Lump n Bump

Day 3: Thursday. My back was killing me. I got breathless and a little panicked. I went home and called Nick to tell him I should be home in 15 minutes. I called Roswell to let them know I was a little worried about the Taxol effects on me. I got home still very out of breath. I eventually decided with Nick and Roswell’s advice to take a Tylenol for the back pain, and see if I could make it in to Roswell for a check on my blood counts on Friday morning. If not, another ER visit for transfusion and hydration.

Day 2: Better. My back was very sore from the two long days of sitting uncomfortably. Nick gave me a nice back rub and Tylenol, I’m writing as I stretch. Importantly, I seem to be tolerating Taxol fine. No rash. No weird reactions. It’s the changes to preventative measures that seem to have disrupted my homeostasis.

Day 1: Ooof. Those steroids never wore off. I was up all night. Slept some from 1 to 3 am, then George woke for a diaper and presumably teething. No one got back to sleep really, but there were no tears or trauma. I took the morning off work to get some sleep, but I only managed another couple of hours. The day was long, the hours were long, and the minutes passed every twelve blinks.

Day 0: I feel just as tired, no, more tired after Taxol. They prescribe IV Benadryl with it, which gets infused over 45 minutes. If you think the little pink pills make you drowsy- phew! You have no option but to pass out.

Several hours later, I’m feeling great this evening. I bet that’s the steroids talking. I helped with George’s bath time, loaded the dishwasher, swept floors with my nice new sweeper, (I highly recommend that Bissell perfect sweep!) and wanted to write again.

Dr. Soniwala examined the lump this morning. He had trouble finding it. Gosh, that’s incredible. However, there are so many other normal changes to breast tissue during pregnancy, it may be difficult to find because of all the other healthy changes. It has definitely shrunk. At our mid-September exam, it was smooth and mobile. I’ve noticed that it has continued to be smoother and more malleable until the pregnancy changes made it very tricky to locate. I mean it. It’s hard to trace an outline of it. I forgot to ask him what the ER CT looked like.

While I was getting hydrated this morning, I got up for a pee and a stretch. I had my back to the nurses’ station rubbing my lower back with my fists and side-bending just minding my business re-watching Selling Sunset with earbuds. Dr. Soniwala approached me and ask if I was doing alright. I laughed it off and reminded him that “oh! I’m fine, just stretching because…” and I gestured to my baby bump. He replied with a big nod, “ah!” and waved off his concern.

Today, I also embroidered another onesie. I practiced a new stitch:

I’m so hopeful that Taxol will proceed. I’ll know more tomorrow and update here.