Because 2 infections this year just wasn't enough...
It's mid February (what was supposed to be "Feeling Better February" I might add), and I'm taking my 4th antibiotic for my 3rd infection of the year. SHESH!! After recovering from the digestive system & upper respiratory infection, I had some other "minor" side effects going on that I was juggling with. First of all, ever since I started chemo I've been having issues with my finger and toe nails. They're not quite as strong as they used to be and they're not growing back as cooperatively as they used to either. Weird, but if anything annoying! About a week or 2 ago I had an ingrown toe nail removed and the root deadened. First of all, who knew an ingrown nail could be so painful?! Anywho, I got it taken care of and started all the procedures to avoid infection (soaking in epsom salt, treating it with antibacterial lotion, etc). I mean come on, the last thing I need is another infection... I'm all over this toe!! On top of that I started getting that "rash" I had not long after the holidays (thought to be caused by one of the drugs I'm taking)... several spots/"sores" all over my body. There were quite a few, but there were 5 in particular that were bigger then the rest... 2 on my upper back (right on the bra line conveniently), 1 in the lower middle of my back and 2 on the upper back side of both legs. I began treating them like I did previously and was looking forward to "Feeling Better February." During all of this I got the approval from Dr. H to hold off on one of my IV drugs (Navelbine) and one of my oral drugs (Tykerb) to give my body a break. Thank God! I had reached my breaking point... enough is enough! The month of January is not one I'd like to repeat! Talk about being pretty darn uncomfortable!
So this brings us up to last Friday... Overnight the "sores" got worse. They had almost swollen up into welts, like I was stung by a bee. Talk about EXTREMELY painful! I could barely put any pressure on them so you could imagine me trying to sit down with so many of them on my back side. Not fun! So yes, I played the Cancer Card and got into my Dermatologist's office that afternoon. Dr. Derm decided to numb one of the areas (OUCH) and take a biopsy and culture of the sore that looked the angriest... just so happened to be the one in the lower middle of my back. She gave me some topical lotion, antibiotics and an Rx for pain pills to take "if" they started to get worse over the weekend. Otherwise, we just needed to sit tight a couple of days and wait for the results to come in and hopefully find out what these things are and what's causing them. So I start heading home. Thinking I could swing by HEB to pick up a Rx or 2. OH MY GOD! OH MY GOD! OH MY GOD!! The numbing on my back started to wear off. My back was on F-I-R-E!! You should have seen the way I was driving!! I was pulled up as close to the steering wheel as possible... irritating the hell out of the sores on my leg, but my back was just killing me. And I was uncontrollably balling!!! (Not to be confused with "a Baller"). How I made it home without getting into an accident is beyond me!! That should have been the first clue that it was going to be a long weekend!
Saturday... HOLY CRAP!! They got worse!!! They got worse!!! They were bigger, swollen and to be quite honest, PISSED OFF!!! I can't really describe how uncomfortable I was. Remember the movie Spaceballs? Of course you do! Then you'll remember the scene where the alien pops out of the guy's stomach and dances down the bar with the hat and cane. Come on!! Tell me you remember this!! Well, that's what I was fully expecting to pop out of one of these sores! To make it worse, I had to cancel my plans that night. Seriously, I had a girls night out (a little rodeo and concert action down in S.A.) on my calendar for weeks. I swear, I'm jinxed if I put anything fun on my calendar! This cancer is REALLY pissing me off!! So needless to say, I had a pretty rough weekend.
Monday... back to Dr. Derm. The sores, which I began to call "boils" (yes, a pretty disgusting, ugly word if you ask me), were just too painful! Dr. Derm just had to do something. This entailed more numbing and "expressing" the sites. BLEEEEEEEHHHHHHHHHH!! I'm not quite sure how much fluid she "expressed" from these "boils," but I could instantly tell that it relieved some of the pressure around them. Thankfully J was my chauffeur that day so I didn't have to worry about driving. I'm sure I looked pretty ridiculous w/ the way I was sitting, but at least I wouldn't be causing any accidents!
Tuesday... Well, at this point, J and I decided that we needed some help since I've been completely useless up to this point (more so than usual... just to clarify). J had been waiting on me hand and foot. So what a great excuse to fly in my mom!! And what do you know... the biopsy and culture results are in! Turns out I have a MRSA Staph Infection. (Insert: Debbie Downer Music).
So what did YOU do for YOUR Valentine's Day???
After getting out of a nice long, hot shower on Tuesday night, I was standing in my bathroom, half naked, facing the wall, I noticed that I was tightly gripping (white knuckles and all) my towel rack to keep myself steady. (Side note: If you think there is going to be anything sexy or erotic to follow... you're reading the wrong, damn blog). I glanced into the mirror, saw my reflection and thought to myself... never in a million years did I expect to have my husband AND my mom standing behind me, cleansing, expressing and treating boils on my back side! UGH! What has my life come to?!? Again, not something I was hoping to check off of my things to do in life list!! I just knew I'd be able to laugh about it one day and was looking forward to the first person to ask me, "so what did you do for Valentine's Day?"
So this week I'm back on Tykerb, but we decided to hold off on Navelbine another week since that infusion suppresses my immune system. At this point we really need to get over this staph infection. So yes, I'm on antibiotics for ANOTHER 10 days. We've also added a weekly dose of Iron to my chemo regime due to a recent iron deficiency. In the meantime, I'm going to enjoy my mom being in town and helping out and looking forward to my dad coming into town this weekend. Oh look... a fun weekend that WASN'T on my calendar! Ah ha! Didn't see that one coming did you Mr. Cancer!!
