Finally, but I'm a little behind

Yes, I finally got my sleeve and glove. It did not arrive via Mr.Postman but I got it the morning of my first vacation day. We stopped in Bellevue, WA on our way south and picked it up from the office. Just on the off chance, I called the office and she had just received it and was getting ready to put it in the mail. Please don't, I'll come by and pick it us as we pass through your city!
What a relief to have this. I understand all the wrapping is necessary to reduce the swelling, but this makes it so much more consistant during the days. I have wrapped a few times for the night, but I have to be honest, it's a pain in the backside, I don't sleep as well, so I've slacked off that part of the program. I called back to the office the next day to inform them of where it was irritating me and I was asked to come back in when I got home. So yesterday was another trip to Seattle. The good news is that my arm is getting smaller and it is working, I just have to get used to wearing the sleeve and wash it every night to soften it up.
I have been away on a quilting "working" vacation. I taught in Tacoma on Wed, in Stevenson, WA on Friday and was a student on Sat. My whole trip was absolutely terrific, it was great to be away from work & home for NON medical reasons.
Girlfriends are Great!
Sharon

Still waiting....

Mr. Postman , please have today be the day you deliver a package of relief to my home address! I'm leaving town for a few days of teaching and taking quilting classes and it would really make my trip easier and more relaxing if you delivered my package today. Thanks.
Sharon

Checking my Mail

This ritual has never been a daily routine, even in the weeks leading up to my birthday. I figure the mail and the bills will be there when I get to them, and if I collect everything a couple of times a week, then I only have to do my paper recycling a couple of times a week. Plus I can then line up all my bills and know exactly what I need to deal with in the month.
But this week I shall be checking my mailbox with anticipation. My glove and sleeve has been packaged up neatly in a little box and dropped in the mail. And in that little box with be the MOST relief one can imagine. Relief from sitting in front of the tv without being able to do any hand quilting! Relief from wrapping my arm one or two, or three times (on a bad day)a day, relief from wrapping my fingers with gauze bandages that catch on things and get dirty and look yucky, relief from the stares of well meaning people who come up to me and ask if I've burned myself and then want to know what the deal is with everything.
Geez. Total strangers asking what happened and when I share "a side effect from my cancer surgery/radiation", they start asking all kinds of questions about that. So far I've been patient, I haven't flipped off at someone by saying "none of your business" even when they are staring at my boob, wondering if it's mine or not!
Life will get back to some normalicy once I can move forward with this treatment and the compression bandages have been doing their job, that is the up side of all of this. Measurements are smaller every time I'm at Physio so that is the driving force to keep at this!
So Mr Postman, please look and see,
If there's a package in your bag for me,
Please look and see........Mr Postman.....

Just one day

That's all I want right now, just one day where I do not have to think about the fact that I had cancer. I'm very tired and the tamoxifen is interrupting my sleep. Every night I bounce right off my pillow thinking I've slept through the night, then I look at the clock and it's 12:30. I go back to sleep then look at the clock several more times during the night. Some nights I don't get back to sleep and that makes for a very tired Sharon.
And then there's the arm. Wrapping, unwrapping, rolling bandages, wrapping and rewrapping. OK you get the jist. I know that all the right things are being done to get my back to my previous health, I know the compression is working for my arm. I just can't wait to get the glove & sleeve fashion accessory to eliminate the wrapping during the day.
As for the Tamoxifen keeping me from sleeping through the night, I'm going to work on that with some natural remedies. I've tried changing the time I take my pill and that made no difference so I'm back to the a.m. pill. Now I"m going to try Melatonin and/or Volarium (sp?). I know this is my life line, so not taking it is not an option. I just need to see what I can to do minimize the impact it is having on my daily life.
I'm off to physio again today. Since my appt is at 2:15 and is was supposed to be at 8:45 a.m. I didn't wrap this morning. I can sure type faster and better but I can also see how my hand and arm continues to swell......but I am living with that side effect for the day. I needed to feel productive at work this morning. That's a great feeling for me!
Sharon