I’ve stopped the duct tape treatment at my wrist where the
IV from my second chemo treatment exploded into my vein, causing a
quarter-sized clump, a.k.a. clotting or thrombosis. The duct tape wasn’t
helping diminish my bump.
However, I still stand by the duct tape wrap for joint and muscle pain on feet and knees. As far as tear-off pain, it doesn’t hurt in the feet or knee area since there’s not much hair and it didn’t hurt on my inside wrist for the same reason. But as some of you pointed out, there would be tear-off pain if you cover a hairy arm or other hairy body part so user beware (or shave first.)
The clot at my wrist bothered me more this week when a small pea-sized bump or clot suddenly appeared on my inner arm. These body changes concerning my veins freak me out. I applied heat all day and massaged the bump. By the day’s end, it diminished in size. I’ve kept applying heat intermittently to the wrist bump as well, but no real change.
So when I went in for a pre-op surgeon appointment on Wednesday that was my main concern. I addressed it with the nurse and Dr. Garreau. Ron got to sit through my repeated story. It’s a story I repeat to absolutely every medical person I’ve met in the past month.
And here’s where having a good dialogue with your doctor comes in.
“This is just really bugging me,” I said, holding out my wrist. I shared this with the doctor last visit as well.
She checked my arm and compared it with my other, commenting it looked a bit swollen. Then she inspected my wrist and felt the red bump, reiterating what she told me last time, that it could take a long time for it to go away.
“Does it hurt?”
“It’s tender when I touch it.”
“How about when you don’t touch it?”
“Well, no, but it just bugs me having this clot.” And then I got to the truth of my story. “It scares me. I mean what does this mean?”
And for local readers, you may understand this isn’t as much about me as about the loss of our beloved assistant principal at our neighborhood grade school a half-dozen years ago this summer. Bernard was 41-years young and had just undergone routine knee surgery. He was a gregarious personality and a talented musician who touched kids in our school by visiting classrooms and playing his guitar. His story, as I understand it, is that he went back to playing in his band too early after surgery, experienced a blot clot during the gig and died suddenly. His loss shocked the community.
I told my doctor this story.
“No, you don’t have to worry about that. This is superficial clotting. It can’t go anywhere. It cannot travel to the lungs, which eventually stops the heart. It could possibly go up the arm and then, bleep, stop. This is not going to kill you.”
“Can I massage it then? Ron’s been telling me I should massage it.” Ron always gives me do-it-yourselfer medical advice, but lately I’ve chosen to clear it with those who have M.D. after their names. I admit I’m ignorant of how the body works.
“Yes, massage is okay.”
So I’ve been massaging it for a day and it appears to be getting smaller. It’s less red. Most of all, I’m no longer worried it’s going to kill me.
And some of us in my house are hoping I won’t have to repeat this story again. Toward that end, I’ve discovered yet another use for duct tape!
However, I still stand by the duct tape wrap for joint and muscle pain on feet and knees. As far as tear-off pain, it doesn’t hurt in the feet or knee area since there’s not much hair and it didn’t hurt on my inside wrist for the same reason. But as some of you pointed out, there would be tear-off pain if you cover a hairy arm or other hairy body part so user beware (or shave first.)
The clot at my wrist bothered me more this week when a small pea-sized bump or clot suddenly appeared on my inner arm. These body changes concerning my veins freak me out. I applied heat all day and massaged the bump. By the day’s end, it diminished in size. I’ve kept applying heat intermittently to the wrist bump as well, but no real change.
So when I went in for a pre-op surgeon appointment on Wednesday that was my main concern. I addressed it with the nurse and Dr. Garreau. Ron got to sit through my repeated story. It’s a story I repeat to absolutely every medical person I’ve met in the past month.
And here’s where having a good dialogue with your doctor comes in.
“This is just really bugging me,” I said, holding out my wrist. I shared this with the doctor last visit as well.
She checked my arm and compared it with my other, commenting it looked a bit swollen. Then she inspected my wrist and felt the red bump, reiterating what she told me last time, that it could take a long time for it to go away.
“Does it hurt?”
“It’s tender when I touch it.”
“How about when you don’t touch it?”
“Well, no, but it just bugs me having this clot.” And then I got to the truth of my story. “It scares me. I mean what does this mean?”
And for local readers, you may understand this isn’t as much about me as about the loss of our beloved assistant principal at our neighborhood grade school a half-dozen years ago this summer. Bernard was 41-years young and had just undergone routine knee surgery. He was a gregarious personality and a talented musician who touched kids in our school by visiting classrooms and playing his guitar. His story, as I understand it, is that he went back to playing in his band too early after surgery, experienced a blot clot during the gig and died suddenly. His loss shocked the community.
I told my doctor this story.
“No, you don’t have to worry about that. This is superficial clotting. It can’t go anywhere. It cannot travel to the lungs, which eventually stops the heart. It could possibly go up the arm and then, bleep, stop. This is not going to kill you.”
“Can I massage it then? Ron’s been telling me I should massage it.” Ron always gives me do-it-yourselfer medical advice, but lately I’ve chosen to clear it with those who have M.D. after their names. I admit I’m ignorant of how the body works.
“Yes, massage is okay.”
So I’ve been massaging it for a day and it appears to be getting smaller. It’s less red. Most of all, I’m no longer worried it’s going to kill me.
And some of us in my house are hoping I won’t have to repeat this story again. Toward that end, I’ve discovered yet another use for duct tape!
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