The journey starts

i am amazed how people can say such a lot in a few words; tonya and ozgeekmum.. amongst them !

you seem to have dealt with it all so well ozgeek. i think for everyone, it eventually hits you and you hit a wall.

wow the northern lights..amazing.

i saw the southern lights once, late summer, when doing hop harvest one evening, about 1989 i think it was. i am in northern tasmania. white flashes, sort of a curtain effect, lasting a few seconds, then again. at first i thought it was lightning, then i figured it might be southern lights.

i hope you get to go to northern hemisphere in feb/ march 2012. bugger about the BC, but please try and not do too much physically i mean.. rushing about. let your body heal ..for a year or two i think is a good idea.. take it slowly, carefully, gently....the emotional and physical effects can add up. i pushed myself a bit much..too soon.. with flushes/ vasodilation and doing things.. veins became distended in forearms somewhat, so just take it slowly for now..and deal with things day by day; you do seem to be dealing with it.

the treatments can take a toll and you need to deal with that, but keep hope for the future too.

 hope they get clear margins next time and also re lymphoedema: learning how to drain lymph manually into your right neck and left neck ducts, plus in abdomen and groin and axilla, etc is helpful i think. getting a good physio or massage person to teach you may help.

i had a lumpectomy right side in 1998, with axillary clearance;11 nodes taken, one had cancer..so chemo and radiation.

 in 2003, i had left lumpectomy, with sentinel node biopsy.. clear. i had radiation on left side also.

i can get a bit of swelling around my back area and shoulder blade, stomach and also in  right arm, if i do things too quickly. too long.. or too vigorously etc. i take it carefully these days. i have flown and was ok. just make sure to do exercises, and stretches, before you fly.. slow breathing and drainage etc. and have suitcase on wheels, so  do not carry bag short, or long periods, or wear tight restrictive clothing, can help.. to keep lymph flow from being disrupted, so rebalance it if necessary.

in the air.. the cabin pressure is lowered. when the plane lands the cabin pressure is adjusted to ground level air pressure again.  these days i like LOW pressure. and can " feel " the weather changes.. in my body..

 in time you can adjust to the new ways,and work around things if you have to, like some discomfort etc. just take care now.. all the best kathy.