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#19 – Shut Up Liver, You’re Fine

24th May 2019 – I had a pretty chilled out day until I looked at my left arm (where my last PICC was) and saw a big lump around the insertion site. So off I went to the GP to have it checked out. The doctor was lovely and called Peter Mac to speak to the on-call doctor there to get some more information about my situation. They decided to give me an injection to thin my blood in case the lump was a blood clot. The needle went in sideways under my skin rather than straight into my stomach, and it hurt, a LOT!

25th May 2019 – The doctor had arranged for me to get an ultrasound on my arm to make sure it wasn’t a blood clot. So I had that done and then went back to the doctors for the results. It wasn’t a blood clot so that was a good thing! I was prescribed antibiotics and cortisone cream to try and clear it up. I also noticed a rash starting on my right arm so was hoping that would clear up too. The nurse came to disconnect Baxter and moved my PICC slightly to get it in a better position. It stung a lot when she cleaned it and it usually is pretty good, although this was the first change since it was inserted… I felt a bit yuk in my stomach so had a nausea tablet which made me feel better. I was a bit emotional today about all these issues and was meant to go to our friend’s housewarming but I just didn’t feel like socialising – sorry everyone!

27th May 2019 – I woke up at 1am with a really itchy right arm and saw that my rash had spread. Considering I was taking antibiotics and using cortisone cream, it clearly wasn’t working. When I got up I called Peter Mac to see what they thought I should do. Because we were in Rye they recommended I go to the nearest Emergency room which was at Rosebud. So off we went to the hospital, where we waited for about 3 hours. The doctor checked my PICC and decided to take it out in the hope that it helps my rash clear up – which it did.

30th May 2019 – Today was a great day! I had asked Elyse to be my support person while I went to get a haircut at Toni & Guy Brighton. They have a program called ‘Pink Scissors’ which is specifically for cancer patients and involves a consult, a complimentary cut or shave and complimentary wig styling. Emily, the hairdresser, was so lovely and made me feel really comfortable the whole time. Elyse came as my emotional support in case I needed to shave my head, as I wasn’t sure how I’d react (luckily I didn’t need to shave it just yet!). So she ended up being my photographer instead and the photo below is the finished product, but I do have about 80 more photos documenting my hair journey 😂 When Elyse took me to the hairdressers, she gave me presents and the most amazing card ever – see below! On top of my presents, I also got some treatments for my scalp and hair as my scalp is really dry and flaky. We finished off the afternoon with some delicious lunch and a celebratory glass of sparkling 🥂

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