Friday 10.16.2009

The alarm came on at 0800 this morning. Ugh. If it were any other kind of optional appointment, I would have opted out and gone back to sleep. But this was my massage appointment. I drug myself out of bed. Washed up, drank water. I wasn't going to have breakfast, but then I saw I had time, and I was starting to get hungry. I ate, and it was time to leave.

Leah did a good job, as always. She is working more and more, bit by bit, on the fluid in my arm and around back over my ribs. When she was doing the back/rib area, the tissue felt like a wet sponge to me. She said it was visibly full. Great. My appointment with Ike isn't until November 2. But, this helps.

Back at home, I was just going into the house when the phone rang. It was Penny from the rehab place. She received the prescription for therapy, and would I like to schedule sooner? I responded that we weren't able to coordinate dates any sooner than what we did. She told me that she had a cancellation with Ike at 1:00, it was an hour time slot, and would I like that appointment??

Would I??? Oh, Yeah!!! Yes, please. Thanks. Thank you God. I must really need this appointment if He made it happen for today. Good.

So I showered, drank more water, and before leaving had a half sandwich and milk, and left for therapy.

Ike was happy to see me, and I her. She smiled and hugged me, and we went into a treatment room. She looked me over, saying that the fullness was very visible from the back, across the scapula (shoulder blade) and ribs, and the back of my upper arm. She mentioned that the arm was even dimpled or pucker-y. Great. Then she took several measurements around each arm, from the mid-upper arm on down to the breadth of each hand. And guess what--we have measured proof that the left arm is larger than the right. So I feel validated. I guess it bothers me that when I feel the fluid collecting and I get uncomfortable and achy and punky feeling and itchy in the tissues and I communicate all of that, that I have to wait until the measurements prove it. I don't want to wait until I puff up. I want to have that fluid moved out of there before the measurements increase, when I feel it happening.

Anyway, after the assessment was done, she started working on me. I think she was surprised at just how much fluid was in my back and side areas, as well the arm and breast. It was a bit uncomfortable during the process, but even with only a half hour treatment, I felt a little better.

Back at home, I'm really feeling punky now. Lymph fluid is another one of the processes that removes waste from the body, and it's been puddling. Now that it's been moved, that crud is circulating and trying to be excreted. I ended up drinking another 32 ounces of water, and of course, water out. And it was smelly. Eww. I decided to lay down for a nap before Dan got home.

Just as I was going in to use the restroom before my nap, Dan called to say he had been able to leave early (which is good, because as a salaried person he doesn't get overtime--he's got lots of time "banked") and he would be home soon. I decided not to lay down until after he got here.

We visited a bit, but I wasn't much company. He had made plans to "hit some balls" with another guy, and he left. I went in and laid on the bed.

When I woke it was 6 pm. Dan was home. Hm. I had slept over an hour. I felt just a smidgen better. More water.

We talked about dinner, and decided to ask Bre and Nick to meet us somewhere. He made the arrangements. It seemed like forever, and after a while I asked when we were leaving. He said, "when they get here". Oh. They finally showed up about 7.

Dan drove us to the Olive Garden, which is on the northeast side of Lansing. And there was a 35 minute wait. Ugh. We signed in and got our pager. I suggested we walk over to Dick's Sporting Goods to pass the time instead of standing around in the crammed foyer. So we did.

We browsed. I tried on a pair of shoes, which didn't fit in any of the three sizes I tried on, and Bre found some "warmwear" running clothes--jacket and tights. By then our half hour was up and we headed back.

And we were seated 5 minutes later. That worked out well.

We had a great dinner, came home, Bre and Nick went up to the clubhouse to work out, and Dan went to bed.

When they came back, they visited a bit before they left to go home. It was good to see them.

I wrote here. I still feel a little punky, but I expected to. It will get better. My next appointment with Ike is the November 2 one. But at least we got started.

Tomorrow Dan is going to Grayling? to golf. He's got his "warmwear" out and ready. I'm hoping to feel better.

Thank you for reading. Hugs.