An itch that I can't scratch

I suppose this is a sign of healing and I should be glad.

But my incision areas ITCH LIKE CRAZY! It is driving me nuts. I can't scratch it because it is still tender. Besides, that would probably be really bad anyway. The sunburn feeling is still there, but now it is an itchy sunburn. I sure hope it goes away soon. This will seriously drive me insane if it goes on for too long.

On a lighter note, there is a wonderful scarf designer named Laurie Erickson who has a webstore with really upscale hair accessories called France Luxe. She has a program called the "Good Wishes Program" where she will send you a free scarf or head wrap. They are gorgeous. How nice is that? They retail for about $72. A lot of her scarves are silk. I've read that silk can slip off your head. But I think the silk wraps have a band sewn into the inside so it won't slip. I've ordered a scarf/hat band from another company that I'll try with some of my own silk scarves.

We had a great opportunity today to pick the brains of some of this country's smartest oncologists. I mentioned before in my blog that through his work with Prestwick Chemical, he has made contact with a researcher at MD Anderson Cancer Center. MD Anderson, located in Texas, is ranked #1 in cancer care in the country. He specializes in combination therapies for cancer. Anyway, Eric asked him today his opinion on the issue of whether or not I should take the Adriamycin. His associate passed the question onto a senior colleague who specializes in breast cancer oncology. This was his answer:

"...the standard regimen in place in California excludes Adriamycin. There is a preference for the inclusion of Adriamycin here but this is not widely accepted and moreover has not been demonstrated to be beneficial in a controlled study. In short, it is fully reasonable to exclude Adriamycin from his point of view and indeed, many leaders in medical breast medical oncology would argue strongly against using Adriamycin."

So there it is! Confirmation by some of the smartest and cutting edge cancer gurus in America. It makes me feel more settled about it to get this news. I already trusted Dr. P, but this confirmation only makes my esteem grow. So that is the decision. No adriamycin for me.

This is such a God thing! The fact that Eric just "happens to know" people at MD Anderson who work in this field is divine. It's not an accident. I had been praying and asking people to pray that I would get confirmation. Here it is!

My prayer requests:

• That this itching would go away. It is seriously uncomfortable.
• That we would have a nice day tomorrow (Thursday) before chemo begins. We are going to organize Isabelle's room in the morning. I'm trying to get her hooked into the Flylady system. Hopefully if we can work together to get her room into a good state, she can "Fly" from there. The state of her room has been a source of conflict between her and her dad.
• That I be able to sleep. I've been having trouble waking up in the middle of the night and not being able to get back to sleep. A full night of uninterrupted sleep would be nice.
  
• Of course, healing is always a prayer request. That the cancer already be gone. If it isn't, that this chemo regimen would be effective against it.