First on the cancer front, my lung filled with fluid once again and I had to have the horrible procedure that I had in the hospital. It is called a Thoracentesis. See I am broadening my horizon with medical terms-AWESOME! This time around I was more prepared and requested to have as much pain and nerve medicine as possible. They gave me Valume (IS this how it is spelled?) before the procedure and then some pain medicine through my port right before and during the procedure. I don't really remember anything....I was awake during the procedure and then slept for about an hour after. Not sure if that was how it was supposed to work or again if it is my goofy body not doing the right thing and being delayed in falling asleep. Either way, it was much more tolerable so I am thankful for that. After the procedure they do an X-ray right away and then one 3 hours later to ensure that your lung is drained and that the lung has moved back into position. Unfortunately mine decided it wanted to stay cuddled up with the left lung so this meant I had to return the Friday of Labor Day weekend to see if it had moved. If it did not move any, they discussed doing a surgery to manually move it. Wait, what? Surgery? Unplanned? Yeah, I was nervous about this. Not something I had on my schedule that week. So Friday I returned and received good and bad news. Good news was that the right lung moved a little so no need for surgery. However we learned that the lung ALREADY had fluid building up. Not the best news.
Last week I was having some pain on the chest wall. The skin is dry and when I apply the medicine prescribed it gets too moist. It is just a mess and looks like an infection waiting to happen. I called Tuesday after Labor Day and requested to see my Doctor and an appointment was scheduled for Thursday. All was good until Wednesday I woke up with a fever so I contacted my doctor and went in right away. Dr. Phillips examined the skin and did not see infection but thought there was a chance the infection was deeper than what she could see. So she prescribed a drug for infection and then discussed the lung procedure. We decided that doing a lung x-ray every other week would benefit us so we could see if or when a Thoracentesis was required. Dr. Phillips also requested that I see the wound center to have my skin looked at and cleaned up.
On Monday this week I took my first trip to the wound center. I had the best nurse practitioner Andrea. Since most of my skin is numb where they are cleaning, I feel I was a pretty good patient, but at times as she was cleaning my skin, it would hit some nerves and would hurt....YUCK! She did a good job and wants me back on Friday to ensure we are using the right bandaging. (At this time I need to keep the skin covered at all times) Once we know we have the right bandaging she will order and go through my insurance company to have the supplies sent to our home to clean and take care of the skin here and only follow up with her to ensure everything is going okay. Hopefully the skin will clear up fast. The good news was there really wasn't any infection, just need help to make the new skin grow.
So cancer is still lurking around here and maybe that is why I haven't updated. Not that I thought it would go away, but just that this update seems like a lot of appointments and a lot of negativity. I like to write about the bad but then follow with the good! So maybe that was it, or maybe it is just that I am so darn tired that the thought of typing makes me want to go into a coma. Speaking of, I am sleeping a lot. I try to find one thing to concentrate on during the day (thanks to my friend Jill, she has helped with this) Once I complete that I feel like I can take a nap or I can watch some mindless DVR'd shows. I just do not like to lay down all day. That is when I feel really sick, even though I hate to admit, this is really what I want to do. I am so TIRED!!! This is not fun at all and I am drained constantly of my energy. I watch my mom come in with groceries from doing our weekly trips to the store and I want to get sick. I see clean sheets and made beds and I know Wendy has been here to make the beds-Makes me breathless. I want to take back these tasks as sick as that sounds, I just can't right now. I am trying to save my energy for the kids at night to tell them to eat their dinner, stop attacking your brother, don't throw that, let me change your diaper, yes it is bedtime. All of this I still have under control so that feels great! I'm still a mom!
Around the house. Well Justin has started 2nd grade and loves it. He is bringing home perfect spelling tests and worksheets. His spelling and writing is looking better and he is doing more of his favorite this year - Math. So he seems to be one happy camper at school. He has a few kids in his class that were last year so that made the transition easier. He also has joined a soccer league. I don't know that mommy and daddy knew how much time we would spend on this and we are still trying to transition to 2 nights of practice and games on Saturday, Sunday and sometimes Monday. All of which may or may not be played at the school within walking distance from our house. So we will see. He has a pretty good team and enjoys it so we are trying to smile too!
Ryan, oh Ryan. He is 2 1/2. Whew! So he is busy as can be and asks why constantly. And I don't always know why! He goes to daycare on Monday and Tuesday and then is with my mom on Wednesday and Friday and with Wendy on Thursday. He is doing gymnastics with Wendy and a signing and ABC class with my mom. One of the days he is with my mom, I am going to try to attend the play date so I get more time with him, but our one on one time is limited because he doesn't stop moving and that isn't fair to him that Mommy needs to rest more than just 1 nap a day that he is trying so hard to get out of daily.
So all is well here in the Naughton house hold. It has been fun to have mom and dad 30 minutes away too. Even more fun to say "see you tomorrow" instead of "see you soon". Mom attends a lot of my appointments so Don doesn't have to miss work. I don't know if she could find that part time job right now dad because I'm keeping her pretty busy over here! She likes to be involved so she can fully understand what is going on and she is enjoying time with Ryan for now 2 days a week, which she knows she is not locked into-Why Ryan asks-because you are a wild man and day care has so graciously agreed to take you should mom decide it is too much. For now Wendy and mom know their roles and when and where they need to be somewhere. It is great that we have it all together and things are running smoothly. But we do appreciate your concern and your gracious offers to help with the kids and still know who you are so don't run too far, you just never know when we get in a bind.
I will try to update more often and I do appreciate your concern when I don't update. But I'm still working hard to get better and if I can't get better, I'm working hard to ensure I don't get worse.
Don't forget that if you live near and don't have plans on Sunday, October 5th, come join Amber's Prayer Warriors at the Making Strides Against Breast Cancer walk. $25 to register and kids are welcome!! Hope to see you there!
Love,
Amber
Always praying for you, your family and your fighting spirit! Love, Michele in NC!!
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