It’s been a while since I’ve written. I think about it, but just don’t do it. I still have an open wound, but I’m healing. I had home health care nurses visiting every other day to tend to my wound, and then my husband took over. The nursing folks decided I should pack the wound with calcium alginate, which comes in squares similar to a 4×4 gauze and looks/feels somewhat like gauze. It is working, very slowly, but I am finally healing. I’ve returned to work. And, I’ve developed adhesive capsulitis of the shoulder, a fancy term for “frozen shoulder”. The range of motion issues with my right shoulder began shortly after my incision first opened up, which was right before Thanksgiving. Because of the pain from the surgeries and healing complications, I was rotating my shoulder forward and holding my arm in front of my chest — partially to protect myself but also to guard my chest and to keep from extending my arm too far and tearing the incision open any more than it was already. Now I can’t move my arm higher than shoulder height and can only extend it outwards about 4 inches. It hurts like a bitch and has caused even more restrictions in my activities. I can’t even reach high enough to wash my hair. So, every morning, I rise at 4:30 a.m. so my husband can help me shower and then do my wound care. Again, I am grateful to have him and feel lucky to have such a wonderful caretaker. But I am so tired of getting up at 4:30 a.m., I am tired of not being able to do things for myself. I am just tired. All I want to do is sleep. It takes all I have to make it through the work day and come home with a smile and energy to interact with my kids and husband when all I want to do is go straight to bed. The pain in my shoulder wakes me up every 3-4 hours.
I was starting to get depressed and was even considering anti-depressants. I mentioned it to my oncologist and he said that some anti-depressants can affect the metabolism of the Tamoxifen so I needed to make sure that whoever prescribes them is aware of that. At a subsequent primary care appointment (for the shoulder), I received referrals for x-ray, MRI, physical therapy, orthopedic surgeon, and mental health. I’ve moved out of the depression funk a bit, so anti-depressants are off the table now. It was really a last resort, a hope that a pill could fix everything but I really didn’t like the idea of taking them. I don’t begrudge anyone for taking them – I think they serve a really good purpose and can save lives. I was on Zoloft for years to help deal with anxiety and depression, but I realized that, for me it was situational and my inability to deal was just that: poor coping skills. The Zoloft just masked the symptoms and kept me from having to deal with my issues and move through them; rather, I just moved around them. I stopped taking it about 3 years ago. Getting off of it was a NIGHTMARE and I remember saying that I would never take anti-depressants again due to that. Still, I was thinking maybe right now would be a good time to consider doing it short-term, to help me through this rough patch, but then I did some research on the drug my oncologist recommended (Effexor) and read that it is the worst one to go off of. I’m done considering anti-depressants, for now anyway.
I also saw my OB (annual checkup) recently and she recommended I find a breast cancer support group. I don’t think I’m brave enough to walk into a room full of strangers and talk about this, but maybe it could be helpful. I may look into it.
I can’t help but wish there were a pill to fix everything, a pill that would have no ramifications, no side effects, just one swallow and everything would be better…man, that would be epic.
New Normal 