Palliative Care

I’ve had my first palliative care appointment, and it was nice. I spoke to a special Nurse Practitioner about my cancer story, my recovery so far, what goals I have before returning to work, and much more. We spent about an hour together, and she was very kind and good listener. I am going to meet with her again in three weeks, on the same day I come in for another Sandostatin shot. She is also going to refer me to a physical therapist to help me stretch out my incision scar, and a regular therapist to talk out the heavy stuff around having cancer.

Speaking of the scar, I’d say the most discomfort and pain I’m in now is around it’s tightness, which is causing me to still walk around hunched over. Also, about an inch of the incision hasn’t closed up yet, so I’ve started packing it with fresh dressing three times a day (my doc thinks I’ll need to do this for only about a week). Honestly changing the dressing is kinda gross, but hey, it needs to get done. I still have pain in my liver region and a few other spots, so I think I must be still healing up inside. I’m down to needing only 2-3 maximum strength Tylenol per day though, so that’s good.

I keep saying this, but every day is a tiny bit better. A little less pain and discomfort. Slow and steady wins the race! My appetite is slowly returning, and I’ve started to put on weight again. I’ve been told that patients lose about 10% of their body weight after a surgery like mine. I lost 13 pounds (135 to 123), but I’ve rounded the corner and am back up to 125. Woo! 135 was a good, healthy weight for me, and I’d be happy to be that again.

It’s surprising how tired I still am. I’ve started to have the energy to help out around the house a little more: washing a few dishes, starting a load of laundry, making my own lunch, etc. but after exerting myself I need to go lay down and rest, which usually turns into the daily nap. I need to remember to keep taking it easy and not push myself too far too fast. I made a goal for myself to get back on my treadmill on November 1st, even if it’s just for VERY short daily walks.