It’s been a while since I’ve updated my blog.  I’ve been busy with work & family.  It’s been going alright but I am still tired.  I’ve been working 4 days a week.  I have a lot of vacation time so I’ve been taking off one day a week.  I’ve been trying to take it slow and ease my way back in.

On Friday September 20th, I ended up in the Emergency Room.  I had been experiencing pain in my right breast/chest area.  I had seen my plastic surgeon on the 18th and he removed additional fluid from surgical area.  I told the doctor that I had been experiencing pain for about a week.  He felt that the pain was because I was back to work & my scar tissue was stretching.  (I wondered if it was a side effect of the Flovent that I had recently started taking for my asthma or from the lymphedema sleeve I had been wearing for about a week or so prior).

Friday I decided to wear my cool purple/gray cowboy boots to work.  The only problem is that the left boot is  tight & is hard to get off.  Pulling the boot off is a chore.  When my tour was ending, I started to put the boot on & thought better of it and pulled the boot off.  I immediately experienced excruciating pain in my chest area.  The pain was so bad that I couldn’t breathe.  I went downstairs to the desk area & the guys could see that I was hurting and offered to take me to the Emergency Room.  I called my oncologist and explained the problem & as he was out of the country, he advised me to call the plastic surgeon.  The plastic surgeon recommended I go to the ER for a chest X-Ray and blood work.  I was going to go to the hospital near my house, but he recommended I go to a hospital in NYC to get the process started.  I followed his advice and went to Beth Israel (not thinking about how crowded a NYC ER would be on a Friday night).

Two cops drove me to the hospital.  The drive there was horrible as even small bumps caused me pain.  We finally arrived and I gingerly walked into the ER & waited (standing) for Triage.  It was hard to sit and stand so I stayed standing for as long as possible.  I was checked in a brought to a room in the ER, which was nice.  I got my gown on and reclined on the hospital bed.  I was relatively OK as long as I didn’t move.  And then I waited……………and waited……………and waited.  At some point a nurse came in and offered me a blanket.  Finally I got fed up and decided to leave.  As time passed, I realized that I could’ve been at my local hospital and been seen by a doctor already and had something done about the pain.  I told my guys that I wanted to leave.  I got up & put my shirt back on.  A woman came into the room to sign the usual hospital paperwork.  I told her I was leaving and she asked if I could stay for 15 minutes more so she could get the doctor.  I told her “No.  I was leaving now.”  As we walked out of the room, the doctor came up to me and gave me a paper to sign and we left.

We went back to the precinct and one of my guys gave me a ride home and then to my local hospital.  The worst part was we got stuck in traffic going home.  That royally sucked.  We made it to the local hospital, checked in, and I was told to go to Cubicle 9.  As much pain as I was in, I had to chuckle.  Back to the same room I was in before, when I had my allergy attack at Christmas and when I had my right expander removed.  Shortly thereafter, a nurse came in and took my blood, and within about a half hour or so, the doctor came in.  He ordered a CT scan & gave me some Toradol (which didn’t work) and then tried Tramadol which eased the pain a bit.  The eventual diagnosis?  Pleurisy or small to moderate pleural effusion (fluid around the lung), as well as some fluid under my skin (an issue I’ve had for some time).  The ribs looked good and my right lung showed some fibrotic changes from radiation. The doctor sent me home with three prescriptions and told me to follow up with my doctor. He also stated that he believed that the problems were due to radiation.   My husband got my prescriptions filled in the morning and I pretty much spent the weekend in bed.  By Monday I was feeling much better.  I went to the Dept. doctor who looked at my CT report and didn’t seem all that concerned. I went to work Monday evening and everyone was surprised to see me considering the pain I was in Friday night.

I waited a few days and called Dr. G (oncologist)  to make an earlier appointment as I wasn’t due to see him until October 14th.  I had a follow-up with Dr. W (plastic surgeon) on Wednesday.  He removed another 30 cc’s or so from my breast area.  He also advised that I follow up with Dr. G to see if he wanted the fluid that he’d been removing from my breast area tested and to see if I should get the fluid removed from around my right lung.  I tried to stay calm.  I worked that week and the following week, I had my appointment with Dr. Greenberg.  I worked Monday September 30th and  I was feeling OK about everything until I looked up pleural effusion/pleurisy on line.  I don’t recommend it.  What I read totally freaked me out.  I was upset and called Charles to cheer me up.

I worked Tuesday morning and left an hour early because I wanted to be home.  I stopped at the allergist first for my allergy shot.  When I got home I took Gillian to dance and stayed there waiting for her (and read).  I was anxious that night and didn’t sleep very well.  I woke up a little late and headed down to the city to go to a meeting.  After the meeting I headed over to the precinct.  Since I had time, I decided to go for a bike ride.  I rode about 11 miles along the West Side.  I got back to the precinct and then headed to my appointment with my oncologist.  I got there at about 3:50 for a 4:00 pm appointment.  I was super anxious and losing my mind.  I didn’t end up seeing Dr. G until around 5:15.  Not so great when you are going nuts.  I gave Dr. G the CT results and told him everything that had gone on.  He didn’t seem concerned as the excruciating pain had gone away.  I said that I thought I had torn something & he stated that I may have torn some of the adhesions or scar tissue.  As for the pleural effusion, he stated that it may have been as a result of all of the radiation I had.  He also stated that if there was a real problem, I would know.  (I wouldn’t be able to do an 11 mile bike ride). The pain would still be bad, and it would be increasingly difficult to breathe, I would be short of breath (as I have asthma, I am often short of breath!!!) and have a cough that wouldn’t go away.   At this time, he didn’t feel the need for getting the fluid removed and tested.  He said that I had been through so much surgery and radiation already so we are going to wait & watch.  He didn’t feel that I need to get the fluid that has been removed from my breast pocket tested since it has always been clear.   I see Dr. G again in two months (sooner, if I feel the need).  He did recommend that I put off my reconstruction until after I see him again, to give me more time to heal and hopefully for the pleural effusion to clear up.  I felt much better after the appointment and headed down to work.  I worked Thursday as well.    More prayers please! I’m getting tired of the insanity.  I really just want a sense of normalcy!

On Friday, mom came up to visit bearing gifts (sausage and meatballs and sauce-Yum!).  As Gillian was off from school, daughter, mother, and grandmother went out to lunch at Charlotte’s Tea Room.  We went to Applewood Orchard after lunch and did some apple picking.  It was nice to have mom around.  I took Gillian to Tae Kwon Do Friday evening & was just going to sit and read but a friend who teaches Zumba, saw me standing outside her class and waved me in to take her class.  It was the 3rd live Zumba class I had ever taken (I usually do Zumba at home with Wii) and she was tough.  I definitely I have to take her class again!

Much love.  I’m getting tired and I’m heading to bed.