Week in Review

It felt good to add a post once again

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Monday I had an appointment with my BCSCF physician followed by a visit with Norman. It was good to see him, he is doing so well! He arrived with his usual treat for me of a salted brownie but this time he added a wonderful lemon square that had a shortbread crust; he had tucked away another one in a box for Rod along with a brownie for Kenny. Popular man in our household this week! My voice was still mainly absent on Monday so I sat and listened while Norman talked, I bet that doesn’t happen for him often, it was a very enjoyable visit.

On Tuesday I decided that I needed to take it easy and see if I could help my body get rid of this cold that has been lingering; it was a nice quiet day.

Wednesday was an errand/shopping morning and I was very pleased with how well everything went; the route I had planned worked well and I was home for lunch with everything (and more) that I needed taken care of.

Yesterday was apparently national Chili Day (according to Facebook, anyway) so I made up a big crockpot full of chili first thing in the morning and then did a few other things before going over to the hospital to have the holter monitor applied. There were a few other people in the waiting area of the CV labs area when I arrived and the staff was at lunch; I was happy to have my iPad with me and access to the internet. When it was time for my appointment, they called me by my first name and took me back, without checking any of my demographic information with me to make sure that I was the right person – not good on their part.

The process of getting wired up was an easy one, first they used an alcohol swap to clean off the five areas that the leads would be placed; once those were dry they roughed up the skin a bit with an emery-like material followed by placing the monitor leads. Once placed, they connected the leads and then taped over the leads to secure them even more. The holter monitor itself was small, like a cell phone, much smaller than the ones I was familiar with earlier in my nursing days. The holter was placed in a protective cover and attached to some webbing that acted as a belt, the loose lead wires were all tucked up neatly and I was set.

The tech reviewed the diary that I was to keep with me. I was to go on with my normal daily activities; if I felt there was an ‘event’ i.e. arrhythmia; there was a button on the holter to push and I was to record the time on the diary along with checking off any symptoms I might have felt at the time it occurred. The only other instruction was that if I exercised I was to document the time and duration on the diary. 

As I left, I thought about walking down one of my favourite hallways at this hospital where they have different pictures and paintings by local artists for sale but talked myself out of it and headed home.

Murphy’s law – I didn’t have any episodes like the 45 minute arrhythmia that placed me on this path; I did my treadmill workout and recorded that; then had one little skipped beat once I went to bed, otherwise I think it was a fairly boring holter test. 

Here is a picture of the holter apparatus - my apologies for getting my finger in the way of the camera lens - 

This morning, I removed the holter as instructed at about 9:30 a.m. and placed everything along with my diary in a Ziploc bag, then drove over to the hospital and dropped it off to the bin they had instructed me to place it in. I once again had the urge to walk down the hallway where the paintings were but thought about my 15 minute parking and decided to leave. I made it to the front door and still thought I should go back and look at the paintings so I followed that urge and asked the Lord to show me if there was something there that I was supposed to see. Most of the hallway walls were being cleaned today so the pictures had been taken down and some were just in the process of being re-hung by a couple of volunteers. There was an area further down that always had pictures also so I headed to that area and once again asked the Lord to show me what I was supposed to see. There it was! The perfect picture for Keiran whose birthday is coming up at the end of April. The picture goes well with the theme I have going for his gift so I quickly picked up the picture and walked down the hall to the gift shop to pay for it. The volunteers beamed as I walked past them, very pleased at my purchase. So was I.

Tomorrow we have the pleasure of babysitting Paisley and Charlie.

So that is my week, including the Holter monitor which turned out really to be a non-event. Next week it will be back to work.

Take care, everyone!

Three Month Summary

I need to apologize for not posting anything since mid-November. It has been a busy time dealing with my mother's estate, trying to get back to my regular work schedule and Christmas thrown in for good measure.

Several people have inquired as to how I am doing and I know that they are genuinely interested. Sometimes when I am out and about and I get asked that question and I find it is easier just to say OK, rather than try to give too much explanation - when I have attempted a longer explanation including the words 'tired' or 'fatigue' I have gotten a quick comeback like 'you and me both' and so I am learning that OK is quite acceptable to most general inquiries but here I will give a little more detail.

I completed my support group at BCSCF on December 13th. A lovely bunch of ladies and we are keeping in contact, our first get together is a bowling party planned for late March. The day of December 13th we had a potluck lunch planned for after the group. I was hurrying around that morning getting a few things ready. Once I got into the room, my heart went into a very rapid rhythm, which has occurred at times in the past but is usually quickly converted by a cough or sometimes a cold drink of water. This time those tricks weren't working. I tried taking deep breaths and decided that I was in a good place as there were several doctors in the near vicinity so sat down and waited. At about 45 minutes into it, the rhythm returned to what my new normal seems to be - around 100 bpm. That was a welcome relief. I had an oncologist appointment scheduled for early New Year, so I decided to watch and wait and mention it at that appointment if I felt I needed to. Bring on Christmas! :)

Our place was a happening place for Christmas - I made a spreadsheet of meals which helped with grocery shopping. Justin, Leah and kids arrived on Monday the 23rd. We had a wonderful time with presents spilling far into the middle of the living room. It was magical to watch the kids prepare for Christmas Eve, including stocking, Santa's snack and Leah reading them 'The Night Before Christmas'. On Christmas morning Keiran's eyes were huge, he had received a rescue helicopter - his question to his mom as to how Santa could know exactly what he wanted was priceless! Paisley and parents as well as Charlie and Jordan and Celia all came over for Christmas Day. I won't go into tons of detail but the week included a visit to the Zoo for Zoolights and was completed by a Skating/Sledding Party at our local Park which I had booked for the day. It was a wonderful time and I know how truly blessed we are.

During this time I had the occasional heart rhythm irregularities, mostly when I was tired (everyday ;). I remained short of breath, something that hasn't changed since Herceptin treatment, so I did decide that I would mention it all to my oncologist at my January 8th appointment. Several of my chemo meds as well as the Herceptin can cause heart problems. My oncologist was lovely, she seemed pleased to see me but when I mentioned the arrhythmia she said 'that is concerning, you should have that checked out'. I think this is one of my biggest frustrations since ending treatment - knowing who to tell what - too many doctors. She asked if I would have the results of the mammogram I was having the next day cc'd to her and I agreed to do that, she also told me I could cut the Tamoxifen back to 10 mg/day to see if that would help with my joint stiffness and continued fatigue. She suggested that I should call the plastic surgeon I had been referred to for reconstruction as well and that was the end of my appointment.

The following day I had the mammogram. I was pleased that they took me directly to the higher magnification machine rather than having regular pictures and then going back several times. The tech was an experienced one who told me that she could not lie to people, which I found an interesting statement just out of the blue like that. I waited in the booth following the picture and she finally came back to me and told me that the radiologist said I could go. Then she said to me 'You would be wise to have a mastectomy for the other side but you didn't hear it from me'. I guess that was what she meant when she said she couldn't lie.

I put it behind me as I was busy at work - I am still not back to full time hours. For January I did one full day a week and three half days; February is two full days a week and two half days and the plan for March is three full days and two half days a week. I am currently taking two weeks of planned vacation days to the end of February - I do confess that I needed them and have been sick since just before leaving on vacation just over a week ago. That did not stop us from travelling last weekend to Cranbrook to celebrate Forrest's 2nd birthday. We had the privilege of staying with his other Grandma -wonderful pampering and hospitality!

I did remember to call the plastic surgeon's office to check on where I was in the waitlist lineup. I was quite surprised to hear that they did not have my referral, which had been sent to them June 12th. After a little phone time, they apologized and told me that if I would have the referral re-sent, they would place me on the waitlist as of June 12th. Now I know why my oncologist asked me to follow up!

I saw my BCSCF physician just after seeing the oncologist - she is the one who is keeping an eye on me regarding my return to work. She told me that she could also do follow up for me in other areas so I mentioned the heart arrhythmias only to get the same response from her as from my oncologist - that is concerning, you should get it checked out. Once more frustration as I had also told her that I was having some arrhythmias while in her office at the appointment. When I got home, I called for an appointment with my GP.

Just the day before my GP appointment, I received a phone call telling me that my oncologist wanted another mammogram in June and asking should they book it? I told them I was seeing my GP the next day so I would ask her to provide me with the requisition.

The day of the appointment it was wonderful to see my GP again. She had called me after my Mom's passing and she asked right away how everything was going in that regard. We talked and discussed the arrhythmia, shortness of breath and mammogram request. I am now scheduled for a holter monitor this week, an echocardiogram soon and I have a cardiology appointment booked for March. Gone are the days when the only reason I saw a Dr. was because I worked with them.

A couple of weeks ago I met with four other ladies from my online support group - one had come from Vancouver Island to visit and celebrate birthdays with family. We met for lunch on a work day. How wonderful to see them all and how incredible that it seems that they are all old and very dear friends. We have been through a lot together. They all seem to be doing very well and looking gorgeous along with it.

While I have been off this week I have been investigating Netflix a little and I have found a BBC series that I am loving. It is called 'Call the Mid-Wife' - it is based on the real life experiences of Jennifer Worth as documented in a three book series that she wrote once retired - the first book has the same title. The series takes place in the fifities. Of course, I had to download the books to my iPad as well as find out whether there were more shows other than the two seasons I have found on Netflix. I am pleased to report that there is a season three! I like to watch an episode while walking on the treadmill - it makes me feel somewhat righteous and gives me something to really look forward to. I should be able to space out the shows and the three books until season three is available in DVD in May.

That was a long summary - maybe not so much a summary as a novel. I hope that it helps bring people up to date. I find that when I am working it is difficult for me to write on the blog, I have lots of meetings and documentation required in my role and by the time the evening arrives I am tired and somewhat brain dead, it is hard to speak in sentences let alone write them. It will be interesting to see how the heart testing/follow-up turns out - it may be much ado about nothing. I find I can't compare my progress to others and I hope that anyone who is also going through or just through treatment and reading this doesn't think that my experience is the norm - it is only my experience. Most of the other people I am in contact with have regained their energy and they are moving on with their lives - as it should be.

Take care, everyone!