Discipline Update & Freewrite: August 2

So it is now after 9 on Monday and I still haven't heard a peep from any of my doctors. I would really, really, REALLY like to have some answers about my continuing therapy. I don't want to have to wait another two weeks before somebody decides to tell me SOMETHING, and then end up waiting even LONGER to actually DO something about it.

Why yes, I am a little disgruntled.

Teachers return to school a week from tomorrow. Hopefully I will be sufficiently recovered that I can move boxes and whatnot without too much trouble.

To-do for this week: proof and submit the pages for the supplement; check the nameplate list & submit that; finish at least the lesson plans for units 2 and 3, and sketch out an overview for units 4-7.

I really don't have much else that I feel like writing about.

Hm. I guess you can get used to anything. I have a tube sticking out of my side (where they did the surgery) that feeds into this little bulb - it's like a clear version of those things that suck snot out of baby noses. Only (thankfully) the stuff in it doesn't look like snot. If it did, I'd be pretty freaked out.

So four times a day I have to dump the bulb into a measuring cup and record the amount of the liquid it collected. And then the rest of the time I have to make sure that the tube isn't pinched and the bulb is squished so that it keeps the suction going.

The other annoying thing is that since I feel like I have to be incredibly careful with my arms (otherwise I get stabbed with pain) I haven't washed my hair in days. UGH. Gross. So that's on the to-do for today. We're going to see if the beanbag chair lines up well with the tub. I'll let ya know how that goes.

Met my word count! Woot!

Image thanks to http://www.sutree.com/

Discipline Update & Freewrite: August 1

Well, this will be Day 3 of not exercising. I hope I don't regress too far.

My pain meds make my skin crawl. Not fun. Not a lot; mostly I can ignore it. But that's definitely going to be part of my interrogation tomorrow.

We're going to try to go to Sunday School today. I picked out an outfit that should be relatively easy to get in and out of.

The Hunk's parents brought over a basket of fruit and goodies before we left for the hospital on Friday. All kinds of fruit, some Pepperidge Farm cookies, and Werther's Originals sprinkled throughout. Tasty tasty! Then when Mom went grocery shopping, she picked up some shortbread cookies AND a Marie Callendar Razzleberry pie (my favorite!) at the store.

I really, really hope I don't regress too far!

I've also been working on my unit plans, and I had another bugaboo come up: how much reviewing and re-teaching will I need for syntax and paragraph structure?

I really can't think of anything else to write about. Weird, kind of - it's been a very eventful week!

Everyone keeps asking how they can help or what they can do, and to be honest, I just don't know. It's not like anyone can make my stitches heal faster or re-engineer my genes so that I can stop getting cancer in the first place. We've got plenty to eat, I'm chugging right along with my unit plans... it's pretty cool.

Also cool - I found out that our whole department has planning together. Woot! First time ever for me. Very excited about that.

Made my word count! Time to nap a bit more before Sunday School. :)

Discipline Update & Freewrite: July 31

Sore, sore, sore. Even on meds. I have a throw pillow tucked under my arm where most of my stitches are, and it helps. If I take the pillow out it starts to ache pretty bad. I'm also perpetually tired, and in this case I'm sleeping as much as possible because I know my body is mending and I want to make it HURRY UP! I'm hoping it won't take more than a couple of days for the pain to subside. Going away entirely would be awesome but I'm not counting on that for awhile yet. ;)

Still, I'm not a complete invalid; I can do lots of stuff with my off-arm (which is also kind of sore because that's where they put my shunt in for chemo). And my hands are fine! I'm so glad I don't have to hunt-and-peck :)

I'm building up some fluid in my lungs a little bit. I'm not too happy about that. I do the clear-out A-HEM-HEM-HEM! every now and then, and I cough once in awhile (though with all the bruising on my torso from the surgery, it kind of hurts).

I had told one of the other teachers that we'd go out to lunch today but that's not looking very likely. I don't know if I'll feel up to Sunday School tomorrow, either. Mostly I just want to be able to move without having to be all slow and careful.

Also, they WERE able to find a sentinel node - apparently, despite my earlier mastectomy, my lymphatic system wasn't damaged in the least. The node appeared just a few minutes after I went into the scanner. Pretty awesome.

Better yet? The biopsy came back negative. Now, in the pathology report from the excision back in June, they also found cancer cells in the blood and nervous system, so I'll still need chemo just in case there are some stray cells that have spread that way, but this was definitely good news.

Well, I made my word count quite handily, so now it is time to tuck back in. Ta!