#27 April Update

Just touching base with the few folks who are following along with our journey. Since the surgery the battle has shifted to Becky's joints. Her left shoulder and right hip give her near constant debilitating pain. As you might suspect this makes walking and grooming a considerable struggle for her. (Try working a curling iron with one hand)

After a communications misfire with the Arlington Cancer Center, which resulted in us missing her first scheduled set of MRI scans, we're finally back on track to get those done. So on the 5th of May they have 4 hours of time blocked out for Becky to get her shoulder, spine and hips scanned. The x-rays tell us very little beyond the fact that there is an increased uptake of the marker in her shoulder and hip joint. That could either be accounted for by cancer or by localized inflammation resulting from arthritis or bursitis as all three will result in increased blood flow to the area. The MRI generates such a detailed image that we'll finally know for certain exactly what we are dealing with now.

As far as the after effects of the surgery go she is doing quite well. The incision has healed nicely however there is still a bit of swelling in one area. This is probably a result of the reconnection of underlying muscle tissue which has not yet returned to a normal position. The fact that she has only very limited use of her left arm is likely the major culprit in this problem. Were she able to exercise a full range of motion and thus work the chest muscle more often then that tissue would have likely flattened by now.

Other than the fact that the constant pain is beginning to really wear on her both physically and mentally she is still doing very well overall. Her weight as stabilized between 135 and 140 which is 100 pounds lighter than her pre-cancer weight. I'm thankful for that because I doubt if she could move at all if her hip joint had to carry that additional load. No doubt she could safely loose an additional 10 pounds and still be just fine for her height and build. I personally have no problem with her current weight. What I do notice, however, is that overall her muscle mass and tone are well south of idea. This is attributable to her inability to do any sort of exercise in her current condition.

I'll post an update again around the middle of May by which time we'll have the results of her MRI scans back.

Until then..... Peace