Where did May go?

Whoa! May came and went in what seems like a blink of an eye. I remember what I was doing last year on this day. It was my first chemotherapy treatment and I was scared. One year later, I continue to reflect on the past year with many different emotions. It feels great to be on the other side now and to let people know that you can get past those challenges and enjoy the good things in life once again. There are still those private moments where you think...what if this or that, but I'm so glad to be where I am because last year, this year couldn't be here soon enough.

I'm feeling pretty good. One of the lingering side effects of therapy is the neuropathy. (numbness and tingling) It is limited to my fingertips now and it's definitely better than it was last fall. But as I neared the end of radiation therapy I complained of achey joints which is normal when you go through the treatment that I did. All joints were affected and oddly my thumb joints were part of that too. My right thumb was bothered more than the left but it slowly started to get more painful, tight and a feeling of being locked up. It seemed to get really bad at the beginning of February and started affecting my wrist. I never mentioned it here because I figured it would bother me for a little while and subside. Four months later, it's still a problem. Turns out I've got something called DeQuervain's Tenosynovitis??? I know, it's bizarre. It is inflammation of the tendon on the thumb side of the hand and two specific muscles in the forearm and their tendons travel across the wrist. Of course you can get this without having chemotherapy but I'm willing to bet that it's all related for me. So I'm dealing with it. It's basically just taking loads of IBUprofen, icing and resting it (yeah right). I did break down after eight weeks and have a shot of cortisone. It helped initially but I can't say that it cured it, I'm still nursing it.

So as I said, May flew by. It was tons of fun........I participated in a weekend long festival, The May Day Fairie festival, something I helped out with every year but had to miss last year because of surgery. I was happy to be there once again. Then we spent Mother's day with my mom at the beach. Next was Relay for Life, the American Cancer Society's signature event. I am proud to say that I raised $1000 for my team who raised the highest amount coming in at $11,000! Thank you to all that supported my effort! I participated with my sister who is my inspiration. Memorial weekend was spent in beautiful Savannah Georgia visiting with good friends. So I must say this summer is looking up compared to last so far.

In less than two weeks I will see my surgeon for a check up. I'll update the blog after that appointment. I'm so excited that summer is just around the corner! Enjoy the outdoors!