plastic surgeon

365 Days of Carol Anne (Learning to Love Myself)

5 Comments

Day 131

O. My. God. I’m feeling awfully damn pissy tonight. I got up at 5:30am. I left the house at 7:30am for an 8:30am appointment, wasn’t even seen by the doctor until at least 9:30am, spent 5 mins with said doctor. Got a call at noon telling me that the radiation machines were down and that the computers weren’t working so there’d be no radiation treatments today and was rescheduled for yet another afternoon appointment tomorrow. It’s not the cancer that’s going to kill me, it’s the effing annoyance and frustration of waiting and making and breaking and shuffling appointments. Damn it! Don’t they know I’m a creature of habit with control freak tendencies?

The good news is my head looking good. It’s skinned over but the skin is still thin, it still needs to toughen up. (oh yeah, insert your jokes here) God willing If all goes well I don’t need to see Dr. Matthews again until July, which God also willing is after my radiation treatments are scheduled to end. She also said that I should leave it uncovered more and no longer need the Xeroform dressing and bandage all the time. She said as long as I keep it moisturized I should be fine. To keep it moisturized I bought some Aquaphor at Target tonight. Aquaphor is what the radiation folks recommend for treating radiation burns anyway and it made by the folks who make the moisturizer I use everyday (Eucerin Calming Cream).

It’s almost midnight and I’m physically exhausted and emotionally drained. With any luck tomorrow will bring my second radiation treatment and everything will be back on track. I’m so disappointed that now my treatments will go until the day after Tommy’s birthday. June 21 would have not only been Tom’s birthday but also the 6 month anniversary of my last appointment with Dr. Bussey where we found out that the blot was no longer in my brain. *sigh* June 21 just seemed to represent so much good karma. I’m trying to hold it together and not let myself get bogged down in semantics of it all.

Thank you all so much for stopping by every day to read and comment. I love you all.

Love,

~ Carol Anne

365 Days of Carol Anne (Learning to Love Myself)

8 Comments

Day 103

It’s a chilly night and I’m all cuddly warm wrapped up in my favorite pink blankie and red and white polka dot cozy socks. I feel good and calm and at peace tonight.

My appointment with the Plastic Surgeon went very well. She is very pleased with the progress of my healing. My Oncologist e-mailed her and Dr. Matthews is okay with my sim taking place next week and as long as my healing continues as is she’s also okay with me starting my radiation treatments as Dr. Hughes sees fit. So as best I can estimate I’ll probably start my treatments in about 2 weeks. I have to be back to see Dr. Matthews in mid May so she can check on my progress.

Thank you for all the prayers and good wishes. I love you all. Things are moving forward. I’m scared, but relieved to finally be moving forward.

Love,

~ Carol Anne

365 Days of Carol Anne (Learning to Love Myself)

8 Comments

Day 88

Well it’s the night before my follow up appointment with Dr. Matthews, my plastic surgeon. The dressing is supposed to come off and I think the stitches too. With any luck I’ll be de-Snorkified by this time tomorrow. Wish me luck!

Thanks for coming back every day to read and comment. I love you all.

Love,

~ Carol Anne

365 Days of Carol Anne (Learning to Love Myself)

6 Comments

Day 61

Thank you everyone for your kind words yesterday. They are very much appreciated. Unfortunately I’m back with worse news tonight. I had an appointment with the Plastic Surgeon this morning. She’s not happy with how the last wound is healing so I have to have another surgery, a skin graft. She’s going to take skin from my leg and cover up the last wound. It’s about an hour-long surgery. It’s an outpatient procedure but I’ll have to be asleep, which worries me. There are whole days I don’t remember from my first trip to the hospital. I don’t want that to happen again.

I’m ashamed to admit it but I fell apart at the seems in the Plastic Surgeon’s office. She had left the room to get some dressing for my head so I could wrap up and go home and I just lost it. I sobbed. The nurse came in to bring us the dressing so Chuck could get me set to go home and I scared her right out of the room. Chuck was so upset he called off work so that I wouldn’t be home alone all day or have to go to my mother’s house for the day.

On the way home the Oncologist’s office called. As it turns out I’m not having a PET scan. Basal cell cancer is not detectable in a PET scan so now I’m scheduled for a needle biopsy on Friday. I don’t know what’s worse the less invasive but radiation filled PET scan or the more invasive but no radiation involved biopsy.

Chuck’s a good egg. He stayed home from work and stopped to buy me soft pretzels and an Amazon fruit smoothie on the way home. We took the kitties out on their leashes for an hour-long walk and relaxed together. I don’t know what I’d do without him. He’s my hero, my caretaker, my best friend, my soulmate, my everything. If you see him around give him a hug. He’s been through a lot too.

Cuppy & Snowy Out For a Walk

Snowy

365 Days of Carol Anne (Learning to Love Myself)

2 Comments

Day 46

It was a good day today. Well, actually it started with much anxiety but ended well. I had another follow-up appointment with the plastic surgeon. She had to check the progress of the last wound, which was a bit red and still weeping at the last appointment. She prescribed an antibiotic and a new dressing. Both are doing their job nicely. She saw the right amount of progress and was happy. I have to take the antibiotic for another week and use the dressing for the next two weeks but I can go ahead with my simulation appointment this week. So everything is on track and I’m still healing. God is good.

I can finally wear my (reading) glasses again so I thought I’d take tonight’s photo wearing my glasses.

(((hugs))) & *smooches* and all that good stuff. Thanks for reading!

Love,

~  Carol Anne