I had a yearly physical last week with my Nurse Practitioner. She is the third medical professional I have discussed my scar tissue with and the first to finally hear me. There is one in particular that seems to get "stuck" for lack of a better word. It happens multiple times a day and at night. It is so painful I can barely move and certainly not take deep breaths until it pops back into place. The NP told me that my description sounded like a hernia and she referred me to a general surgeon to have him take a look. They might need to do some type of scan to be able to tell, so I'm not sure when I will actually know if it is or not. I am certainly not excited about the idea of having another surgery but if it resolves this painful problem I am certainly not opposed to it. I have an appointment with the surgeon on Thursday this week.
My right shoulder where my port is has started to have sharp shooting pains. It is positional and mostly happens when I'm laying down. The NP examined me and said she believes it is the port. The ports can stay in for up to 5 years and needs to be flushed every 6 to 8 weeks. I haven't really thought about having mine taken out, but I am starting to consider it. The big deal with this is that if I ever did chemo again I would probably want it put back in, so 2 more procedures verses none if i leave it in. The more and more research I do however, really puts me in the position of not ever wanting to do chemo again, so part of me feels like it's an easy decision. My big fear of having it removed is that the drugs they use there do not put me to sleep, unlike the colonoscopy did. So I was awake the whole time last time, even though I couldn't feel it, it was very traumatic to know what they were doing right below my head and hear and be aware of it all, I will not look forward to that!
I am a few weeks away from my retreat and getting pretty excited. My shirts should be done on Thursday and I was hoping I would have them in time to wear mine to the reterat. I will need to get in touch with all 69 of you that ordered one and make sure you get yours after I receive them!
Awesome to hear that someone actually 'heard' you about that dang scar tissue/hernia. What a weird spot for a hernia, near the ribs! Looking forward to hearing about your scan results on Thursday - hoping you'll hear that day or soon thereafter. I've had a couple gf's at work that I've talked to that had their ports taken out almost immediately after treatments were done. I am for taking it out, especially since you are doing so may good things for your body...but the part about being awake during the procedure would freak me out too! WOWZA - 69 people! Great turnout! Cant wait to hear about the retreat too! Love to you!
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