The "joys" of a radioactive "sunburn"

The summer before my sophomore year of high school, there was one fateful day where I spent far too much time in the hot sun.  It was by far the worst bout of sunburn I have ever experienced.  I have vivid memories of going to work wearing my swimsuit under my clothes, because anything touching my skin was pure torture (yes, I did get seriously make fun of for this).  I learned my lesson and have since tried to remember to wear sunscreen at all times.  Although, now that I mention it, wearing sunscreen on a mole on my chest also caused issues of its own kind - helpful advice for the day - don't wear SPF 50 on one mole and nowhere else on your body, it will make for a permanent white spot.  Whoops.

I mention this cautionary tale of my fried body because this is the sensation I felt post surgery.  For a week after the surgery my armpit and upper arm were numb to the world, until one week later, BAM!  "Are you trying to sleep, Megan?  Sorry, we're not sorry!  We're going to go from being numb to taking you back to that terrible sunburn!"  Slowly but surely the nerve endings were coming back to life.  (The surgeon had stretched a nerve to get to the sentinel lymph nodes)  Part of me was excited, for every time I tried to put on deodorant or touch my armpit my whole body would cringe because my brain couldn't handle the fact this area was numb to the world.  I so wanted that sensation to be over!  However... the other part of me hated the sunburn feeling more than anything and was seriously considering wanting the numbness back.  Even the slightest touch to the arm could cause excruciating pain.  To this day, I am still struggling with both.  Both have slowly subsided, but both are still ever so present.      

Given the numbness of the left armpit I thought it best not to risk shaving that pit.  That meant, for perhaps the first time in my life, I was okay with something on my body not being even.  Uh oh, as I write this I am becoming increasingly more aware of the fact my left pit is hairy and my right is not... Luckily I can't lift my left arm up with ease yet, so I'm telling myself it is for the best, being uneven.