Wednesday, June 07, 2006

For The Coffee Club...

As I was lying in bed this morning, I was thinking that I must get up and write something for the ‘Coffee Club’.

Yesterday I had an appointment with my family doctor to check out my right arm. Over the past 5 or 6 days, I’ve been loosing the range of motion in that arm (surgery side). My arm feels like its bruised and when I try to straighten it, I feel like I’m going to pass out. My concern was that it was lymphedema, which occurs in approximately 4% of people who have axcillary node dissections. Basically it’s an accumulation of lymphatic fluid caused when lymph nodes are removed. (If you have a plumbing system and you take out some of the pipes, when the same amount of water tries to go through the system, it slows down and gets backed up.) Anyway, it can be permanent and it’s not nice. The doctor said that it wasn’t lymphedema; some how I have inflamed the tendon in my arm. Hopefully in a week or so, it should be back to normal.

There’s your fix for today,

me

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Hi Kim:

Just grabbed my Tim's and sat to read your blog. Can I be president of the club!! Anyway, I hope you are doing okay. I can understand your scare with the lymphedema possibility. My brother-in-law who had breast cancer 7 years ago must wear the compression sleeve every day in order to keep the swelling down. It is just a part of his every day life now - I guess you just adapt to it, however, that being said, it is not something you want to have to get used to.
Thanks for my morning "fix". Say hi to the boys for me.

Andrea