Check up - looking good

I had my follow up appointment with my consultant. I'm pleased to say everything is looking good. He had a good prod and poke around the op site and there is no evidence that a lump is returning.

I thought this would be my last appointment, but the consultant has asked for me to return for another check up with him in a years time. All in all its all good and I am really pleased.

I continue to consider myself so lucky to have got through this all, scary as it was at the time. :)

6 month update

Well its update time. I have a follow up appointment with the Consultant on Tuesday. I think this will be the last time I see my Consultant and I will be left to monitor myself. The good news is there is no sign of a lump returning, operation site is healing well.

One thing I have noticed though is that my scar does not like the heat and feels a little irritated by it. The grafted skin is still settling and changing back to a normal colour so it being sensitive to heat is probably to be expected. The skin graft donor sight is still visible, and turns pinker when warm also, but it doesn't bother me.

I'm now on the look out for some swim shorts that are long enough to hide the scar on my leg. I admit to being a little self-conscious about the scar, even though I'm proud of dealing with all of this the way I have. However I don't wish for my scar to be on show to everyone at the local swimming pool (funny because this blog shows it in its goriest state), its not the most attractive of scars after all.

Check up

I went to see the consultant again today for a check up. Everything is healing well, he says another 6 months and the donor site should be back to normal skin colour, and the op site should also look more skin coloured and the scar tissue should soften down.

I am also happy to report that there are no lumps or bumps found during his examination, so I can celebrate that the lump isn't growing back as yet. Another check up in 6 months time and then I should be able to monitor it myself.

Here's another picture of my leg and how its healing. Next update will be in 6 months time unless I have something to report in the meantime.



Again, anyone out there who has just been diagnosed with this, you will be fine. Be strong and if you want to contact me please do, I would love to hear from you and offer my support.

Love & Light everyone.

Getting better by the day

Well time for a little update. My wound is healing well the skin is thickening up nicely and is nearly the same colour as the rest of my leg, the majority of the scabbing has now gone. I just have a few scabby sections where my clothes have rubbed the edges. Everything seems to be going well and I am putting olive oil on regularly to soften the skin.

My sick leave ends today and I also tried driving for the first time in 8 weeks. I really feel that I can finally move on from this experience and start getting on with my life which has felt like it has been on hold since I was diagnosed with cancer.

I will provide a further update in January, once I have seen the consultant for my checkup.

Blessings to you all and I hope the winter is kind to you.

Naked

I saw the consultant again this evening and have the great news that I don't really need to cover it anymore. I can just cover it when I feel that I need extra cover on it. So yay!

So after 5 weeks I've been able to have a bath. Bliss! I do need to be gentle with the area until its more settled and looking more like full skin, but its healing really well. There has been a massive change in the last week. Here's a little picture of how it looks right now. Much better than the first set of pictures.



I will have a check up in 2 months time and then probably every 4-6 months after that just to check that no lumps/bumps are growing in the area.

Good News!

You'll be pleased to know no pictures today. Maybe next dressing change.

Yesterday evening I went to see the consultant to have my dressing changed and wound checked.

The bandaging had slipped quite a bit and the gauze (proflavin?) that had been in the wound had slipped out and down making it very uncomfortable to walk. The dressing was removed and both husband and I thought that the wound was looking rather angry. However the consultant took a close look and explained that that the weepiness was normal healing process for a skin graft as was the slight smell coming from it (Note: that if a wound smells get it checked as it could be sign of infection).

He advised it looked good. Gave the area a good clean and redressed it. I will see him again on Friday for my last check up before I begin seeing the District nurse for dressing changes instead of him.

Now for the good news. The histology results have come back. The consultant was able to confirm that the tissue they removed looked clear of cancer cells, so no further treatment should be required. This is a huge weight from my mind as you can probably understand. I can concentrate on healing from this operation and not worry that further treatment is needed. So in celebration we bought a bottle of champagne, phoned round the family to share the good news.

I will need to be very vigilant for the next 5 years especially on my leg but everywhere in general, if there I find any lumps it will be to the Dr to get them removed asap. I've learnt my lesson not to leave them so long on the pretense that they are benign cysts.

I am a very lucky person that circumstances led me to get this lump removed, if I hadn't then it would have spread and I could have ultimately lost my leg or my life.

I will continue to blog my recovery as I feel that it is important to see this through to the end, but cancer 0 - rachel 1.

First pics of my leg post op! *Beware it aint pretty*

Here are a few pics of my leg post op which were taken when the dressing was changed today. Do not look if you are squeamish at all.




This doesn't hurt too much I promise. Its tender and uncomfortable but the pain is bearable.