The summer from hell

This summer has bothered me more than any other. I don't know if it's because I'm older and I'm less heat tolerant, or if it's due to our current location, or if it's due to the massive heatwave that has hovered over the southeast. It's probably a combination of all three! In any event, I hate it. 

I wonder if the horrible heat is a byproduct of the cloud seeding that the government has been doing for some time. Messing with the ozone layer is not a good thing. 

When I think about how hot it is, I can't help but imagine what hell would feel like. Can you imagine having scorching heat 24 hours a day 365 days a year for eternity? I can't! 

Finding ways to stay cool is a challenge. We get up early and get our walking in before 10:00 a.m. Between the hours of 10:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m., we stay indoors. I've never been so thankful for air conditioning in my entire life. 

I grew up with no air conditioning. We had an attic fan, and windows. As a child, I didn't notice it that much. But as I grew older, I realized how unfortunate we were. Yes, we had a roof over our heads, but it would have been so much nicer to have air conditioning like all of my friends did. We couldn't afford it number one and number two, our house had no insulation so if we had been able to afford air conditioning, the coolness would not have stayed inside our home. 

I keep thinking I need to move to a cooler climate, perhaps one of the Carolinas or Tennessee. Who knows, maybe in another year or two, we'll make the decision to pull up roots and start again somewhere. 

For now, I'm doing the best I can to stay cool. I wear lightweight clothing, pull my hair up, stay indoors when I need to, and enjoy the early morning hours and late evening hours when possible. 

I feel terrible complaining about the heat when there are so many around the world who are worse off than we are. I guess you could say we've gotten spoiled. I like the cooler weather, I love air conditioning, and I like to be comfortable. I guess I am a little spoiled.

The photo below is of St Mark's lighthouse. It's one of the places we enjoy visiting when we go to Florida. Speaking of Florida, that's another hot place, but being near the ocean is always enjoyable especially when we can feel a nice ocean breeze.

Step into my world

It's been a while since I've written an honest, open, and raw post about how things are going in my life so I decided today would be a good day to do just that. I know reading my posts on grand spiritual insights can get tedious and sometimes boring if the reader isn't quite in the mood for such heavy fodder, but don't worry, today will be light and airy.

It's the end of April and soon, I'll be celebrating 2 years of being in remission. (July 9th is my actual "cancerversary") It's hard to believe 2 years have passed by so quickly. Although I say they've passed quickly, some days felt like they'd never end. It's been pretty hard to look at my calendar and see an average of 1-3 doctors appointments scheduled every single month. Some months there are more but never less than 1. Sometimes I feel like a bug under glass...a science experiment gone terribly wrong. But I'm thankful for attentive doctors and though the appointments get tiresome, at least I know my medical team is keeping a close eye on me just in case something unique pops up. Everything I've read about breast cancer lets me know this process will continue until after I've reached the 5 year mark and then, although things might slow down a bit, I'll be under close scrutiny for the rest of my life. It's just a fact I have to learn to live with and that's a small price to pay for being alive.

Summer is sneaking in stealthily and with the Georgia heat intensifying, I'm finding it more difficult to stay cool. At home, I usually stay indoors enjoying the air conditioning but when I go out, with my prostheses and my compression sleeves on, I'm hot! I'm so hot I feel like I just want to strip naked and throw modesty out the window. I'm dreading going back for Lymphedema treatments. Next week, I'll start back with regular visits to the therapist. I'm hoping she won't do the wrapping like she did last time. Wrapping is worse than just wearing the compression sleeves. At least with the sleeves, I can pull them down or take them off whenever I need some relief but when I'm wrapped, I have to leave the wrapping on for a long time and it's so uncomfortable. Let me walk you through the process so you can understand a little better. I'll drive to the hospital and go into the physical therapy clinic. I'll meet with the CLT (the Certified Lymphedema Therapist) and she'll take me back to a dimly lit room. She'll ask me to lie down on a table and she'll put on some soft music...yes, sounds a little freaky, doesn't it? She'll begin to slowly massage each arm and my upper body. It takes about an hour to complete the therapy session and when she's done, she'll have me sit up on the side of the table. She'll raise the lights a bit and take some rolled cotton out of a box. She'll start wrapping my arms, one at a time, like a mummy. After she's got each arm wrapped securely with the cotton, she'll go back and apply an ACE bandage over the top of each arm and fasten it with a little metal fastener near my wrists. After I'm "mummified," I'll get dressed and leave the office. It will be difficult to drive home like this but I'll manage somehow. I'll pray all the way home that I don't get stopped for a traffic violation because I don't want anyone to see me this way and I surely wouldn't know how to explain it fast enough for them to understand. The therapy sessions usually start out with 5 sessions a week and then taper down to 3. I have no idea how many weeks I'll be going this time but I do know I have to go until my insurance approves the recirculating compression pump system my oncologist ordered for me. When they approve that, I'll be able to have treatment at home and there will be no more wrapping!

I continue to take all of my natural supplements to stay alive. This morning, I was looking at the bottles of everything I take and I wondered how my poor liver has been able to keep up. I'm thankful I did a liver detox last week and I think it helped tremendously. I've made a mental note to continue doing that on a monthly basis. Would you like to know what I take daily? Here goes:
Matcha green tea
Chlorophyll
Ashwagandha
Turmeric
Vitamin D2
Vitamin C
Potassium
Magnesium
Biotin
Coconut Oil
Fish Oil
Flax seed
In addition to all the natural supplements I'm taking, I'm also trying to eat tons of organic fruits and veggies. I try, but don't always, manage to get in an hour a day of walking. Some days I just don't feel like it so I don't. With all the housework I do around here, I'm sure I get enough physical activity to counter balance scheduled walking.

It seems my house has become a gathering place for extended family lately and it's been nice to have lots of company. Many of my days are spent alone for the majority of the day.  It's been nice to enjoy some pleasant conversation and visiting with loved ones.

Hubby and I are still trying to figure out when or if we'll be able to take a vacation this year. It depends on how I'm doing physically and whether or not we have enough money to get away. Medical bills continue to pile up and seem to be never ending. It's frustrating! We try to plan little mini trips around town so we don't always feel like we're depriving ourselves of doing anything fun. A week long vacation to the beach would be better than any medication the doctor could order. The ocean always refreshes and revives me. It's been calling my name for weeks now....

I continue to write for the breast cancer magazine. I enjoy sharing my experiences with others and it's really nice to be paid for my work! I also continue to review books for several Christian publishing companies. In exchange for my reviews, I receive free books. It's a win win situation for both of us. And then there's always my blog...my creative outlet...my place to vent and share my deepest thoughts. It's helped me process my thoughts and manage to stay sane. And that's the most recent update from my world. Things are going well and I'm thankful for that. Hopefully things will continue to run smoothly for the rest of the Summer. I like having no drama in my life. It's been great to be able to function without stress. Shouldn't everyone enjoy a life without stress? I think stress is one of the main causes of health problems in America today and it more than likely contributes to all the cases of cancer we're seeing on a daily basis.

I hope you have a wonderful weekend and most of all, I wish you peace and God's best blessings. Rest. Relax. Take time for yourself. Let love be your guide. Life is short. Don't waste a single minute.

© bonnie annis all rights reserved

Sweaty boobs and swollen arms

Summer is a challenging month for many women. We don't like sweat. It's unattractive and bothersome. We don't enjoy having to reapply our makeup or wear ultra strength deodorant to keep ourselves looking and smelling pleasant. But add to those minor inconveniences the challenges of having to wear silicone prostheses and compression sleeves for Lymphedema and you get some pretty hot ladies! No, I'm not talking about hot as in extremely good looking...I'm talking about hot as in lots of heat, as in who turned up the thermostat to 120 degrees?! The excessive heat of Summer is instantly compounded by having to wear these medically necessary items. So what's a girl to do?

My first Summer after having bilateral mastectomies, I went without prostheses. My scars were still pretty raw and I didn't like to have anything rubbing against my skin. I found cotton tank tops provided just enough coverage while at the same time kept me cool and dry. It wasn't a problem to wear those around home but when I wanted to go out to dinner or visit friends, I needed to dress more appropriately and that meant wearing my prostheses.

When I went for my first fitting, the breast specialist spent a lot of time with me. I tried on several different styles of prostheses and was amazed at the different types available. My fitter brought in a flesh colored pair of breast forms with a clear backing. She explained they were a new model. The clear gel diamond backing was specially formulated to help keep my skin cool. I hadn't given a single thought to the prostheses and how they would feel against my skin. I naturally assumed, since they were silicone, they'd be cool but that was not the case. Even inside the mastectomy bra, the regular prostheses picked up my body heat. Discovering the difference between the normal silicone prostheses and the newer cool gel backed ones made my choice an easy one. But even on a hot Georgia day, rivers of sweat trickle down my chest when I wear my prostheses. The cool gel backing helps but doesn't make Summer easy. I don't like having sweaty boobs so 9 times out of 10, I don't wear my prostheses. It's just a lot more comfortable not to wear them and a whole lot cooler, too. Silicone prostheses aren't the only challenge contributing to a miserable Summer. Lymphedema also brings its own set of issues. 

One of the major long term complications after lymph node removal is Lymphedema, an uncomfortable swelling in the arms. With the disruption of the normal lymphatic flow, the lymphatic fluid often collects in the extremities and causes painful swelling. At the time of my bilateral mastectomy, I had lymph nodes in both arms removed and found out months later that I was the lucky recipient of not only one arm with Lymphedema, but two. At first, the swelling was pretty manageable with elevation and manual lymphatic drainage performed by a certified Lymphedema Massage Therapist but, as the warm Summer months began, the swelling increased. My breast surgeon recommended compression sleeves and gauntlets to help keep the swelling down. Every morning, I donned my cool gel prostheses and my compression sleeves. I felt like I was putting on battle gear. As long as I was inside with air conditioning it was bearable but outside, in the heat, it was a different story. So what to do? I had to wear the sleeves and gauntlets. If I didn't, the swelling would become unmanageable. The Lymphedema sleeves I had been prescribed were made of a very tight Spandex® type material. They were not breathable and trapped my body heat inside them. I knew I couldn't go through the entire Summer with sweaty boobs and swollen arms or I'd swelter, so I got online and did some research. I found a website called LympheDIVAS. They sell arm sleeves with a new type of technology called Coolmax®. It allows the sleeves to wick away moisture from the skin by helping it evaporate and cool down faster. I was so happy to have found a solution to my problem! Now, I could keep my chest and arms cool but I still had one more problem to deal with in order to stay cool for the Summer. 

Lymphedema caused my arms to swell so much that I couldn't wear normal sized blouses or tops. The sleeves were not big enough to hold my massive arms. Even with the compression sleeves, my upper arms were massive. If I bought shirts in a larger size, I might be able to find one that fit in the arm area but I'd just look sloppy and unkempt everywhere else. While most women enjoy the comfort of wearing sleeveless or short sleeved tops in the Summer, I liked to stay as covered as possible to hide my swollen arms and fake boobs. Trying to do both of these presented a challenge. There weren't many choices available in fashionable women's apparel. There weren't blouses that provided adequate coverage and cool comfort at the same time. Once again, I had to do some research. I began strictly searching for Lymphedema apparel. It seemed there weren't many choices for those who suffer upper arm Lymphedema. I couldn't find a single site dedicated to clothing for women with upper arm swelling. Of course, there were Dolman sleeves, cap sleeves, butterfly sleeves, Caftan type shirts...but all of these were not currently in style. Most of those styles were popular in the 70's. So how can women who suffer from Lymphedema today dress stylishly and still meet their needs to wear non-restrictive clothing? Unless you are a seamstress or know someone who is, you'll have to compromise and accept one of the types of blouses with the sleeves I previously mentioned. By visiting a website like Shopstyle and searching for a loose, flowing type blouse you'll probably find something to suit your needs. Maybe a local retail store offers other types of shirts to camouflage the swelling Lymphedema creates. Perhaps in the future, clothing manufacturers will realize there is a huge market for clothing geared specifically toward those who suffer from upper arm Lymphedema. I certainly hope so because it would help make hot days much more pleasant and help folks like me remain cool, calm and collected instead of having to focus on sweaty boobs and swollen arms. 

© bonnie annis all rights reserved