There never seems to be a dull moment in my life these days, but I guess when you’re fighting for your life against an enemy you can’t see, it makes sense. 

These less than dull moments just seem harder when I’m homesick. We’ve already rescheduled flights home once. It appears we may have to do so again.

What my doctors think is an infection hasn’t been responding to the antibiotics as we have hoped. It hasn’t gotten worse which is good but I’m afraid to come home and have that change. It could possibly be the beginnings of necrosis (skin death) on the radiated skin that was left after the mastectomy. Radiated skin and blood vessels have a more difficult time healing than healthy skin. The hardest part about this is that we don’t actually know for sure what is going on yet. So, this morning, an ultrasound was performed to look for any possible fluid buildup that could be harboring an infection. Fluid was indeed found, so I now have another appointment tomorrow to drain the fluid. I believe it will then be sent off for testing. Results will take 3-5 days. The real question is whether the surgeon will release me to head home before results come in. 

No one wants an infection, but it seems more easily treated. Not much can be done for necrosis other than wound care and time. Time is not something I have an abundance of right now. My oncologist would like me to start chemotherapy in about four weeks; compromised wound healing and necrosis could prevent me from starting on time. In most cases, immunotherapy could be used to bridge the gap; however, I’m not a candidate for that type of treatment so sticking to the original plan/timeline is important.

If all of that didn’t seem complicated and stressful enough, I noticed something odd in my routine bloodwork yesterday. The last 3-4 times my blood work has been drawn, I’ve noticed that something has been high and slowly increasing. If you know me, you know that I’ve been researching it since that first higher than normal result. The elevated level could be a sign of a handful of less than great things so I asked my oncologist about it when I saw him yesterday. He seemed mostly unconcerned by it but ordered another blood test. It also came back elevated. The two together could mean an issue with my liver; not necessarily cancer but the chemotherapy could have caused some sort of damage or a blockage could be present. So now I have an MRI of my liver scheduled for when I’m supposed to (finally) be on a plane back home. Sigh.

I’m still positive that I’m going to kick this thing’s ass but, man, it certainly has dealt a couple good blows this week. I’ve definitely been a little less smiley but that mostly has to do with my need to be home. My kids have been happy and strong but they want us home. I want us home.

Well-timed, angiosarcoma, but I’m not giving up. I’m coming for you.