Since my last post, the chest pain got better after scaling back on exercise the chest area. I haven't needed pain meds. I still got the CT though, which showed couple of nodules in the right lung, but apparently they are two small to do anything about and I was told not to worry about it since I have no risk factors for lung cancer. The surgeon also wanted to me to keep exercising my chest muscles since the scar tissues attached to them need to be stretched out. I also had my 3 months follow-up with the radiation oncologist and she also said I needed to stretch the chest muscles daily... possibly for the rest of my life. Right now I still have the pain around the deep tissue scars near the surgical sites. My radiated breast is also pretty tender, and when I stretch, it feels like tissues in my breast are tearing. It's worrying that my healing is going a lot slower than everyone expects.
On the bright side, my fatigue has improved. I don't feel quite as tired these days and have been having more good days. My boyfriend was sick for good part of December though, and I did at times feel like something was coming on, but by the next day I was feeling better. I was really worried about getting sick since I got sick a lot this past year and a half, and each time it took weeks for me to recover. I just really did not want to go through anything like that now after the year I had, and with the holidays and all.
In late November and early December I did end up taking couple of FMLA days for my fatigue, but by end of the month I was putting in a full 40-hour week. Although I managed, I did find it somewhat tiring, and I didn't like that it interfered with my workouts. I still exercised 3-4 times a week, but not as much as I would have if I wasn't working. I definitely felt a lot better when I wasn't working. I had been thinking a lot about quitting my job to live life more the way I want to. I was originally thinking of quitting in February or late January. Now that I'm realizing how much better I feel on my days off, I'm now thinking about putting in my two weeks notice on Monday. It's a scary thought, since I have a mammogram on January 7th and there's no guarantee I'll be in the clear. Quitting now means I'll be paying $800+ a month for health insurance with no income, and I lose my short and long-term disability insurance. I put in my 60-day notice to my landlord though, so I am also losing my home. I don't want to stay in my expensive apartment too long if I am unemployed. By March, I want to be free to go whereever. I just hope my January scans don't mess up my plans.
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