26 July 2023
Depression runs in my mother’s side of the family: aunts, uncles, cousins, mother, and me. In some members it’s more pronounced than in others. For example, my mother was committed and underwent shock treatments. What intrigues me is what small, inconsequential events trigger my depressions. It can be something as simple as breaking something around the house or when I was teaching a student saying something they didn’t realize was hurtful. Last night it was a text.
Strangely, the cancer diagnosis has not triggered any depression episodes or it could be that there has been an accumulation of things that a late night text triggered. I’ll do what I always do and withdraw and hunker down until things get better.
It’s been a gray morning (literally and figuratively) and added to that was my unexpected appointment with the surgeon, Dr. Burgers. Two nights ago was rough with burning pain, a rash, and soreness under the left axilla. Dr. Burgers worked me in this morning.
She kept saying “Your poor skin” where we think the tape that held the gauze in place over the drain insertion caused an allergic reaction. She recommended continuing the cortisone cream on the rash.
Next she addressed the soreness in the axilla which is apparently due to the hematoma. She numbed the region with lidocaine and attempted to aspirate the hematoma. Unfortunately, the blood in it had coagulated and she was having a hard time getting any blood out. She then injected some fluid into the hematoma to try to loosen up the clot and was a little more successful with the aspiration. There’s still about a half tennis ball size hematoma under the arm pit and it’s still sore but at least it’s smaller than it was. I was amazed she spent as much time as she did trying to loosen up the hematoma, particularly for a spur of the moment appointment.
She also removed the glue that covered the incision (relief!) and has prescribed an antibiotic from where she messed around the hematoma and drain insertion with needles. I’m to keep the Friday appointment with her and she mentioned she might remove the drain and let my body naturally acclimate.
I’m back to no showers (the semi-water proof tape may have been the cause of the rash) and I’m back to using bath wipes.
I’m not looking forward to the chemotherapy. I’m still unsure about how many times and with what drugs but I’ll find out more about that on Friday when I meet with Dr. Velez after my Dr. Burgers appointment. If it gets too much I may opt for my 10 year 75% chance as opposed to the 95%.
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Wikipedia reports this native to Panama, Columbia and Venezuela. What is interesting to me are the leaves. Botanically, the term is obovate which means they are wider at the tip than at the base. Wikipedia suggests they are like the hood of a cobra. Not sure I agree so I’ll stick with obovate. However, they certainly stand out.
The plant belongs in the dogbane family or Apocyanaceae. The family has undergone a significant revision since DNA analysis and there are a lot of species that have been added to the family since I was a graduate student.
As a member of this family, Plumeria is related to frangipani from which leis are made. It seems to be quite common in my neighborhood and it’s a pretty consistent bloomer.
Biota of North American Plants (BNAP) reports 24 genera in the U.S. I’ve photographed 7 genera and 13 species of the family in my travels. Click on links to see an image of the plant.
| Genus/Species | Common Name | Location |
| Amsonia tabernaemontana | Willow Amsonia | South Mountains State Park, North Carolina |
| Asclepias curassavica | Tropical Milkweed | Fred’s Back Yard, Fort Lauderdale |
| Asclepias curtissii | Curtis’ Milkweed | Silver Springs State Park, Florida |
| Asclepais exaltata | Poke Milkweed | Linville Falls, North Carolina; Shenandoah National Park |
| Asclepias humistrata | Purple Milkweed | Manatee Springs State Park, Florida; Reed Bingham State Park, Georgia |
| Asclepias pumila | Plains Milkweed | Devil’s Tower National Monument |
| Asclepias speciosa | Showy Milkweed | Theodore Roosevelt National Park; Devil’s Tower National Monument |
| Asclepias variegata | Redwing Milkweed | Wakulla Springs State Park, Florida |
| Cynanchum northropiae | Fragrant Swallowort | Bahia Honda State Park, Florida |
| Mandevilla macrosiphon | Plateau Rocktrumpet | Big Bend National Park |
| Pentalinon luteum | Wild Allamanda | Bahia Honda State Park, Florida |
| Rhabdadenia biflora | Mangrove Rubber Vine | Secret Woods Nature Center, Fort Lauderdale |
| Sarcostemma clausum | White Milkweed Vine | Shark Valley, Everglades National Park |
Stay tuned!
