TRICK OR TREAT.

By TEAM ANISSA

November 3^rd, 2014

Week 15

October 27, 2014

Alright, this just sucks.

I have a feeling that as these entries continue that phrase will be used more and more. I’ll probably be throwing in a few profanities in between the ‘this’ and the ‘sucks’ for good measure too.

As expected, the second surgery has left Anissa with a very limited range of motion on the left side as well as a condition called “cording” which is by far more painful than any surgery or procedure Anissa’s been through so far. Anissa is so strong in many ways and has a ridiculously high pain threshold. However this pain is different than anything she’s ever experienced. There is nothing worse than seeing your wife hurting and not being able to fix it.

One week after surgery, Anissa had the drain removed and Dr. Chang shared the news that the axillary lymph nodes she removed last week came back negative. Anissa had clear margins. When she shared the news it didn’t quite register at first. Dr. Chang sent us off with orders to followup in 6 months… 6 months! We don’t need to visit this cold basement for another 6 whole months…Sweet!

Dr. Chang also sent us off with a prescription for a compression sleeve which we could get from Reflections. Walking into Reflections with Anissa was a very different experience from the first time we crossed that threshold. Not sure if it was because Anissa was considering the hair loss, or maybe it was because Halloween was the next day – Anissa decided to test drive a few wigs. We learned quite a bit about the fine art of scarf tying and wig-wearing. We also learned there is a wig line inspired by the Kardashians. Wigs with style names like Courtney, Chloe… (with C’s instead of K’s). Seriously, that family is taking over fashion in the cancer world too?! Is nothing sacred?

The next day was Halloween and while still recovering from both surgeries and suffering through the cording, Anissa toughed it out and had some fun. Between the Twilight Zone (original series) marathon, a steady stream of ghosts, superheros, and zombies, by far, the scariest thing we witnessed was letting the kids go trick-or-treating on their own for a bit.