3/7: Cancer pain and new sensations
Originally written: Dr. Rick Brown, Nov 24, 2016
The air between my ears....
I'm quite a bit more comfortable today. The time since surgery, the narcotics, the supplements, and the medical marijuana are finding a much more agreeable balance. Nearly all of the pain I feel is in my left chest. Some of it deep, some of the more superficial, and often no way of telling which is which.
But sometimes it's easy to tell. When I'm achy over the left chest and upper arm into the side of my neck .When it is exacerbated by the touch of my hand or the pressure of the pillow; When there is a "snap crackle" to the touch and a sense of mercury moving under my skin, then I know what it is from.
It all stems back to the leak in my lung. As air escapes the lung and moves into the chest cavity surrounding the lung , it seeps out of the chest cavity and moves between the tissues finding the path of least resistance. In the hospital they told me it was subcutaneous air (air under the skin). It filled up my superficial chest and the side of my neck to the point where it seemed I had no neck at all. It was fascinating seeing x-rays that included the subcutaneous air. There were a little gaps;riffs between muscles and skin ,pried apart by the air. When you touched the area you would feel and hear a slight popping. it is not unlike breaking packing bubbles but more subtle. When l hugged someone and our cheeks met, they could hear the popping.
That subcutaneous air is finding its way through my bloodstream and out of my system. I once again have a neck, and my voice is returning to normal. The inflammation in the skin and muscles seems to be retreating and my pain subsiding, but my ears are still plugged. (Not that they were all that good before) . This seems to be a barrier to full social intercourse, and it has a way of reminding me to keep my focus inward. This is, after all, only round one.
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