Mexico in Shannon's Words (Part 2)

Shannon: 

January 5, 2011

At the airport

I thoroughly enjoyed my time in Mexico and successfully achieved my goal of getting absolutely not one bit more of color than I came with. The day before we left it was a snow blizzard in Maryland. We got to enjoy a bit of the winter white and then it was off to the airport to make our way down south and to the warmth of Mexico. We were supposed to leave at 10:30am and ended up flying sometime around 2:00pm. Not too bad all things considered.

It was the first time that I have flown since having my ancillary lymph node dissection. I followed precautions and put on my compression sleeve and gauntlet about an hour and a half before the flight. When I arrived in Mexico I noticed that my fingers looked very swollen. I was worried that the flying had caused me to get some swelling. However, the entire flight and after it I felt like the gauntlet piece was very uncomfortable. After about 45 minutes after landing I decided to take off just the gauntlet. After about 10 minutes I noticed that the swelling in my fingers was gone. When we arrived at the hotel 2 hours later I took off the compression sleeve and did not notice any swelling in my arm or hand.

Our trip was so nice and relaxing. I had just finished my sixth cycle of treatment and needed a nice relaxing time with my husband to just breathe, have some adventure, and enjoy life.

The first couple of days we were there we really just ate, read, sat on the beach, and went for walks together. We enjoyed this time very much. We especially enjoyed the second day when the sun came out nice and bright and all the iguanas came out of hiding to sun themselves.

Unlike the iguanas, I am not allowed to bask in the sun unfettered and unprotected. I took extra precautions to protect myself from the sun. I coated myself with Fallen’s COTZ sunblock. This is a very nice product. I only use it on my face because I can’t use regular or even standard sensitive skin sunblock on my face. This is the only thing that doesn’t irritate my eyes. I end up using very little so it is worth the price. For the rest of me I used a 70 spf waterproof sunblock. I also re-applied my sunblock not only according to the directions on the bottle, but also every time I swam and then dried off. I also wore a hat and sat under umbrellas at the pool or beach and also wore a coverup.

On the day we went to Chichen-Itza I decided that I did not need my compression sleeve and gauntlet. We did a whole lot of walking! I loaded up on the sunblock like our days on the beach and also wore a hat. During some of the tour guide’s talks the group was standing directly in the sun. I chose to forgo part of these learning experiences and stand in the shade on my own. It was incredibly fascinating and I was able to hear enough during the talks in the shady parts of the area that I did not feel my experience was in any way incomplete.

On Christmas Eve day we went to swim with the dolphins. I did wear my compression sleeve, but not my gauntlet because of it bothering my hand so much when I was flying. Now, salt and oil breaks down the special weave of fibers that the compression garments are made of. What I did was ask the place where I get my compression garments from what to do while swimming in salt water. I wore my old compression sleeve and immediately cleaned it when I got back from swimming with the dolphins.



That night at dinner I ate some thing that I was allergic to. I broke out in hives all over both arms, neck, and legs. I chose not to see a medic because my airways were not in any way restricted and I was having no trouble breathing. I had brought Benadryl with me and chose to take that as recommended. The hives lasted long after our vacation had ended. They were pretty much gone about a week after they popped up.

Our last two days were spent in lazy enjoyment. Ben played golf, we went shopping in Playa Del Carmen, (where I found a Starbucks!), and I got a hot stone massage and pedi-cure at the hotel spa. Now, one of the precautions one should take to prevent lymphedema is to avoid massages on that area. I simply told the spa that I could not be massaged on my right arm, shoulder, and the surrounding area of my arm. It was not a problem and I got to enjoy the perfect relaxing day.


I suppose now it is back to reality and New Year’s resolutions. I don’t usually make any, but I think I am going to this year…even if they will start a month late.

Last picture we took together in Mexico

The Day Filled with Laughter and The One Day I Cried (Part 5)

(Read Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, & Part 4)

Shannon:

"I trudged through the day, my nurse tried to hang each IV bag as fast as she could so that I would be done as fast as possible. Each bag took at least an hour though and the time ticked by slowly as I waited through the day.

Lunch time provided much needed comic relief. It was time, time for the mullet. I had an awesome nurse who really got into it with me and came up with the best redneck pose for the mullet of all time." 



"She realized my chap stick tin looked just like chewing tobacco. She then had the comic and brilliant idea to put left over coffee grounds or instant coffee in the bottom of my empty water bottle to look like a spit container. After we added a little gauze to my lip, I really looked like I was doing chew. We laughed so hard we could barely take the pictures."

"Next came the Mohawk. I had already thought of doing fake knuckle tattoos. I figured it out that we could spell out BAD KITTY across my knuckles."



"We snapped more Mohawk pictures with my knuckles facing out like the hardcore thug I most certainly am not."

"Then came the moment of truth- a completely shaved head. I honestly thought that I would get a little soggy and emotional at seeing myself with no hair. I had spent practically my whole life with hair down to at least my waist and now I had nothing. I thought I would feel naked and unattractive.

I was pleasantly surprised at how comfortable I felt with no hair. I really did look like an artsy Sinead O'Conner. I have a nice round head and it suited me. I decided not to wear my wig until I started to look patchy and shiny."

"Then the distraction from the day was over. I spent the rest of the day in silent pursuits in my room with my husband for company and thought about how disappointed I was to not be going home. When it was time for my husband to pack up and go home all the emotions just caught up to me.

I started crying. I was crying because I wanted to be home. I wanted to lie in bed with my husband. I desired it with an ache that hurt me through my chest and stomach. I missed him so much that I could hardly stand it. I wanted him in bed with me even wanted to hear his annoying snore and argue with him about rolling over. I wanted to be in my bed and be woken up way too early in the morning by a cold wet cat nose. I wanted to be HOME!"

"My husband, Ben, delayed his departure from my room and managed to squeeze his 6'3", 240 some odd pound frame on the tiny hospital bed with me. We spooned and cuddled until I felt calmer. As we laid there talking, I asked him to lay hands on me and pray, in Jesus name, for my counts to come up the next day. I was sick of being in the hospital. I wanted to go home with my husband."