August 2011 Surgery Group
Comments
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Good luck today, BlondeLawyer, RangerMom and FLWarrior! Think positive thoughts and rest. Fill us in when you get the chance. We're with you!
Blondelawyer--when I saw your "packing my bag and trying not to vomit" I held my breath a little for you. My surgery is a week from today. Lots of love.
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Sending prayers and warm thoughts to BlondeLawyer, RangerMom and FLWarrior today. Thinking of you a lot, and plz keep us updated as to how you are doing when you are able. ((hugs))
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Hi everyone, I guess I can say my surgery went well. I say it like that because I figure they (the Dr's) are never going to say anything otherwise. Within 24 hours I was feeling pretty good. Then the next day, the general anthesia wore off, and I was in quite a bit more pain. I have very hard time laying down, the motion between sitting up and actually laying really hurts across my chest, as I'm sure it does for everyone. My one arm is numb in the armpit area, and stretching across onto my back. This is very incomfortable. I've had some issues with my meds. I was itchy all over, and then have had diarrhea for two days. we switched anti-biotics but that only solved the itching isuue. Then I had percocet (sp?) and vicodin (Sp?) to try and see which worked better, the vicodin definitely made me very emotional so that just added way extra stress to the issues. I went back to the percocet. My husband is going to pick up a presrciption for a muscle relaxer since I've been having several shooting pains across my chest, they are the worst pain ever! One of the biggest issues is with the bra, they gave me a post surgical bra, it is tight not only around the te's but the band around my chest feels like it it crushing me. So I need to figure something else out for that isssue. My belly area right up to the bra area has been as hard as a rock, to the point where I look like I'm full term pregnant. I can't wait for this to resolve itself, hopefully soon. The one really good thing I can say about the surgery is the medicine they gave me, I believe it was versid (sp?) well this was a miracle, I don't remember anything from slighly before the surgery until way after it. Not remembering has really helped me get through all of this. I know I still have more healing and pain to go, but I'm hopeful that the worst is over. My thoughts are with all of you who have their surgergies and those of you awaiting yours. Please keep in mind, I am the biggest baby when it comes to medical stuff, and so far I've managed. I'm trying to not even think about the pathology reports at this point, I'm just taking one day at a time.
Dina
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dgmlmax:
awesome. even though you have some pain, you sound incredible. i am so happy all went well for you. thank you so much for sharing as those of us who have NOT had surgery yet, appreciate it.
Tracey
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I am just now back from my Moms .
Hope to get to stay home for good now. I hate not having a computer there
My thoughts and prayers are with BlondeLawyer, RangerMom and FLWarriortoday.
I didnt get the drains out. Boo. Would have been nice if one of the nurses would have told me I could pin them to the binding. It was the hanging that really hurt. Am doing much better painwise now that they are not pulling and swinging...
My thoughts have been with you all thru the last week,
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Hi Everyone: Ended up in hospital for 6 days: fever, urinary retention. diarrhea and vomiting. SOOO much fun. Did have lymph node involvement 2 of 18 nodes. Have a lot of pain in the left (cancer side) and no feeling under my arm down to the bicep. The right side is pain free and I would swear had nothing done. Have a drain on each side. Had the 1 step alloderm reconstruction bilaterally and looks good (except still swollen, incisions larger than I expected). I am so happy went with the bmx. Not sure what my next step is. My decision especially now that I have to worry about lymphedema in the left makes me relax some knowing I have 1 arm left for IV's blood pressures etc. But as everyone said it has to be a personal decision. I had not even thought of the lymphedema issue and had I it would have my my decision for bmx so much easier. By being preventative those lymph nodes on the right have been preserved!
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Thinking of you blondelawyer
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I had my surgery yesterday. The worst part for me yesterday was all the fluid they pumped me with! I had to get up every 1 and 1/2 hours to go to the bathroom. But my surgeons were excellent- can't complain there. When the nurses changed my dressings this morning (5:30 am? REALLY??), there was no blood, and with the TEs in place, it really didn't look that bad. Much better than I was expecting. Glad I looked so now I don't have to dread it.
Best advice I can give so far is to stretch your chest muscles a bit after you've been sitting or laying because mine have been tightening quite a bit, making me hunch over which causes chest spasms. My PS said to slowly walk my fingers up the wall and that has been helping.
Also, I can't remember who asked if you need help around but YES YES YES!!! My husband has been a Godsend. Last night I couldn't even reach the toilet paper by myself. Sorry for TMI but just trying to help.
Praying for peace for those with upcoming surgeries and for SLEEP for those who've had theirs :-)
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abatellik - best wishes. Sounds like good advise on the chest muscle massage. I've got trouble with muscle spasms in my neck and back, so I'm concerned about that. Gee, good thing the muscle will now be on the outside of the "boob". So maybe I should have my sister fly in for a week anyway. Seeing as BC runs in the family, I'll probably be returning the favor to her at some point.
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Hi Everyone,
Just checking in. I am now 10 Days post surgery. I want to give everyone a heads up about making sure they drink lots of water with their meds. Last Monday I had to take myself to the ER because I was having severe heartburn and back pain. I could not take a drink of water without being in pain. You know the hospital pain scale? Well, this pain was like a 9. At the ER they did a chest x ray and a lung ct scan just in case there was cancer or a blood clot but that all came back clear. The gave me a GI numbing cocktail and that seemed to help and some ativan for the pain. I left with a diagnosis with inflamed esphagus and to follow up with a GI doc.
Today, I went to the GI doc and he is almost sure that one of meds got stuck and burned some ulcers in my GI track. He believes it was the Cleomyacin. This whole experience has been worse than the masectomy. I am now down 14 lbs in a week and a half because it hurts to eat. I go for an endoscope next week to make sure the med still is not lodged in there somewhere.
For all those facing surgery.......good luck. You can do it! This will be one more step to check off in your road to wellness!0 -
I got my drains out today-8 days post-op. 1 slid right out and the other stuck a little bit. They also pulled all the steri strips off. BS and her nurse think I look fantastic. I have a visit next week to make sure there is no swelling. So glad to be rid of them they were making me slightly hysterical-not sure why. Also glad to be rid of the compression stuff.
They were impressed with my full range of motion. I have been doing exercises several times a day since Day 1. Got them out of a book I bought. It starts with day 1 and progresses you thru the whole healing process.BS says her biggest complaints from patients comes at the 2 week visit-shoulder problems so she said don't be surprised. It is something that has to be worked thru.
I got a prescription for a visit to a LE specialist. I am going to call about that tomorrow.
Good healing vibes going out to all our surgery people this week.
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Lilylady just wanted you to know I was happily surprised it wasn't as bad as I had anticipated. The pain has been very easy to control. The Burning feeling I was told is the nerve endings trying to settle. Mine is also from the TE. Have to say they are not comfortable. I have been reading how bad some have had it and was happy to read that you were like me. It hasn't been a walk in park
But it hasn't been Hell like I expected.
To those talking about pushing yourself, as a nurse I have to tell you be careful. I learned from past surgeries if you push weak muscle you can cause damage that won't appear until later. Let your body heal. Surgery rule. If it hurts stop. If it becomes weak stop. Stretch it and warm up but don't over do it!0 -
Hi, everyone, I am new here!
I was diagnosed on July 12, they said it wqas just 1,5 cm, stage 1, so I will have just lumpectomy and radiation. However, it did not work this way After operation margins had DSIC and I had a re-incision and also they put port in my chest for future chemo...My cancer is very agressive, and HER2 positive, so I need chemo...Yesterday my surgeon called me and said, that results came from re-incision, I have to do mastectomy , because they found more DCIS and single cancer cells...I am very scared and frustrated, some friends told me to get sec. opinion, but I think I don't need it...My first operation lumpectomy, I was so happy it was over, and now again... Please, ladies, support me...I will find out about the date of operation tomorrow..Thank you. Olga
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We are here for you, Olga!
I had a horrible night. Woke up twice w horrible pain in my left shoulder. Anyone else feel this much pain after the drains were taken out? I thought it was supposed to get better!
I don't want to scare anyone--I have a pain syndrome that makes everything worse, so it is probably just me. I hope my PCP did my referral to the pain clinic-- I called last week and they said no problem, but the pain clinic received nothing from my PCP. When I called her office, the scheduler said nothing was ever submitted last week. This is the same doc that never called with the results of my mammo that showed DCIS or biopsy or lumpectomy. I know I need a new PCP, but have so much other crap going on, I don't have the energy for it. Sorry for just complaining this morning.
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I'm checking in after my BMX with TEs on the 15th. I had a very rough first couple of days because of nausea and pain. At the hospital they were giving me dilaudid for pain via IV since I wasn't eating anything. Turns out it was likely the dilaudid causing the vomiting because when they switched me to morphine the vomiting stopped. The pain is mostly pressure from the TEs. My plastic surgeon seemed pleased that he was able to add some volume on the first day but I think that's contributing to the pain. I'm home now with percoset for pain, antibiotics and a pill for nausea. A home health nurse stopped by this morning and after examining me said that I am breathing too shallow. I am using the breathing measurement device and trying to take deeper breaths even though it a lot of work. I am sleeping in my super soft recliner and it is way more comfortable than the regular bed or hospital bed.
The best news came last evening with a phone call from my breast surgeon. The pathology report shows that I am now cancer free! They were able to get clear margins and 0 lymph nodes were affected. Yay!0 -
DGMLMAX, I hope the muscle relaxers help you. I believe a lot of your discomfort comes from exactly that. My own muscles cramped up, some were hard as a rock, and it took a while for them to unlock. I have from my cancer clinic a list of mild exercises to do, and they loosened frozen places over a week or so. Perhaps a nurse can give you a few tips along those lines. And then I kept feeling like I was twisted, the source was my lower left back, so I had someone work those out. I think the muscle thing happens because our bodies want to protect the injury, and so everything "holds in" to that side, to keep things still. Be gentle with anything you do to relax muscles, and keep your movements slow and deliberate whilst on the muscle relaxers.
Oh, DEBBIE, I feel for you and those drains. My gosh, I am so annoyed someone did not explain to you how to pin your drain bulbs up. I'm just glad you are home now. You had a very scary go of it.
SCILLA, I realized later an error I made and also read a post (THANKS HALO) regarding how far to push yourself with exercises. I had said push however hard you want. But I want to CHANGE my advice so as not to give folks the wrong idea. I put stars at my original reply to you a few pages back, so in the future when women read it, they will not think you should pull so hard that you harm your muscles or incision AT ALL. And please read HALO's advice on this page, she is a nurse. Protect yourself, you don't want to push and pull so hard on everything that you wind up with an injury to a muscle or tugging too hard at the surgery site to where it doesn't heal well.
TIGER, I am so sad to hear about your esophogeal inflammation from medication. Gosh, that's so unfortunate, especially when you're trying to heal from surgery!
LILY, I think your description of "hysterical" is precisely correct about those drains. I went a little mad, too, not realizing it was the awful pain there that made everything hard to deal with. Pain meds helped, so I cannot imagine having drains without those drugs. Of course, I pulled mine accidentaly on the same day of surgery, someone should have moved me to my bed and instead I was told to do it alone, which made my post surgery all the worse.
EEMA, oh I felt pain pop up all over the place at diff times for two weeks, but I am SO much better, and I guess after what I would describe as major surgery, we ain't gonna be able to play soccer the day after! You may have a muscle spasm, could be when they pulled the drains, your body was so relieved, you finally felt where a muscle had been "holding in" for you, and it's now easing up and doing a spasm. I cannot get over your PCP. You CAN go ahead and do her job and set up your own stuff, and THEY can get a referral from your PCP. Or your own breast surgeon or oncologist can do these things for you since your PCP is so out to lunch.
TLAQUEPAQUE, oh, I am SO happy to hear your news! I cannot wait to get that news, NED, "No Evidence of Disease," but gotta do rads first. And THANKS for the tip on breathing deeply, I had almost forgotten!
ALL, I am feeling worlds better today, each day is like that, and for me, I think I "suffered" more than the usual on account of I was told to move from my gurney to my bed, and wound up pulling my drains and incision. If you are conscious, girls, DEMAND they move you to your bed, you cannot do that by yourself. But still, I just want the girls to know, who have surgery coming up, it's gonna be okay, most of any unusual problems are identifiable, you're in a HOSPITAL and they will take care of you or at least fix what they may have done wrong. And people recover at different rates, some are out doing things just a few days later, and some it takes a few weeks, like me. This is surgery, but mostly what happens afterwards is RECOVERY. During recovery, we women need our pain medicines and our rest, careful and easy movements, stay in touch with your surgeon's nurse about ANYthing that is bothering you, ask her for tips about your recovery. And most of all I, for one, am just SO GLAD to have gotten that cancerous breast off of me, all thru my chemo I wanted it off, and finally they removed it and I am SO relieved that source of cancer is gone now!
All the best to my sisters, GG0 -
My drains have been out 24 hours and nowI am making a sloshing sound. Nothing looks swollen though. I know someone posted something about this but I can't find it. Anyone else slosh? I am going to call the BS tomorrow to make sure this is Ok or should i be freaking.
I am starting to own my new chest. Getting the drains out and regaining my energy has made a huge difference. If i had it to over I would have asked for anti-anxiety meds for the hysteria. it was just so unexpected. It has been 6 months of one thing after another-including the Stage Iv diagnosis and nothing really got to me like those little rubber tubes-GO FIGURE!!!
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Lilylady!
No worries on the hysteria. The drainage tubes were yucky with a capital Y. The BS's lie to us and tell us they are not uncomfortable and then they lie again and tell us removal does not hurt. Yea right......Let me put a plastic tube the size of a straw in your side and yank it out.
Today, I am having some pain but it is sore to the touch. I had my Herceptin today so maybe I am a little achy. Also...I was able to eat!!!! Yippee!
I hope you get to feeling better soon. I just had a chocolate malt from UDF so all is right in the world!0 -
I'm home and doing well. The surgery went well with one hiccup. Because my cancerous breast was so red and inflammed the surgeon decided to take all of the skin as well. So, he had to use abdominal skin and pull it up to close the incision. Also, he said that it looked like my tumor was grabbing onto my chest wall so he took some of the muscle too. So, I'll be especially sore in those areas. I have staples instead of dissolving stitches because of skin issue. So far I am doing well. The surgeon wants me to move and not stay in bed, so I am up and about, just trying not to overdo it. I see my MO on Monday and will hopefully be able to go over pathology with him and then see the BS on Wednesday to definitely go over pathology and also remove some of my staples and look at drains, etc.
I am trying to brace myself for the next couple of days when all of the anethetic wears off and worry about the pain, but I can't do anything about that now, so I am just taking it one breath at a time!
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Hi girls,
Lilylady: What you are going through is entirely understandable, but there's no need to panic about the sloshing. It sounds like it's a seroma. I've discovered that most of us mastectomy ladies produce this fluid as part of the healing mechanism when our body is injured. If it continues to build up it can be drained to protect your stitches and to prevent it putting pressure on the wound and causing pain. For me having a small amount of fluid acts as a cushion and prevents the remaining breast skin from rubbing against the chest wall (which is painful and is what happened when they drained mine). Like you, I'm so pleased to be rid of those drainage tubes. For something small they really can kick a punch.
One week on from my surgery, I'm now developing stiffness and finding it difficult to fully raise and stretch my arm over my head, surprisingly something I found I could do straight after the operation. I'm also getting a dull pain in the armpit area and feel as if the skin in the area will not stretch ant further. I've had quite a bad day with this and I'm getting quite anxious about it. Any advice/support from ladies further down the road would be appreciated.
I've also ditched the bra! I have just started to get some feeling back into the surgery area and just cannot bear to have anything touching the scar. I've discovered that lazing around like Cleopatra, supported by a variety of cushions for under the arm, chest, back and knees while being waited on by adoring family is the best medicine. Unlike, Lilylady I haven't fully accepted the new me yet - probably because the scar is not very pretty and is continuing to cause me alot of grief. I think I would be coping better if I knew when it is going to start improving. I've had enough of feeling pathetic and sore!
blondelawyer: Just read your post. I'm sorry to hear you have had such a bad time. If it's any consolation, the surgeon will have cut the nerves around the incision and, until the nerve endings start to regrow, the whole area may well remain numb. I also found that taking the prescribed number of painkillers definitely takes the edge off and helps you to sleep (for most of the day initially) I also find a short walk around the garden tends to iron out the kinks and makes me feel more comfortable. I hope you feel better tomorrow ((hugs))
Diagnosis: 7/13/2011, DCIS, 6cm+, Stage 0, Grade 30 -
blondelawyer-they took some chest muscle from my cancer side also. I had a palm sized piece of scar tissue. BS wasn't sure if it was where the tumor had been attached or from a bad fall I had last winter. They knew from the beginning I had chest wall involvement. After my second chemo it broke loose and they could move it around.The pathology on the scar tissue was negative for cancer but I can't regret she took it out. It has not seemed to impede any movement on that side. So sorry they had the additional complication with your skin. I am glad you are up and moving around-it always makes me feel better.
Scilla-my BS told me Tuesday her most common complaint comes in the second week post-op. She says things that moved well in the first week start to freeze up especially in the shoulder area. She said don;t be surprised if I have to work harder to get the same results I got in week 1. I have been faithful in my exercises. I too ditched the bra but found a light silky stretchy camisole in my underwear drawer that survived the pre-surgery purge. The plain old t-shirt was making me jumpy with the nerve endings so I wore this today-felt really good.
Tiger_blood-good to hear from you-I know you had a rough time of it at first. Chocolate is still one of those tastes that isn't right from chemo. Probably best for me. I was living on Coke and chocolate before cancer DX. Hopefully I won;t go back to it-as long as it tastes bad I know I won;t go back!!
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SCILLA, About all I can tell you is I'm in my third week postop, and for about 10 days everything hurt a lot and in different places, my arm would not go over my head, but after the 10 days, gradually things improved. But even now, I still have some limits to my range of motion. It's not like it won't come back, it just takes time, and your body hurts to tell you not to bother it too much. If you have any bunches of muscles that are hard, could be they need working out. I also found myself practically grief-stricken in the midst of those 10 days, pain does that, but I woke up one day and felt more human. Yesterday I was teary-eyed for no reason, and husband reminded me just how dang long this thing has gone on and that I cannot expect to feel happy all the time. It all just catches up to us, that's all.
BLONDELAWYER, my sympathies to you and the skin and muscle and staples. I'm glad you'll be visiting your doc soon.
ALL, I go to my doc later this morning, I'll be SO glad to see him. He'll be able to see how my incision bled from my injury, and various other topics. One thing is, I had a red smudge mark just above where my IDC growth was, but I had thought it was a feature of IBC. Well, a little bit of it is still just above the incision, and this concerns me, so he'll explain. I have got to get to the dentist soon and also get my house cleaned, but had to put those things off, I'm just too tired to do anything. Love to my sisters, GG
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Oh, man, I'm happy to read someone else has this seroma experience. I had my drains out Monday and now Lefty, the one that had the cancer, I believe has a nice large seroma that is pulling on my incision and making it red. I'm already on Keflex for an infection in the insicion, but this morning it is really, really red. Looks kind of bruised. I already have a call in to my PS NP, but I feel like an idiot calling her and giving my diagnosis.
I also have a rash on the same side in the breast crease (I had a SSM). Is that all from removing the drains? Boy, that hurt! Righty, the one that didn't have any malignancies, just a lot of PASH and some ADH and ALH, seems to be healing just fine. It really hurts to lift my left arm, too.
Am I normal??? OK, I mean with the recovery, not in any other way:). OH! One more thing--last night I remembered I had some Flexeril for a pinched nerve. After checking with the pharmacist, I took it with my pain meds and slept through the night for the first time since my surgery! I think I'm having a lot of muscle spasms in the pecs--someone tell me it will get better, please!
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I called the nurse this morning about the sloshing noise in my chest. I don;t see any swelling but she wants a call back tomorrow and if it is still making a noise they want me to come in.
Eema-I had my drains out Tuesday and everything looks good just this noise thing. How long before your swelling seroma thing came up? I am hoping they decide tomorrow to see me because i don;t want something going crazy over the weekend and no way to get it fixed.
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Slept through the night last night and am feeling pretty good. Man, do my incision sites look ugly. Everything looks so weird, it is hard to tell what is normal! I look so deformed! I am hoping that it will look better as the staples and drains are taken out. I'm surprised at how good I am feeling and am trying not to overdo it. My doctor said that he wants me up and moving around, so I have been walking and doing little things. I am getting a lot out of my drains, but the nurse said that is normal, particularly in my cancer side. So, really I am just waiting and trying to pass the time. My FIL is here to help, so that is good.
So far I am finding the special mastetcomy camisoles to be really helpful. I actually ordered a third one last night so that I'll have a spare. I got one from a local store that is the step in variety and then one from from TLC that is more like a vest with a velcro closure.
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How much fluid did you ladies get out of your drains in the beginning? My right one (where the cancer was) seems to be putting out a lot. The nurse said that many surgeons would have put in two drains under the circumstances (with the ancillary node dissection), so I shouldn't worry. But I do worry
In the 5 hours since I have been up, I've gotten 120 cc from the drain (of course, one of those was the overnight accumulation). So maybe it isn't too bad. Just wondering what others were getting.
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Hi everyone,
lilylady: thanks for the words of encouragement. I felt v.sorry for myself earlier today and had a good cry
, but in response to your comments, I've upped the exercises and, together with some additional massaging of the shoulder area, I have been able to get a little more movement into my arm today. I'm still a long way from holding my arm over my head. Do you also suffer from numbness in the chest above the mastectomy scar and is the muscle there still all bunched up? blondelawyer: my chest looks like its been attacked with a bread knife and my stitches feel like knots on rope - so like you I'm feeling mutilated. I'm really glad you've had a better day. Like other ladies here, I know that we will continue to have good and bad days in the weeks to come.
Eema: sounds like you've got a sizeable seroma. I can tell you that draining it will make it more comfortable. I had several rashes and lost some skin when they ripped off the dressings. It was at it's worst under the armpit where nodes had been removed and hair was beginning to regrow - ouch! I too am having spasm in the pectoral muscles - it must be more common than I thought. As dogeyed suggested, muscle relaxers may help - I'm going to ask about them tomorrow.
I'm still spending most of the time in extra large nighties and as my good friend recovering from a lumpectomy told me 'after surgery you will be different and your new body will tell you to take one day at a time, not rush the recovery and enjoy taking things at a much slower pace'
Good luck to those having surgery today and tomorrow. ((Hugs)) and love to you all
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Well, I called the PS NP, who had me take photos and send her a pic of the problem, and I got her name wrong! I sent them in the morning and she called at 3 and hadn't received them! I spelled it right and it got to her. I'm seeing her tomorrow morning. I hope it is nothing and I'm just crazy!
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I take it back. I'm not just crazy. What was a lump the size of a robin's egg is now duck egg sized. And it makes me feel nauseous. Hope they can do something tomorrow!
Sorry, I'm focusing on only my self...I hope the rest of you are doing well!0 -
eema: I hope that they can do something tomorrow too!
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