From the first moment my wife discovered
she had breast cancer, there was a deafening silence from the men I know. Even
ones whose wives, mothers or girlfriends had breast cancer seemed to have
received a gag order from some Central Cancer Command and did little more than
mumble about the experience. Not one to shut up for any known reason, I started
this blog…
“It appears that the next event is breast
reconstruction!”
The results of
the surgery to place the implants was quite suddenly made manifest because of a
cat.
Yeah, a cat.
You know how
they say that cats have such a soft tread? You can’t hardly hear them when they
walk?
They don’t tell
you that if your cat walks across your chest in an effort to snuggle up close
to a warm body, and they step on your chest, and they’ve done it a million
times before – that you won’t get a stabbing pain that feels like your internal
stitches holding the scaffolds in place are tearing free...
That’s what
happened a couple of days ago and it sent me scurrying to the internet before
we called the doctor. What I found there was a matter of deduction drawing on
my biology degree, so I AIN’T NO DOCTOR; this is a common sense deduction. If
anything else happens, we’re going back to the clinic!
So, this is the
logic chain. Point out anything you see that might be stupid:
1) During surgery, it is impossible to avoid
cutting nerves. “It is normal to feel tingling or numbness on the inner side of
your arm. The sensation is due to nerve damage and should go away after two or
three months. But some women may always have a little numbness.” (http://www.cancerresearchuk.org/cancer-help/type/breast-cancer/treatment/surgery/reconstruction/possible-problems-with-breast-reconstruction)
2) Nerves DO grow back, but it takes time. “In
the peripheral nervous system -- the network of nerve cells outside the brain
and spinal column -- cells sometimes naturally regenerate damaged axons.” (http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/11/131107122742.htm)
3) The nerve damaged during mastectomies and
reconstruction runs from the armpit area to the chest. “This is related to
cutting or injury to the intercostobrachial nerve, which runs from the chest
wall to the arm and provides for sensation.” (https://talkabouthealth.com/is-there-any-way-to-repair-a-nerve-damaged-during-a-mastectomy-my-pain-is-constant-intense-burning-at-the-armpit)
Putting this
data together, I deduce that the nerve is growing slowly.
The cat stepped
on the end of the nerve.
The shooting
pain was the regrown nerve firing.
Conclusion: For
the time being, we aren’t going to worry. We will keep you posted!
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