Now What?!

Only a cancer survivor can understand this feeling. Once you've had it, everything worries you. Once you've had it twice, even the simplest things can cause a panic. I had one of those today. Well, it actually started last night.

Yesterday evening, I got a terrible cramp in my left arm. Not the right, where I know there is cancer close by, but the left. When I realized I had a lump in that area of my arm, my immediate first thought was a lymph node. I took a deep breath and calmed myself down. It must just be some kind of insect bite, spider probably. I did work in my flower bed for a little while when I got home. That must be it. It will be better in the morning. And it was. Whew, that was a relief.

That is until this afternoon when I realized my left arm was red, and hot, and I had streaks working their way up my arm. This can't be good. Still trying to put the big C in the back of my mind, I decided it has to be a bite. Then I thought about a conversation with a dear friend yesterday who is still struggling with the results of a brown recluse spider bite. That is the last thing I need right before surgery. So I went to see the Dr.

Good news, she says it's not more cancer, and it's not a bite. Wait...then what IS it? It seems I now have an infection in my vein from my IV two weeks ago, the one they used for my MRI and PET scan. So now I have antibiotics for it. I really don't understand. How does this happen? They swab your arm, and use a sterile IV, so how does it get infected?