I got up from the table Sunday morning and stood up and couldn't feel my left foot at all. I lost my balance and couldn't get it back, so I fell, twisted my ankle and crumpled to the floor. I was in alot of pain and could not get up. (Sound familiar??) One of the side effects of the cisplatin (one of the three chemo drugs I was administered) is neuropathy, which is tingling and numbess of the feet and hands. I had noticed it in my fingers and only a little in my feet. I really have to be very careful whenever I get up and make sure there is no numbness in my feet! Peter eventually got me to the emergency room; it took him awhile to coax me up from the floor because the pain was so bad. They x-rayed my foot and found two avulsion fractures, where the ligament pulled a piece of bone off of the joint. One on the ankle and one on the fibula. They put me in a cast and told me to keep my leg raised until Wednesday, when I would see a podiatrist.
I saw the podiatrist today; he did not think the ligaments were torn. He took the cast off and told me to use an ankle stirrup with good shoes for the next six weeks. I feel so lucky; I didn't know what was going to happen with the cancer treatment if I had to have foot surgery!!
Meanwhile, I went to Dr. Chen's office on Tuesday for the radiation simulation. They made my plastic mask for me, which consists of putting melted plastic on my face and letting it dry for 25 minutes. I kept my eyes closed and just kept on breathing! They also showed me The Radiator; this room was this first to be built when the building was constructed. It is surrounded by seven foot walls. I will be going to The Radiator every day for seven weeks, fully equipped with my own custom-made mask.
Unless the doctors are worried about the effects of chemo and radiation in regards to the healing of my foot, radiation is scheduled to start around December 5.
Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!
Once again, I am so excited to hear from all of you. Champy, I just love the notes you send with the quotes.
P.S. The pictures of the mask are not mine; I stole them from Google.
