When I agreed last week to take WYFP, I couldn't have imagined what I would be writing about tonight.
WYFP is our community's Saturday evening gathering to talk about our problems, empathize with one another, and share advice, pootie pictures, favorite adult beverages, and anything else that we think might help. Everyone and all sorts of troubles are welcome. May we find peace and healing here. Won't you please share the joy of WYFP by recommending?
A little over two years ago my partner was diagnosed with breast cancer. It was caught very early -- Stage 0 -- and after two surgeries, a few weeks of daily radiation, and a year or so of follow up visits, we were ready to move forward from it all. It was a scary, difficult time, but compared to what others have gone through -- including people we know -- we were thankful it wasn't worse.
But the doctors didn't tell us this: Sometimes the side effects from radiation can take a while to show up. I'll skip the details, but she developed lymphedema, in which the lymph nodes stop transporting fluids through the body. Sometimes scar tissues begin to develop, or the nodes change because of the radiation. This causes lymph to start collecting, causing swelling and pain. Usually this can be managed with some physical therapy and massage, but it wasn't working. After a couple of weeks of therapy, there wasn't much improvement.
Then she found a knot under the skin at the base of her neck. The therapist was concerned and sent her back to the oncologist for further tests.
On Thursday she had an ultrasound of the area around the lump. The results of that test led to a biopsy.
On Friday, her oncologist called and said he'd scheduled her for a full-body PET scan on Wednesday.
So this weekend we're in limbo. The results of the biopsy won't be in until Monday, and we'll find out the results of the PET scan on Thursday.
We thought we were done with all of this. I feel blindsided and disoriented.
I usually have plenty of problems. My job, people who don't know how to drive, the crazy legislature in this state.
But tonight, there's only one. Nothing else matters.