A day in the life…the good, bad & ugly

This post is rated PG13, parental guidance is suggested

Wanna learn about a day in the life of me? Well, at least the parts that are a product of Breast Cancer? I have to remind myself at times that I’m blogging for me and for those that may be just beginning this battle. Therefore, it’s time to share some of the “ugly” that’s part of my daily world now. So here we go, a day in the life of Dené Sanfillipo, cancer chick…..

I “Wake up in the morning feeling like P Diddy, Grab my glasses, I’m out the door; I’m gonna hit this city.
Before I leave, brush my teeth with a bottle of Jack ‘Cause when I leave for the night, I ain’t coming back” WHOOPS! Kesha called, she wants her song back…I guess I dozed off and flashed back to 2009.

Now-a-days I WAKE UP daily and my right breast hurts like hell from the lanced “puss pocket” that developed due to who knows what. (Again, my guess is something occurred during the implantation of the port.) If you recall – chemo last week was postponed due to that potential infection under my skin. My surgeon lanced it last Friday by cutting two tiny holes for it to drain. Upside is that it drained & he gave the ok to do chemo yesterday. Downside, I need to pack it myself twice a day with packing strip iodoform using the end of a Q-tip pushing the strip through the hole to fill the opening. Why? Because the holes are similar size to the openings from surgery drains and they close up quickly. If they close up before the skin underneath is completely healed, then we’re back where we started with the potential for a “puss bag” to form again.

Here’s pic of what it looks like afterward. There’s about 2-3 inches of packing strip in there. YEP, FUN TIMES!

So, basically the day starts with me popping ibuprofen, then the usual morning routine tag-teaming with the hubs to get the girls out the door fed, fully clothed and on time….you know the battle. One of us drops them to school and we’re off to start the day.

When I return I make a coffee, my veggie juice, and take my daily supplements/meds. By now pain med has fully kicked in so I’m ready to pack the wound. A couple ouches later I’m ready to start my day. But first…gotta decide if it’s hat or wig day? This day happens to be chemo day…round two and my wig is getting colored, so hat it ’tis. LOL!

We arrive at chemo at 9:30 for what was a 9am apt. ? Yep, I forgot that she gave me an earlier start date last week when he had to push back a week. So the feeling of being early switched to late pretty quick. Chemo runs until 1:30pm, we grab lunch and head home. Thanks Jenn Norris for taking me! One good thing about chemo is I get to catch up with friends that have graciously all picked a day to take me so Jimmy can run the biz.

I feel kind of wired when I get home (mostly due to the steroid) so I take one of the meds and chill. The bedtime medication that is prescribed is crazy. It literally knocks me out for hours! I woke this morning briefly 8ish (I think) then crashed again until 1:30pm!! WHAT? I haven’t slept like that since 1987! It’s 6pm now and I’m tired again. So when the question is asked as to how I feel – answer thus far is tired. I think I stay ahead of the nausea because I take the “as needed” pill daily regardless. The nighttime aka knock-out pill is at bed only.

Of course end of day entails the dreaded re-packing to the right breast. I get to dread those 2 parts of my days for the next 2-4 weeks. UGH! I also nurse the abdomen scar a bit too by using Vaseline where it’s still trying to close completely and maderma to help the scar fade over time. I was going to include a pic of the abdomen scar, but you might be traumatized;) Today I was pleasantly surprised with a few surprise gifts! The hubs got me a new hat and this fab t-shirt I will be wearing for race for the cure The “out-of-towner”‘ Fuzzie friends sent me a care package with hats, blanket, jammies, book & gift card. VERY awesome and appreciated! Thanks ladies?

My next addition to the daily routine will be exercise!! I should be ok’d to workout again next week. I’m very much looking forward to using what’s left of my muscles again?

So there ya have it – a day in the life of me. Obviously each day is different in terms of work, kid activities etc…but the regimen towards healing and improvement stays pretty stagnant.

Have a fab weekend all! I’ll probably be snoozing most of my weekend away?