Friday 4.18.08

What a beautiful day!! I do believe the seasons have changed. The sun was warm, the forsythias (the yellow bushes) bloomed today around here, and the windows and doors opened all day.

After my shower today, I looked at that "cord" under my arm. My elbow has a tender spot on it, too, about the size of a quarter. When I raised my arm to see the pit, I could see a line, or ridge, all the way down my upper arm to the elbow. And it is tender. I decided to act on Daniel's suggestion of seeing our chiropractor, Dr. John Daniel Kribs. My thoughts are that I have a problem here, and I would go pick his brain to see if he had any ideas or if he knew someone who might be able to help me...

Since it was so very warm (the car thermometer showed 77-78 degrees), I put the top down on my Sebring. I wore the visor thing that doesn't have a crown part on the hat. It sure felt funny, the wind blowing through that little bit of hair up there. And I hope it didn't get sunburned...

At the office, I left my visor in the car, and went in "topless", or "commando", as I've heard some say when they go without anything on their heads. I sometimes call it going "headless". The young girls behind the counter looked at me kind of funny, but the other adults I encountered didn't show any response at all. Hm. Cool.

Soon it was my turn, and Dr. Kribs greets me warmly, and exclaims about my new hair. He is a very hands-on kind of guy (well, duh, he's a chiropractor...) and he reaches out and rubs my head. Neat, he says. It feels like it might be curly... I'm not so sure about that, but time will tell. I saw him after my first chemo treatment, I think, and not since. So I catch him up to speed, fill in what Daniel has shared with him. Dr asks a couple of questions, and all the while he's touching me, following the lymph channels from my head/neck/shoulders and front clavicle area. I show him my underarm and he sees it right away. You know how health care people are--wow, what's that--and he's all about checking that out. That's good, because that's why I'm there. I tell him that I saw the surgeon for it, without much resolution. Ok, he gets serious. He has me sit on the table, and he checks my spine from the top down, then back up. Ok, he says. He positions my arms the way he wants them, moves me around, and crack, crack, like popcorn. He seems surprised as he says "Oh, that was easy", and goes on to re-adjust and re-align most anything that will move on the upper part of my body. He then takes my left arm and hand and moves things around--by now, I'm busy concentrating on breathing, because it hurts pretty good. He's holding the sore spot on the elbow with one hand and doing something in the shoulder with the other--ooowwww--I'm breathing, and my eyes want to leak. Shoot, I think to myself, I hope he's doing some good in there.....

He's done, and helps me sit up. Or so I think. He takes my right foot and moves that around, then my left foot, and pays more attention to it, using pressure points and talking about "channels" and nerves and "balance". Yeah, ok, as long as you fix me. Already my hand is feeling better.

He tells me he thinks we'll be able to make a difference in that armpit, and he has me raise my arm again. The chord is still there, a little less pronounced, and my whole arm feels not so tight. He says it will take a day or two to balance out, and wants to see me again Monday. I work Monday and Tuesday, so I made an appointment for Wednesday, 11:00.

Tonight I think the hand, and forearm in general, look better. My hand tingles like its getting a blood supply, my armpit is kind of achy. I hope this stuff resolves. I've still got my head not keeping up with my body, too.

I get home and am hungry. I cook outside on the grill (the complex has grills out in several locations for us to use--ours is very conveniently near) and go back inside to eat. Yum.

The evening passes. I've had a couple of phone calls today, thank you for calling. Daniel is happy with his adventure, looking forward to golfing tomorrow if there's no rain. He'll be home sometime tomorrow afternoon/evening.

All of your cards, phone calls, emails, comments, hugs, and well wishes are so very important to me. I am anxious about this next phase of treatment, again not knowing how my body will respond and what side effects, if any, I will experience. I keep the visual of the colors handy, and am able to breathe and say a little prayer for God's strength, and can refocus my own energies to lessen my anxiety a bit.

Thank you.