It's still HOT HOT HOT in Arizona

Yes, I've been missing for a bit - sorry. There's plenty to report, too!

Had my Herceptin IV last Tuesday, and it went just fine, again. My blood work was excellent too, always good news! And I'm really feeling great! Pretty much back to normal, as normal as can be with half inch long hair, one boob and a club on my arm!

It's really not all that bad - my spirits are better every day as I get stronger! But it is totally strange to me that my appetite is pretty much non-existent, and I'm not eating anywhere near as much as usual, and my tummy is just bloated and soft and seems to be growing, even though I'm losing weight. That Femara drug is just weird. Guess that means I need to make some adjustments, since I'm stuck with the drug for 5 years, assuming I live that long! :o)

The lymphedema glove and sleeve arrived and I went in for the 'fitting' on Friday. Good and bad news - I've been so good about wearing that damn club for the past couple weeks that my arm is about 3/4 of an inch smaller at almost all the measurement sites, so the sleeve, the 'custom made' sleeve, is too big. It has to go back to be taken in. Another two weeks or so before I get it back.

The girls were kind enough to provide me with a lower grade, standard sleeve to wear in the interim, so I don't have to wear the club 24 hours/day. And I have to tell you - that is a TREAT!!!! Still have to 'club-up' every night at bedtime, but it's heaven not to have to lug it around all day long!

The glove itself is a drag - and after wearing it a couple days, I think it needs to be re-worked too. It cuts off the circulation in my thumb and middle finger - they are totally numb almost all the time. So I've quit wearing it and will call the gals tomorrow for advice.

The texture of the glove that you see here is the same as the full arm sleeve will be when I get it back. This isn't the 'support' stocking look that we think of - this is a serious heavy weave support. Oh well.

Other than that, there is some good news. After the results of the DEXA test, my bone mineral density problems and potential for more problems because of the Femara, my insurance has approved the drug Zometa (zoledronic acid) for me.

Zoledronic Acid is a bisphosphonate, used to treat post-menopausal osteoporosis. Different compounds treat slightly different situations. I had asked for Reclast, because we see that one advertised all the time. It's a once a year treatment, but it's specialty is slightly different. Zometa is a twice a year IV injection and is considered even more effective when used in conjunction with several cancer therapies! I received the first dose last Tuesday when I received my regular Herceptin treatment. No side effects!!! Actually, that's not entirely true. I did have a couple days of diarrhea, but I'm so used to having the runs for the last several months that it didn't even register until I typed that!
And it's good that there is all that good news, because summer here continues - and it's been HOT. September set all kinds of records for heat - most 100 degree days, latest 104 degree day on record, yada yada yada.

Unfortunately for me, I moved from my 'summer' location to my 'winter' home (moved sites in the same RV park, and had no choice - the other winter visitors were returning to their reserved site), and I only have 30 amp power here in my site. That means I can't run both air conditioners at the same time. When it's 100 degrees or more, that means it's 95 degrees or more in at least half the RV at any one time. So I run the bedroom a/c for a while (when I'm playing on the computer) and then run the unit in the main room (which isn't big enough by itself to cool the living area). In the afternoon, I go back to the bedroom (a smaller area) and stay as cool as possible, returning to the living area after the sun goes down.

It didn't help that I was blowing my main circuit breaker in the park on a regular basis, when I turned on anything other than the fridge and one a/c and the TV or radio. The park manager finally gave me a key to the pool hall (still locked during the summer) where the breaker box for my site is located, so I could go reset the thing when it pops. It appeared to be two 15amp breakers, instead of one 30amp unit, and even though it only popped one side, both had to be reset repeatedly to get the power back.

I lucked into running into the electrician yesterday when he was trying to find another problem - told him of my situation and he took a look. He was quite surprised to see the set-up and replaced it for me. Still can't run both a/c units (that's to be expected), but I can live a normal life otherwise! So things are looking up. And the weatherman is saying that starting tomorrow, the weather will be about 10 degrees cooler! My little house can keep up with that!