How Are You?

That's a question I get a lot these days.
I guess the answer to that is that I'm doing pretty well, considering the surgery that I've had. I'm doing everything now that I did before, changing diapers, doing dishes, doing laundry, etc, just a bit slower than I used to.
I do experience a bit of pain with my incision. Mostly, that is coming from the healing process. My doctor's nurse informed me that the twinges and itching that I am feeling is from the fibers that are repairing the area. The only thing is that when I get one of those "twinges" it stops me in my tracks and I usually jump from the feeling. It's almost as if a small electrical charge is being applied to my body. Such a strange feeling!
Something I didn't really anticipate happening was my reaction to having an incision that is so visible to the public. I am normally not a self conscious person, but I find myself not wanting to be alone in public because of the looks that I have received from some people.
My left arm is a bit of an issue as well, something that I wasn't expecting but is totally normal. Evidently my doctor needed to strip down the nerve that supplies my upper muscles (deltoid, sternocleidomastoid, etc) that allows me to lift my arm and it is one mad nerve. This presents itself as me not being able to lift my arm fully and experiencing a bit of pain from that. I have been told to make sure and use my arm in normal, everyday activities and I will see some improvement from just those movements. I have found that this is true. While in the hospital and early last week I could hardly lift my arm at all and now I can lift it just over half way. It still makes it difficult to do some everyday activities (brush my hair, flat iron my hair, shave, put on deodorant, etc), but I do those things anyway with the knowledge that it will come back.
I will go see my endocrinologist on Wednesday to get a plan laid out for when I need to complete my one radiation treatment and scan and will be pushing for that to happen sooner rather than later.
Tomorrow, Tuesday, is the first day that I'm going to be alone all day with the children and, frankly, I'm looking forward to it. The kids are so out of sorts after having people in and out of the house and not being on the strict schedule that they are so used to and crave. I am going to get them back to normal this week and then I start back to work next Monday. I guess more than anything I'm ready to get my life back and not think about having cancer anymore. It seems that's going to happen sooner rather than later and I'm so glad!