Because my skin is still peeling and raw, the oncologist decided to switch therapies early today. Instead of getting the wide swath of radiation, I’ll get just a “scar boost” for the next 9 days, and then switch back to the regular radiation. The scar boost is 9 MeV electrons, shot through a metal mold cut to match my scar plus three centimeters on each side. Today was my first scar boost treatment. It was a little strange, since the metal mold was almost touching my skin, but mercifully quick.
I also saw my physical therapist today, and regained good use of my arm. I have to be treated regularly during radiation, as it scars up with each radiation treatment, and the excess lymph makes my hand and arm swell. But while I was there today, I asked her to take a look at my old pain (you know, the one that kept me in bed for all those months when I was pregnant, and still flares up just a bit now and then?), and she did. And GUESS WHAT?
She fixed it.
Just one sharp P-U-S-H and she popped the right side of my pelvic bone back in place. Apparently it got pushed out of whack when I gave birth to Widget lo these many years ago, and then when I was pregnant with Little Bear, it all fell out of joint again. And was still out of joint.
Add that to the miracle that she worked on me several weeks ago –
Did I tell you about that one? Well, I have no fancy words in my box today, but here’s the long and the short of it. That pain? The one in my shoulder that started when I was carrying around that heavy tumor-filled boob and didn’t ever go away? Even when the breast was removed in January?
That pain was because my RIBS were out of place. Three of ‘em, in fact. One, two, three. You see, normally the ribcage is all nice and circular, bending around from the sternum (that’s your breastbone) to the back and tucking under the vertabrae nicely. Only mine? Mine were not so nicely tucked under. Mine were, um, tucked OVER. One, two, three.
And that’s what was causing my pain this fall, winter, and spring.
All this coinciding nicely with Julie’s Hump Day Hmmmm… fate. I can’t accept that I was fated to get sick, but perhaps the string of problems that led me to my new breast surgeon could be chalked up to fate. Or God’s design. Or multicolored carpeting for that matter, but no matter the reason, I am so grateful that I ended up with the surgeon who took out both breasts right away, finding cancer I didn’t even know I had, and strongly recommending that I go visit Bretta for follow-up treatment.
Because finding Bretta? Is one of the nicest things about this.
Need a miracle worker of a physical therapist? Look her up. Bretta Fabian, at GWU Center for Integrative Medicine. She’s helped me with lymphedema therapy, scarring, my out-of-place ribs, and even an aftereffect of childbirth I didn’t know I had. Awesome.
