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…That
was four years ago – as time passed, people searching for answers stumbled across
my blog and checked out what I had to say. The following entry first appeared in
July 2012.
Here again, just
in time for the season!
After my wife came
home from a lymphedema expert at the hospital, I asked her how it had gone. The
answer was that the swelling is receding slowly and that the pressure sleeve
would be here soon.
She asked how
often she would have to wear it, the doctor replied, “Forever.” She added, “Oh,
and don’t ever get a mosquito bite. That’s one of the worst things in the
world.”
*blink in
startlement*
I don’t know about
where you all live, perhaps someone lives in Arizona or New Zealand or Hawaii
where mosquitoes aren’t a big deal. But in Minnesota, we (somewhat facetiously;
but only SOMEWHAT…) call the mosquito our “state bird”. They are everywhere.
Granted,
susceptibility to mosquito bites ranges from, say, me to say, my wife…
I get bitten, make
no mistake. But my wife? Let me illustrate: we went to a recent fireworks fest
celebrating one or another of some small town’s heritages. Great times! We sat
in camp chairs set up in the middle of the street. The next morning, she showed
me a pair of fist-sized welts, one on each side of her back that had been
“exposed” (even though they were covered by T-shirt material!) where NUMEROUS
mosquitoes had bitten her!
Take this little
tidbit and add it to the doctor’s admonition and you get a recipe for me
*blinking in startlement*.
So what’s the
problem with mosquito bites?
First of all,
let’s review the lymph nodes, which I talked about in depth here: http://breastcancerreaper.blogspot.com/2012/02/lymphedema-another-for-rest-of-your.html.
Excision means to
remove or cut out. When the breast cancer was initially diagnosed in my wife,
the doctors were very, very interested in how far it had spread. If it remained
only in the breast, it was “less dangerous”. But if it had spread to the lymph
nodes in the armpit (usually), the diagnosis was more terrifying and led to
identifying the stage of the cancer. For a complete explanation, try this
site: http://www.breastcancer.org/symptoms/diagnosis/staging.jsp.
They found cancer cells in the node and bumped the diagnosis from 0 to IIIB.
This required them to removed lymph nodes – 21 in all and eventually the news
that lymphedema would be a FOREVER concern.
Now to mosquito
bites. Why are they such a concern? “...some insect bites probably are
inevitable...treat them...to lessen the histamine effect, which can cause
increased swelling in that area. Benadryl or hydrocortisone creams are two
treatment options for insect bites. An ointment with aluminum sulfate as the
active ingredient can also help decrease the effects of bites and stings...Treat
an insect bite like any break in the skin on your limb at risk. Wash and dry
the area completely and apply antibiotic cream to the area...take along a
specialized first aid kit. The kit should include alcohol wipes to clean off
any skin break, antibiotic cream for application on the skin, and bandages to
protect the area…An insect repellent is a good idea...natural repellents,
usually with citronella as the active ingredient, and these can be less
detrimental to your skin...avoid putting insect repellent on your skin and then
wearing a compression garment over it...”
Now you can be
prepared for summer camping. As prepared as you can be!
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