things keep looking up in Cancer Land. (i suppose i'm still technically in Cancer Land until future tests show NED -- No Evidence of Disease). throughout all of Week 43, there was still open skin and cream and dressings, but each day, there was continually less and less of all of these things. i was also able to position each of the mepilex puzzle pieces so that they were no longer needed on skin folds or places where my muscles or my arm would pull or rub, which resulted in a lot less of the dressings shifting and falling off. after my shower on saturday night, five weeks after the moist desquamation nightmare began, i declared it official: NO MORE DRESSINGS NEEDED. i have a mix of bright pink, newly formed skin, along with patches of mottled pink and grayish skin, along with dry, peeling areas all over. generally, it all looks like a hot mess, but everything is closed up and the tylenol has been abandoned. i still get twinges of pain, but only when i make certain twisting or stretching movements and my muscles are like, whoa, you've been ignoring us for WEEKS if not months, CALM DOWN, superstar.

physical therapy continues. i returned to pulley stretches on monday, and on wednesday also got some lymphedema measurements again. my left arm is actually smaller than my right at this point (good news!), though my hand is still retaining fluid (unsurprising result, as i still can't see the tendons on the top of my left hand). since my skin is now closed up, this week my physical therapist will be able to teach me some self-massage for lymphatic fluid drainage. we will also return to some range of motion work, as my arm and shoulder were never quite where they needed to be before all this swelling and skin sloughing, and now are just in need of all kinds of stretching and exercises. oh, to be able to reach for things in cabinets again!

in other news, i had several posters lying around that i never got around to framing (like, i'm talking YEARS here) because some were weird sizes. i finally found and ordered some frames, and measured and hung them up in the home office this week. my zoom calls should be much improved, or at least less like i'm recording hostage videos in front of a blank wall.

i feel like this is the place to close the documentation of the large chunk of time that ranged from cancer diagnosis through major treatments through physical recovery. there will still be hormone injections and pills, and follow-up appointments and scans, for... ever? a long, long time, at least. hopefully, i will forever be on the outskirts of Cancer Land, though i know it will always be nearby, lurking in the shadows. the weekly numbered posts will likely cease, though i will add informative updates as needed. this blog existed lonnnnng before Cancer Land, so maybe i will return to non-cancer related musings as well. my readership has broadened considerably since those days, which brings its own possibilities and pitfalls and positives and parameters. so, i'm not exactly sure what "this" is anymore, but... let's do this.