Cancer log 123: The…

Cancer log 123: The laundry is done. Things that use the muscles under your arm (the ones affected by them taking out a lymph node, which they probably didn't even need to take out, but better safe than sorry, and by the way, waiting until next Friday for the results seems excessive, and I would like biopsies to be processed much faster, please), that you didn't expect would use that muscle:

• hugging children (and being hugged)
• putting on clothes and taking off clothes
• folding laundry
• hanging clothes on a hanger
• sweeping the kitchen
• pulling weeds with your right hand (I don't even know why, but there's some sort of weird cross-body motion going on there)
• digging up a stubborn weed with your right hand (when you just need to give it a little extra tug with your left)
• slicing onions, apples, bell peppers, basically any cooking task where you have to hold down an object with one hand and slice it with the other
• opening the fridge door when you have something in your right hand and forget you're not supposed to use your left
• generally forgetting and using your left hand for all kinds of things because there's already something in your right hand.
• lying down / sleeping (in the wrong position, which is at least half of them, including most of my favorites)

The lumpectomy part is totally negligible, as it turns out -- I don't even need Tylenol for it at this point, a few days later, because the breast just sits there, encased in a snug-fitting padded bra with a few steri-strips holding the tiny incision closed, healing cheerfully. (It's a little hard to tell right now, but my early estimate is that it actually doesn't look so different from the other side, just a little less full, and given that, I probably won't bother having reconstructive surgery in the future to make them match up better. We'll see; need to let it heal fully to be sure.) But the sentinel lymph node biopsy in my left armpit -- oy!

If the incision were on my *dominant* side, I'm sure it would be much, much worse, since I wouldn't be able to do much of anything, but I'm having a hard time feeling grateful for that right now. The pain is actually shockingly minor, not as bad as stubbing a toe, but I do want the incision to heal cleanly, so not pulling more on the skin / muscle than necessary is worth prioritizing. It's just surprisingly hard, perhaps *because* it doesn't hurt that much. I would rather just work through the pain, but I'm not supposed to. Argh.

Sorry. I am Miss Crankypants right now. I will be cheerier in a few days, I'm sure.