August 2010...anyone starting chemo besides me?!
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Hi everyone-
I totally believe that our bodies are having a hard time overcoming small illnesses (coughs, ports wounds, etc) b/c chemo is so depressive to our immune systems. I'm still feeling "off", and what is so weird to me is that I can't get my mind wrapped around the fact that my oncologist has TOLD me it will take at least 6 months to feel "normal" again. So just imagine how hard our bodies have to fight to replenish health on a daily basis while the toxic cocktail is still flowing. Not that this is anything new, but I keep having to remind myself of it! Anyway, I hope everyone with SEs starts to feel better.
On nutrition and alternative medicine- I'd like to improve my chances of full recovery with alternative medicine. Having said that I've never gone to a naturopath, nutritionist, reiki, etc. For those of you that have, what should I be looking for? And where should I start??
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sweeney - I agree. It's daunting......but our bodies can heal.
My nutritionist was actually a chiropractor who has switched to doing nutrition almost exclusively even though it is not as profitable. He does something called "nutritional response testing" or "muscle response testing". It uses the deltoid muscle to test the body for various substances. I know it sounds completely crazy- I made fun of my friend when she first went there and told me what he did. But when I got lyme, I needed desperate help! I had exhausted all the antibiotic options which worked short term but my body (and the lyme) developed a resistance to them. I went to this doctor and he muscle tested substances against my body - foods, supplements, whatever. Slowly, over the course of the next few months he eradicated my lyme completely. I sometimes have relapses - if I get bit with a tick; and lyme can go into a latent stage, where the bacterial actually forms a ball and hides, until it becomes a spirochete again. That accounts for occasional relapses when the immune system goes down. The supplements he uses are through Standard Process. Standard Process is a supplement company that uses only whole food sources and the supplements are syntergistic - meaning that vitamin C isn't just "vitamin C" - they obtain it from various sources and add other things in with it. They use some organ PMG extracts from bovine sources, which have been shown in the human body to have the ability to regenerate those cells in particular organs. They have their own website if you want to check it out.
Nutritional response testing sounds very strange at first and difficult to believe. but I have seen it proven time and again. My daughter, when she was only 6, had a chronic bladder and kidney infection that would not clear up. The doctor had her on all different antibitoics for a month and she continued to worsen with blood in her urine. Her doctor set up a referral to a specialist two hours away and told me flat out that she had chronic kidney reflux, that she would need surgery and that she would have this the rest of her life. I was heartbroken.
I took her to my nutritionist who muscle tested her kidneys and bladders. He chose two or three different supplements, including colloidal silver, and said he could clear her up in about five days. I didn't believe him. Well, one week later, when we saw the specialist, her urine was completely clear and free of blood. The urologist didn't even know why we were there, because her urine was perfect! She has never had a problem with it since then.
I believe strongingly in nutritional response testing - if you can find a practitioner in your area who does it, I would begin there because that way your program will be specifically targeted to your own body's needs.
I think reiki might be something like this but I'm not sure. Sorry this is lengthy but you got me on a roll!
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Thanks Clamtykel, this is what I was looking for- a place to start! I'll go look this up in my city!
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Hello everyone. I am done. Last round on Oct 26. Now I've become obsessed with googling ways to encourage my hair to grow.
Radiation oncologist on Monday. Thanks Sweeney for sharing what it has been like for you.
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Good day, girls-
Calamtykel: you sound like you have the best nutritionist in the world. Your posts about what you learn from this individual are oft times quite informative. Also, on the ginger tea bag in the seltzer, a great idea. I am going to try it.
Grocery shopping: I am going back to the way I lived in Manhattan which is no grocery shopping! It is a waste. I don't eat anything that is here so I am just going to shop and eat daily or every 2 days. Nothing else is working and I am throwing out so much stuff. A waste. Yes, I do try to bring it to food pantries etc.. but some stuff I have just had to toss. It is a travesty.
Something we all need to know and can learn from: this is a really sad story but something we all must be aware of. A young couple was found dead in their home because apparently, either by a pet or some other odd occurrence, their electronic car start was activated while they slept. Of course they had an attached garage and the car sat, running, and the carbon monoxide built up and killed them both. Two things here: for those of you with attached garages and automatic start, you might want to rethink leaving the auto-start cars garaged and additionally you want to make sure you have a working carbon monoxide monitor.
School: I am sending out apps for nursing school this weekend. More to this point, I purchased a bunch of teaching tools and guides for anatomy, physiology, chemistry and math to brush up on these subject as my old a$$ has long since filed all this information! I am home-schooling myself as I believe I will be starting school next September when I am finished with all this bc stuff and give myself a few months in the summer to rejoice! In any case, this is where I have been. It actually feels good to be learning again and it is helping me with chemo brain!
I hope you all have a lovely day-
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Just a quick update on wife's tumor markers.. She started TCH in August.
CA 15-3
1003 as of 8/3 (first reading)
527 as of 8/30
334 as of 9/15
102 as of 10/11
47.9 as of 10/2It's amazing to see this tumor marker go from over 1000 to under 50 after 4 cycles of TCH! Thank you all for the continued support. After the final cycle later this month (11/22), we will be weighing the next steps.
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Good for you Lizzy. I've been thinking of going back to school too, even if just for a class in a language or something, to get my brain working again.
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SunDiego - That is fantastic!!! Great to have objective evidence that the treatment is working - and working so well!!0
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Good mornin y'all!!! I recently got done with TX 5 but tx 6 falls on thanksgiving so they are gonna push it to the following monday LOL my nurses joked they'd just set my infusions up and let me do it myself on thurdsay! LOL
My xrays came back clean but my onc is still concerned about my pain so i have a bone scan coming up- those are more in depth...
They apartments are pushing for us to move in on the 14th so just 10 days!!!! I may not be getting on line as often as before but i will try. I know that my internet provider says its about 2 days to move service.
I am at the library looking up land lord tenant laws due to my previous land lord withholding rent and it sure does feel good to exercise my brain!!! I also contemplate going to school for nursing and prob wont start until Fall either because then BOTH my kiddos will be full time at school....
Well gonna try to grab a bite to eat before the mouth SE start happening!!!
Y'all have a wonderful day!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
btw san antonio (where i am right now) is about 10 degrees or so colder than where i live and tonight its supposed to dip into the 30s!
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Chemo #5 out of 6 done. I am obviously feeling OK today as I am still on steriod high. Hoping for less or at least better-managed side effects this go round. Have my painkillers ready to start on Saturday as per Doc--I will still have steriods but hopefully will catch the pain in advance this time!
As for cranberry juice--real cranberry juice is REALLY TART so make sure you mix it with club soda. I have a very hard time getting the real stuff down without mixing it!
Sweeney--Have question about rads? I met my radiation oncologist today for 2nd time. Originally, he mentioned that I have choice of just radiating breast and then breast with lymph node area. In my case--only 1 lymph node affected--there isn't really any evidence based studies on decreasing chance of recurrance rates by radiating lymph nodes but there is indication that it can reduce recurrance by 2% especially in younger women. What are you doing? Are you having radiation in both areas? I hadn't thought about since the last time that I met him---based on my crap year--I'll take any percent decrease in recurrance but he explained that more rash area will occur there. I was actually ON CHEMO while talking to him so my mind wasn't really into it--pushing around my pole with chemo through the clinic to meet him.....I won't start rads till right after new years. My last chemo will be November 24th and they want min 4 weeks before radiation--and he said not to start between christmas and new years--thank god for that. Will have the test, tattoos etc in mid December.
Thanks to everyone for advice on cough. It is getting a lot better--probably only coughed twice yesterday. My Doc doesn't want to prescribe anything now that I am getting better but will relook once chemo sinks in and see if I need something--incase it gets worse again....hopefully not....
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I know I've asked this question before, but.....having my last TC next Monday. My onc says that I can skip Neulasta, which sounds great, but I am scared of the extra risk of infection and added fatigue from anemia. Wondering how all of you out there in TC land have handled the last treatment with regards to Neulasta?
Thanks so much,
Elizabeth
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Sundiego- Good for you and your wife- I'm sure you're celebrating this news!
Rachel- This didn't come up in my appt with onco, b/c I didn't have any lymph node involvement. BUT I got freaked out about it nonetheless and wanted to make sure I at least asked the question. I haven't seen him again yet, but I asked the technicians about it and they said that the lymph node area is going to get radiation anyway b/c the area of radiation sort of covers it anyway. My radiation ray shoots through the top of breast and back through the armpit. My tumour was in my upper left breast, sort of the 12 o'clock point. So I'm not sure that onco held back that decision because of the no lymph node involvement or b/c of the location of the tumour making it sort of redundant anyway. But in either case this is on my list of questions to ask him next Tuesday, I'll let you know what he says. I can't believe they made you walk to the clinic pushing your own chemo pole!!!! Please tell they were at least sheepish about this!
On work and freaking out- I'm starting to get a bit freaked out about going back to work. My onco has told to take as long as I need post rads, she said she'd write a note for up to 6 months without "batting an eyelash". But I think I'll probably be ready waaaay before that. Maybe come early January. However, my hair isn't growing very fast- I"m madly googling info too!- and I'm nervous about still looking sick and trying to answer questions etc. Have any of you given thought to this yet?
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Hi Sweeny, in regards to the nutritionalist, in my area we have a wellness house and they actually offer a FREE person to person nutritionist that I am seeing the first time on saturday, that is if I can get out of bed...Just wondering if you have one in your area. I figured instead of starting with someone who may or may not be familiar with cancer patients, this one would be a sure thing. My issue is being on chemo and coumadid which have conflicting recommendations on what to eat...and and extra ton of weight. Best of luck. Onward
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Sundiego: Great news on the counts!! Its great to have hard evidence that all the feeling crappy that comes with chemo is actually doing something! Must make your wife feel much better about it all.
Rachel: I did have a lengthy discussion with my rad onco about radiating the nodes in the underarm (the axilla) because there was a question about how many positive nodes I had (surgeon removed two and then just stopped). My rad onco said that they radiate the axilla if 50% of the nodes removed were positive. If you had four positive nodes, they radiate the supraclavicular area (above the breast) because that is where the majority of lymph nodes are. She said the risk of recurrence from that area is very small and the downside of radiating the axilla is that it further increases your risk for lymphedema. In the end, however, they made the decision to radiate everything in my case, because of the uncertainty of whether there were any cancerous nodes left behind.
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I had two positive nodes of 12. I was told originally if I had a mastectomy that I could avoid rads depending on LN involvement. I had the mastectomy and then they verdict was in on the 2 positive nodes. I asked my breast surgeon, oncologist and the other oncologist I consulted with (the head of oncology for a large cancer center) and they all said that while you "could" radiate with 2 nodes, that standard is usually 3 or more. All these things would depend on tumor sizes, placement, etc. I was willing to do the radiation if necessary, but it wasn't recommended for me by any of the three doctors. I hope and pray I am not sorry years down the road, but since all three said there wasn't a lot of evidence that it would decrease my odds....I went with their opinion.
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Elizabeth: My onc said he is going to give me Neulasta after my last Tx. He said, "Why rock the boat?"
Rachel: I'm sorry you have to make this decision about rads. I am by far no expert, but I want to plant a thought in your head about the risk of lymphedema. And defintiely ask him about it. I have LE in my left arm, hand, shoulder, back and trunk, and I can tell you it is not pleasant. In fact it requires a huge change of lifestyle. My swelling used to come and go away again with exercises, and the specialized lymphatic drainage massage that my physical/occupational therapist used to do and then taught me how to do (takes my about 45 minutes twice a day to do the whole routine, plus all day long I have to take brakes from whatever I am doing and do a few stretches and exercises in order to stave off a flare). Now, however, the swelling doesn't go away, which means I have graduated to a stage 2 LE (the stages are 0-3). When I am really swollen, if I hold my two arms out, my left forearm and hand are about 150% the size of my right. If I look at my back in a mirror, on the right side I can see my shoulder blade and shoulder bones, but I cannot on the left because it is too swollen. I constantly feel a pretty uncomfortable fullness under my arm, on the back of my arm, and on my side under the axillary. I cannot lift anything more than a few pounds with my left arm, and any repetitive task, like typing can cause my arm and hand to swell. I knit, and since I've been on chemo I've knitted a lot of hats for myself and other things -- it's a good way to keep me occupied when I feel too sick to get up and move around. But in the last few days, I haven't even been able to knit because the repetitive motion of it has caused a flare in my hand that I can't seem to make go away. I wear a compression sleeve on my arm, a comp. glove, a vest for the truncal LE, and at night a special sleeve that looks like an oven mitt, only it goes from my shoulder to my fiingers. I don't mean to scare you, or dump a horror story on you. I really don't. And the majority of women with bc don't get Lymphedema, but I just want you to look into it a little while your thinking through this rad thing, because radiation does increase the risk of LE. And doctors tend not to understand how much LE affects your life, in my experience. Not that they don't care about it, but it's kind of like, well, it's not cancer, and it's not going to kill you, so... Anyway, I'm sorry to fill your head with more negative stuff than you already have to deal with. I feel bad about even telling you all this. And I'm NOT saying this will happen to you if you do the rads in the axillary, but I just don't want you to make the decision without being informed of the risk. I truly hope this is helpful.
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Wherria: You may not know the answer to this question, but I will ask anyway. Are there exercises that you can do to help prevent lymphedema? And would it be worthwhile for me to get a referral to a physical therapist for exercises to prevent lymphedema.
My rad onco explained the risks, and horrors, of lymphedema very carefully to me before making a final decision on my treatment plan and since I am getting radiation to the axilla, I do now have that extra risk. So, I was thinking about asking them about a physical therapy referral for preventive exercises, but I don't know if there are any.
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I still don't know if I get radiation or not, I am suppose to see rad. onc. in the next month and he will give his opinion. I had 3 tumors, ranging around a cm each plus multi-focal( lots of little specks) and the margin between tumor and rib was just 1mm. So if the leave it up to me because of the side effects, I really won't know what to do, especially with the lump I already feel in that same area.
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What decides if a person gets rads or not? i thought lymphnode involvement meant yes, no LN involvement meant no- but i see people go other ways...
Rads in still on the table for me thus far, not sure if anything else will come up first....
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My surgeon told me if I chose a lumpectomy then radiation is a given. The survival stats are the same for both.
If we had not been moving across country I probably would have gone with a bilateral mastectomy to elimnate future worry for me. Since we were about to move, and the recovery time is so much shorter, I chose the lumpectomy. I wish I had gone with the mastectomy.
The lumpectomy looks okay but my boob is off kilter. The scars are okay too, not a problem. Eliminating the worry of another lump appearing bothers me.
Ginger
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Good morning Chemosabes. I wish I could say it was bright and early, but alas, these days I'm sleeping until about 3:00, and it is dark and early.
sptmm: Yes, absolutely there are preventative exercises, and I'm surprised your surgeon didn't either go over some of them with you or send you to a therapist to do them. As soon as my incision was healed my breast surgeon sent me to an occupational therapist, not just for LE prevention, but also to regain range of motion and strength. Now I had a mastectomy, so maybe if you had a lumpectomy (I can't remember), you might not have needed this. Either way, if you've lost any range of motion or strength you could use some occupational therapy, and especially if you had a bx, you could use some therapy to help you prevent LE. You will need a doc's order for it (for ins.), so yes, I would definitely ask your surgeon or onc (I think it would usually come from your surgeon, but I suppose your onc would do it too) to refer you. In my experience occupational therapists are better suited for LE prevention. Some physical therapists do it, but PT's usually are shorter term and tend to treat more toward strengthening, regaining a certain range of motion and then discharging, whereas OT's will do more things like teaching you prevention skills, lymphatic drainage massage, and fitting you for compression garments. Plus, they help you learn appropriate skills for getting on with activities of daily living taking LE risk or actual LE into consideration. If you've had a mastectomy, you need to have at least a compression sleeve FITTED AND ORDERED BY A PROFESSIONAL NOT BOUGHT OFF THE SHELF, because even if you don't have lymphedema now, you still need a sleeve to wear when doing even mild to moderate exercise, to wear on airplanes, etc. in order to prevent LE. An OT can do this (and some PT's) for you. One thing it is very important to know (and again I don't mean to scare anyone, just giving facts) is that just because you show no signs of LE now, doesn't mean you're not still at risk for it. It's an unfortunate fact for anyone who's had a mastectomy or rads to the axillary area (much less risk if all you've had is a lumpectomy, but it all depends on how much of the lymph system was removed or got disturbed during surgery or radiation). LE actually doesn't tend to show up in the first few months after surgery or radiation. It tends to show up a little further down the line. This is why they warn us about protecting our affected limbs from cuts, scrapes, or burns; why they tell us to wear gloves while cleaning or gardening; and also why they tell us not to lift heavy objects with the affected arm. It's all to prevent lymphedema. Because, the sad fact is you could be doing fine for two years post-op, and then get a mosquito bite, or a little cut on your affected arm which might get infected, which could trigger lymphedema. It sounds scary, and I'm sure 90 times out of a hundred a mospquito bite will not lead to lymphedema, but the risk is there that something like that could trigger it even years down the road. I've read that some patients can go ten years without it, and then have something trigger it even that much later.
I'm saying all this because I have been profoundly affected by my LE, and I don't mind being the voice of caution, because I don't want any of you to have to deal with this. Which means I hope everyone willl take the necessary precautions now in order to ward it off in the future. Studies have shown (now I sound like a commercial) that early intervention or treatment has profound effects on a person's likelihood to remain LE-free in the long run, or if LE is already present, to keep it manageable and prevent it from becoming a serious, chronic issue. A big part of this is learning the techniques for prevention. So even if you ask your doc, and for some reason s/he says, "You don't need therapy -- you don't have lymphedema," I would say that you have heard and read that there is a lot to learn from therapists about preventing LE, that you understand that just because you don't have it now doesn't mean you're not at risk for getting it, and you want to do everything possible to prevent it.
That's probably way more than you wanted to hear on the subject, but, as you can probably tell, I'm pretty upset about what is happening to my body because of this, so I can get a little passionate about it. So I hope I don't sound overbearing or hypochondriacal, just meaning to help.
Texas: This will be over-simplified, but what usually determines if a person gets rads or not is whether they've had a lumpectomy or a mastectomy. For the most part if you've had a lumpectomy, your doc will probably recommend radiation to make sure that there isn't any cancer left behind, or to kill off any pre-cancerous cells that might be hiding there. If you've had a mastectomy, in most cases you won't need radiation. There are some exceptions to that, however, like how close the cancer was to the chest wall, how many lymph nodes were involved, how aggressive the cancer was, and if there was any muscular invasion. In cases where those things are issues, rads might also be prescribed even after mastectomy. There's probably more to it, but those are the basic guidelines. In my case, while my tumor wasn't in a particularly bad position, it did show signs of aggressiveness, and my onc told me it would be worth my while to get a radiation oncologist's opinion about rads, but when he saw my lymphedema, he said, "never mind, you won't be a good candidate for radiation."
I guess I've spilled enough for now. One last thing though. Since you all were so supportive of me when my dog, Bixby, dies, I wanted to let you know that I have started looking for and talking to breeders about finding a new puppy. We were hoping to have one by Christmas, but so far I've only found two breeders who will have litters ready to go to new homes in Feb., and one in March. Still looking though, and I'll keep you updated. We're only looking at one breed -- Bearded Collies. That seems to be our breed of choice, and they're rarer than most breeds. We're willing to travel, but only so far. When we live in New York and got Bixby, we drove into Canada to get him, and when we got our second Beardie, Marlow, we were living here in the Chicago area and drove to Wisconsin. Anyway, I wanted you all to know, that while I still miss Bixby horribly, as does my dh, we do feel ready to open our home to a new puppy, and to get a new little brother or sister for Marlow.
Whitney
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Yes, a lumpectomy always gets radiation. A mastectomy can avoid it depending on tumor size and placement and LN involvement. Ginger is right - survival is equal in both.
I wish I'd had a bilateral mastectomy now. I know that sounds drastic-- I had a reduction on the other side, which also reduces the chances of recurrence (no cancer was found- they biopsied all that tissue and they took out quite a bit - after four kids my cup size was no longer a B like it used to be! But for peace of mind I should have just had them both done. 0 -
I was told the risk for LE is the same with both a lumpectomy and mastectomy - that it depends on the lymph nodes that were removed. The problem is that the lymph fluid's path has been disturbed when nodes are removed...... I'm not sure if "how many"nodes puts you at more or lesser risks, but it's the messing with the path of the lymph that can cause it to go into the arm.....
A friend of mind just got it after 5 years after a spider bite to her mast. arm.
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Whitney = I'm so sorry you are dealing with this. It's not fair. BC should be BC and then be done........
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Onward - have you gained on chemo? I lost about 7 pounds on AC - and I ate whatever I wanted.
But now that I'm on taxol, I'm really hungry a few days after the steroids -and was dismayed to find that I had gained 3 pounds a week after my second treatment. I don't want to gain weight after my next two - has anyone else gained on Taxol? I'm even exercising - I'm able to walk and do a little jogging which I wasn't able to do on the AC --I'm hoping it keeps the weight off. I'm very paranoid now about circulating estrogen!
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Wherria: Where do you suggest I find an OT? Ask my primary care physician? I was planning to do that, but not until after I'm done w/radiation (no rads to my LN). I'm shocked really by how little information I was given on LE after a mastectomy.
I'm having rads after a bilateral due to the tumor being so close to the skin. My options were to either remove a rather large chunk of skin or have the rads.
Cal: I gained while on TC. I'm starting to exercise again now. I know it was due to not exercising my usual.
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Cal - I have also gained on taxotere. I think it is partly fluid retention, partly steroid driven eating, and partly less exercise due to feeling crappy.0
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I'm finding myself really worried today. Looking ahead, over the "last chemo" on Nov 22, I'm scared of tamox. It's not like chemo - it's a five year deal. I really don't want to gain weight and have some of the very nasty SE's I've read about.
I'm worried that I've done too much or not enough to help kick this cancer's butt - I'm analyzing everything I've eaten and everything I've taken supplementwise in the past two months. I'm reading about dairy, sugar, soy, meat, chicken, etc., and I just don't know how to adjust my diet although I think I have a pretty good diet - should I be changing things?? I don't know where this came from but it seems that nobody else does either and I don't want it to come back. I'm scared the chemo didn't work. Am I normal?? Anyone else? Why am I suddenly having all these fears?? ACK!
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On weight gain: I have gained about 15 pounds since the beginning of chemo, and I have only only had steroids with two of my five Tx's, and even then a very light dose. Taxotere causes weight gain and water retention. I would assume that taxol, being so closely related would do the same thing. The main reason they give dexamethasone is to ward off water retention my onc said. It helps with reactions and nausea too, but edema is the main reason for it. However, as far as weight gain, the ironic thing is that the steroids might help you not to gain water, but does increase the appetite. Still, I would assume that part of the weight gain is water. My onc told me it will take 2-8 weeks after Tx for the water retention to resolve itself, but you can help it by the usual things - low salt diet, lots of water, exercise.
Thank you Calamty for your words about my LE. It doesn't seem fair to me either, and I don't usually think about what's fair when it comes to medical problems, especially since I am so keenly aware that so many people are going through much more difficult health problems than I am, but I have to admit, the "fairness" thought has crossed my mind when it comes to the LE. To be honest, I have been very sad and scared about the LE. In fact, I would say it has been more devastating to me than anything else because it truly changes how I get to live. Cancer tx is temporary, but LE will haunt me for the rest of my life, and severely impact the way I live. I am usual an athlete, strong, can lift anything the boys can life and have never been limited by what I can do physically despite my many health problems over the years. LE feels like it changes who I can be. And as someone who has struggled with an eating disorder my whole life and body image, it is even more devastating.
Ann97: First of all ask all of your docs, not just your PCP. I think breast surgeons probably have the widest knowledge about LE and who to go to for help, but I would ask all of your docs and see what you come up with. It is very important to go to a very highly qualified OT or PT. I've been to three and I can tell you they are not all the same. The other two things I would do are check out the lymphedema.net site (I believe they have a search engine for finding therapists in your area, and their recommendation would be trustworthy), and I would also go to the websites of hospitals you like in your area, look for their rehabilitation services section and read about the services they offer and the staff members. You will probably find a few who specialize in lymphedema. Then based on all that, start making calls. Now one of your docs may say, "I know a therapist who specializes in LE and is really great." If so, good, start there and see what you think. In the meantime, read up about it to make sure you're getting what you think you need from whatever therapist you see. As I said, I've seen three. I didn't intend to do that or "try out" different therapists, but the first one I saw, who was excellent and who I was referred to by my breast surgeon had to have surgery on her elbow after I'd been seeing her for about three weeks. So she referred me to her colleague in the same office, who was not nearly as good. After seeing her for almost three weeks, I got a call saying she had fallen down some stairs and broken her wrist, and they would refer me to someone at a different hospital. That person was okay, but discharged me too soon saying she had given me the tools I needed to self-manage. So I thought, "Great," and went about on my own doing the exercises and massage and wearing the compression garments she recommended, but my swelling has continued to get worse anyway. So yesterday I called the first place again and asked if the OT I saw first was back yet, and lo and behold she had started back the day before! So I have an appointment to see her on Monday. I am really excited, because I think she can help me, and she was so much better than the other two, much more knowledgeable and more talented. So that's why I've seen three different therapists. A kind of sad chain of events. I started to feel like I was dangerous to therapists! Like a curse or something!
You won't have to go through all that. Chances are, your surgeon (that's the doc I would start with) can give you a good recommendation and will give you an order for the therapy.
Hope that's helpful.
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Why do half of my posts end up in italics?!
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