30 May 2012

I Blame Chemo

I blame chemo... for everything that is not quite right, uncomfortable or down-right wrong.  Can't remember stuff?  Chemo.  Weight gain?  Chemo.  Yelling at the kids?  Chemo.  World hunger?  Global climate change?  Lack of good political choices?  All chemo.

So this week, when I became food for bugs, and the dining sites all blew up with angry red welts with swollen icky-fluid filled centers, I blamed chemo.  Dan is sure I have secondary staph infections, so I called my Doc, (the day after a long weekend.... like I'm going to get in this week???) and when I asked for an appointment, the receptionist said she had nothing Tuesday.  I told her I had figured as much and proceeded to describe three bug bites, two on my right arm and one on the right side of my upper back, with large red welts and pus filled centers.  Amazingly enough, an appointment at 10am materialized.

So I went in and Dr. T. said it wasn't bug bites.  She thinks it's either Chicken Pox or Shingles.  She's gotta be kidding. I had a vicious case of Chicken Pox twenty years ago, when I was 28.  It was so bad that when I walked in the doctor's office, they told me to turn around and march right back home.  They couldn't do anything for me and didn't want to risk the exposure to others.  I could understand getting Pox again if I had a mild first case but there wasn't two square inches on my body, inside or out that didn't have blisters.  I was miserable for ten days and women and children cringed and screamed upon my re-entry into society.  Dr. T. prescribed Valtrex (horse pills) that I'm choking down three times a day, with the caveat that if I developed more lesions, (particularly on the left side of my body,) she'd stop the anti-viral and put me on an anti-biotic for her third guess, a systemic bacterial infection.  She's pretty convinced it's Pox, especially after I revealed that M had shingles over spring break.

That leads us to the lymphedema, (it's all related,)  which could be a result of the physical therapy I'm doing for my lymph cording, or the weight bearing exercises prescribed for that arm, or the fact that I have either a raging viral or bacterial infection.  The lymphedema specialist at my rehab medicine joint is on vacation this week so I'm stuck with being swollen. My massage therapist did a little drainage for me last Saturday which reduced the swelling some.  It's not bad, but it is uncomfortable - even painful.    I'm waiting to see what the lymphedema gal will do about it but I suspect a compression sleeve is in order.

I'm tired this week, much more so than I have been for weeks.  I'm walking instead of running/training this week.  My joints and muscles need a break from the impact.