.  By Tuesday night however it was very painful and continuous and difficult to take a breath.  As it was getting worse started to worry that it may be a blood clot from the port surgery causing problems or a new tumour in a rib.  Spent the next 36 hours in a morphine haze in hospital and had x-rays and a CT scan.  Nothing showed up which I guess was a good thing.  No sign of tumours and no blood clots in the lungs.   A small change in the bone density of my sternum showed up but was non diagnostic.  I have had a tumour in the sternum higher up so this could be the start or a new one and could be causing referred pain to the ribs.  The lesion does not look like a tumour, so I am optimistic.  I am due for a PET scan soon anyway so that should clear up whether it is or not.  By Friday I was a lot better even without morphine and I went home.  Pain has been slowly getting better until this morning when it is worse again.  Back on pain relief and wait and see regime.

Had a lovely time in the garden a couple of days ago.  the weather was fabulous, sunny and warm and I replaced a few little plants where a few had died in the front garden.  There are some beautiful flowers in the garden at the moment and I spent quite a bit of the afternoon sitting in the garden just enjoying it.  It has been raining ever since but it looks like the weather is clearing again and the sun is coming out.  So like the weather my health keeps changing.  It goes into troughs and it may be a bit of a climb out, but I do seem to come out on top again each time.

Went to the doctor again yesterday mainly to discuss the continuing lethargy and some chest discomfort, unrelated to the pain in the rib area.  So I have a referral to a cardiologist and also need to have some more blood tests just to check things like thyroid function.  It is probably just a side effect of the Thalidomide and Arimidex both of which cause lethargy along with their other side effects.  I just want to make sure that there are no other issues to deal with.  My body has been through some tough stuff and there is a family history of heart disease.

It is going to be a busy few months ahead with doctors appointments, tests and scans and some really nice stuff like a a few days down the south coast with a lovely friend,  a week in New Zealand and then my sister and brother in law coming over for a visit and we are all going up to Cairns for 5 days.  As well as that Spring is in the air!!  Looking forward to some warmth and sunshine and watching the garden grow.  Hopefully I will be well enough again soon to walk the dogs in the bush as the flowers at this time of the year are pretty spectacular.

Hopefully on the upward bounce again and in any case surviving and thriving.

Linda