Cream-y

So it has been a little more than two months since my big ass surgery. According to my surgeon, whom I have begun calling Magic Fingers but not too his face, things are looking good. The fat is settling into its to new location on my chest. He can now see what needs to be fixed. One "breast" is larger than the other. The other "breast" is lopsided. And the stomach area also needs some touching up. My next follow-up surgery will be outpatient, and should only take about 2-3 hours which is no time at all if you remember that my October surgery was about 15 hours.

The only lingering issue for me right now is that my stomach scar is taking forever to heal. It seems that some of the stitches are disintegrating like they are supposed to. In order to help move this process along, while in the shower, I clean the hole/indentation in my stomach with a cotton swab, and then put on my fancy silver sulfadiazine cream.

Despite a downturn economy, I'm doing my best to keep the lotion companies in business. I use a variety of baby skin lotions on my new "breasts" and stomach. Gotta keep the skin supple. Sometimes I feel like all I do is rub lotion on myself. Good times!

Ho Ho Ho

Merry Christmas!!!

Hair Update

When I first met the bevy of oncologists while deciding which chemo program would be best for me, each doctor informed that one side effect of chemo is curly hair. Since hair loss is almost inevitable, hair growth is also inevitable. What the doctors and nurses told me is that when hair returns, it grows in curly. They also tried to imply that curly hair is a good thing. Maybe for some people, but not for me. Each time a doctor would mention the curly regrown hair, I would give them the best death stare I could muster up.

My hair has slowly been regrowing since March. By summertime, I was able to go wig-free. My hair was growing in straight. I got cocky. Let me warn you, never get cocky. It will always be your downfall. Well, at the very least, it is my downfall.

My hair is curly now. The words that I want to say right now are inappropriate for an online forum. Let's just say, I'm not very happy about the curly hair. Maybe it will grow on me.

Rainy Days

A doctor recently suggested I try the anti-depressant Prozac. While prescribing the medication, he expressed surprise that, considering the events of the past year, no other medical professional had suggested I try anti-depressants. The thought had never occurred to me.

I have never taken an anti-depressant. In my ignorance, I assumed that you could take them the same one one takes an anti-anxiety drug -- on an as needed basis. Turns out that is not the case, and now I am leery of trying the prescription. After discussing the prescription with my therapist, I now understand that one needs to take the pills every day for multiple months before even knowing if the pills work. I'm not so sure I want such a daily commitment.

The potential benefit of Prozac is the end of my random bouts of crying. The downsides are too numerous to count. So the question I ask myself is which side effect would be most beneficial to me. Would the halting of crying outweigh any of downsides?

For the moment, I am leaning towards not taking the pills. I had the first month of the prescription filled, but that was before I became aware of the necessary commitment. The bottle of bicolored pills sits among my many prescription bottles waiting for my decision. At the very least, I know the pills are available if I should change my mind.