On Monday I had an x-ray and an appointment with my surgeon. The bone graft is continuing to grow and build the bridge to the cadaver bone. The top portion grew a lot from the last appointment x-ray taken in November. It was the first time that the growth was blatantly obvious to me. On some angles the top is almost there, but on other angles it has some to grow. The bottom part is lagging behind, but has shown some improvement since last time. The hardware is all intact. With the rate that I grow new bone it's progressing at a normal rate.
I still have the same restrictions. With the restrictions I have, my surgeon was very impressed with how much I've built my strength in my arm, and really my upper body in general. I was a lot stronger this time than the last going through the various exercises to assess my arm strength. I'm at a level of strength that I don't need rehab when I eventually get the restrictions lifted which is pretty great. The pain I've been having more in the middle of my humerus is just like the shoulder pain--due to the hardware rubbing on the soft tissue. The location where I have the pain is close to a ton of nerves, and the main vein that runs through my arm. It doesn't take much rubbing to create discomfort there.
I have a choice to have my next appointment in June or August, and the one after that will come six months later. I think I'm going to schedule the June appointment in the hope that the healing is finished and I can do fun stuff this summer without worrying that I'm going to wreck my arm if I fall. My surgeon isn't fully set on it being ready this summer, but there's a chance it will. The bottom part of the graft does have quite a bit to go so I'll need some luck. Unfortunately, I might be waiting until late 2015/ early 2016 to get the restrictions lifted.
It's crazy that in a couple weeks it'll be the one year anniversary since my last chemo treatment. You have no idea how much faster this year went for me than the year before. This year has flown by! The most I did last year was travel to Philly to get my treatment. The rest of the time I was bored, but way too tired and sick to do anything. It's great to be busy with "normal" things now.
This semester of school has been going well for me. My class schedule isn't the best, but I'm getting used to it. My earliest class begins at 3 in the afternoon, and some days I'm there until after 8. I just have to remember to not push myself too hard during the day. A few times I've been too tired by the time I arrived at school that I didn't have energy to absorb new information. Grades have been good though. I have a pretty busy week ahead of me with a few big tests so I need to pay extra attention to getting enough rest and staying fresh. There has been a lot of snow this season, but most of the time my classes have been cancelled in the case of bad weather. The campus does only an o.k job with clearing the snow, and I have slipped a few times, but I haven't actually fell. If you're a college student reading this, I wish you the best of luck with midterms.
Next, I'll have my one year scans in April. Also, please remember to keep everyone battling life threatening illnesses in your prayers.
