What a pain in the port!

Sometime in September I notice that I had redness along the tube of my port that runs along my pectoral muscle just under my skin.  At some point Hudson had banged into it, but I never thought much of it.  A few weeks went by and the redness did not go away and it started to hurt and was warm to the touch.  Since my brother has had cellulitous several times, I knew that was not good, so I called my doctor.

After an unexpected trip to Methodist, they decided to put me on a week of Keflex just in case it was infected.  Well, I finished the meds and there was no change.  I went back down to the doctor so she could see it again a week later and they felt it was inflamed, not infected.  So, I went home still in pain with no end in sight.  Another week went by and it was time to get my next infusion.  Well, they didn't like how it looked so they put an IV in the side of my left forearm and told me they wanted me to get the port removed!  UGH!  That was not what I wanted to hear, but I also wanted the pain to end. 

On Monday, October 14 I had my port removed and on Friday, October 18 they put a new one in, on the other side of my chest.  (Oh I forgot to mention that the day of the infusion the week prior I also had an MRI which required an IV and she had to stick me 3 times! So within 10 days I had been pricked 7 times in the same arm/hand! OUCH!!!)  I was put on another round of antibiotics, a different drug, and told it should heal up quickly now that it was out.  WRONG!!!!  It did not heal up.  It hurt a little less and it was not hot anymore, but it was still red and swollen.  I went to get my stitches out and the doctor still did not like how things looked so she had me start another round of the same drug.  

This past Thursday (Oct. 31) I was back at the doctor for my treatment.  She was still not happy with how it looked so I am on my third medicine.  This time she gave me the big gun, Levoquin.  According to the fact sheet from the pharmacy, this medicine is often given to people who have been exposed to Anthrax or who have the plague.  If this medicine does not clear up this port, nothing will!!!  Downside...I was finally able to have sushi again so we went last night.  YUMMY...and then I got home and spent a nice long while in the bathroom. The major side effect of the drug...diarrhea.  Never fun, but I am always looking for the silver lining.  Hopefully I can jump start my chemo/steroid weight loss, haha!!

If this does not work I have no clue what the next step will be. Hopefully nothing too invasive or painful.  

My breast MRI showed nothing in either breast and my right lymph nodes are visibly smaller when compared to the MRI I had before starting chemo! I still need radiation and months of Herceptin, so those 2 things should take care of whatever is hanging around.

Right before Thanksgiving I will get another back MRI.  Fingers crossed that there is some type of visible change in the cancer/inflammation.  

I will also have another heart ultrasound around Thanksgiving.  I now have to get them every 2 months instead of every 3.  They are just taking extra precaution because whatever number they track dropped a little bit.  It is still in the normal range, but they want to make sure it does not get below that range.  This is unfortunately the only major side effect of Herceptin. 

Life is more normal than a few months ago but I am still dealing with some residual issues from the chemo.

• My nails are weak and are growing out and breaking and separating.  Sometimes this is pretty painful.
• All of my fingertips are numb and covered with tough sort of callousy skin.  Hopefully this will go away over time.  It makes opening most things difficult. It also makes me extra klutzy.
• My joints ache, especially my knees, ankles, wrists and fingers.  This is actually a side effect of the Herceptin.  It should go away once I am done the medicine.
• Getting out of bed in the morning sometimes feels like I am stepping onto broken glass, but that only lasts a few seconds.
• Chemo brain is lessening, but I can still be a little out there!  Some of that is just me though, ha!!!
• Fatigue!  I drink a lot of coffee now.  I should start to feel back to normal sometime around Christmas they said.
• I gained nearly 30 pounds. I have only lost about 2 1/2 of them.  I would like to lose a lot more but I know that has to be a slow process.

Good news:

• I am able to start PT and now that my new port is healed, I will schedule it for very soon.
• I can drink alcohol again.  In moderation of course.
• Salads, sushi, fresh fruit and ground meat are all back in my diet.  YIPPIE!!!!
• I am sleeping through the night WITHOUT the help of any drugs!

A non-cancer update:

I am loving watching Hudson grow and change. He is talking up a storm and is such a happy boy.  He was a FedEx guy for Halloween.  He wasn't too sure about trick-or-treating at first, but by the third house he was thanking everyone for the treats.  So cute!

Now that I am feeling better, I am thinking about getting things done around the house.  This past weekend we bought a coffee table, bought the paint for our master bath and I FINALLY picked out the aqua for the living room and kitchen!!