I wanted to take a shower, so Walker helped me take my dressing off today. The incision is longer than I was expecting, but it looks good. There was very little drainage and I haven't needed any sort of pain medication. I have to admit, after I saw the incision I opted out of the shower. We don't have any extra steri-strips on hand and I was afraid a couple of them might come off - that happened after each biopsy. In those cases I lost a strip or two but the incisions were so small it wasn't an issue. With this long incision, I didn't want to chance it. Walker is picking up a box of strips after work tonight.
I also called the nurse to see about using deodorant. I thought I might need to use a spray rather than a stick. Um, no. The answer is no deodorant at all until the incision heals, and then only aluminum free ones. Great. Since I have time to wait for it, I went online and found some aluminum free kinds at drugstore.com. They're on the pricey side, and the reviews aren't great, but I ordered a couple to try.
The blue dye from the lymph node test is out of my system. I'm glad I was warned that I would be peeing blue, or I probably would have thought I was losing it.
The weather has gotten much colder, so Walker made grilled cheese sammies and potato soup for supper. I still don't have much of an appetite but I'm drinking lots of water and napping a lot, so I'm sure it will be back to normal in a day or two. So far, all is well.
LilySlim Weight loss tickers
Showing posts with label surgery. Show all posts
Showing posts with label surgery. Show all posts
Thursday, September 16, 2010
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
Home!
It's over! I'm back from surgery.
Today was the first day I felt like a cancer patient. Sitting in a wheelchair while an elderly man had to push me from department to department....a sympathetic nurse let me walk for a bit but mostly I had to ride. The cocoon of warm blankets was wonderful but I'd have rather moved about under my own steam,even with my naked butt hanging out of my gown.
The wire placement wasn't a big deal until the last one, which hurt like hell. I admit to yelping when I got stuck with that barbed wire through the boob. Dr U was very nice about it and shot me up with more Lidocaine to finish the procedure. Then, with four wires protruding from my boob I proceeded to the mammo room where the wires were taped to my skin and my girl posed for a new photo shoot.
Then came the waiting. Over three hours of just.....waiting. One of the nice things about not sleeping much is that I was very drowsy there in my nest of warm blankets. I was able to doze a bit, which helped to pass the time. My mom was there, and Walker. My sister stopped by for a while, and my brother was there when I woke up. I was grateful for the company.
Finally I was taken to the surgical floor, where the anesthesiologist told me I would not be "asleep" for the procedure. He told me I'd be so out of it I wouldn't feel a thing, but that they would be talking to me during the whole procedure , and I would be able to respond. He gave me an anti-nausea patch along with a shot of Benedryl before he went on his way. I am very, very glad I didn't know ahead of time that I wouldn't get general anesthesia. Not sure how I'd have handled that but I'm guessing, not well.
A few minutes later Dr C came in for a final check with me and we were on our way. I don't actually remember much after going into the surgery room: a couple nurses introduced themselves, an anesthetist told me she would be starting sedation, and I slid over onto the operating table. The nurses started strapping things to my body. Then I *woke* in recovery.
And I woke to lots of encouraging news: Dr C was able to remove all four tumors along with the two sentinel nodes in one incision. I don't have a drain. The initial dissection of the sentinel nodes didn't indicate cancer. I get the final path report on Tuesday.
I was released about two hours later. Thanks to my new friend Janine, I had brought along a pillow for the car. Thank you, Janine! I definitely didn't want to strap that seat belt over my sore boob. We went through the pharmacy drive-thru for my pain meds but so far, I haven't needed any. I do have an ice pack wrapped in a dishtowel under my sweatshirt.
I ate PB&J for supper, and Walker mixed up some munchies for the Survivor debut tonight. All things considered, today was a great day.
Today was the first day I felt like a cancer patient. Sitting in a wheelchair while an elderly man had to push me from department to department....a sympathetic nurse let me walk for a bit but mostly I had to ride. The cocoon of warm blankets was wonderful but I'd have rather moved about under my own steam,even with my naked butt hanging out of my gown.
The wire placement wasn't a big deal until the last one, which hurt like hell. I admit to yelping when I got stuck with that barbed wire through the boob. Dr U was very nice about it and shot me up with more Lidocaine to finish the procedure. Then, with four wires protruding from my boob I proceeded to the mammo room where the wires were taped to my skin and my girl posed for a new photo shoot.
Then came the waiting. Over three hours of just.....waiting. One of the nice things about not sleeping much is that I was very drowsy there in my nest of warm blankets. I was able to doze a bit, which helped to pass the time. My mom was there, and Walker. My sister stopped by for a while, and my brother was there when I woke up. I was grateful for the company.
Finally I was taken to the surgical floor, where the anesthesiologist told me I would not be "asleep" for the procedure. He told me I'd be so out of it I wouldn't feel a thing, but that they would be talking to me during the whole procedure , and I would be able to respond. He gave me an anti-nausea patch along with a shot of Benedryl before he went on his way. I am very, very glad I didn't know ahead of time that I wouldn't get general anesthesia. Not sure how I'd have handled that but I'm guessing, not well.
A few minutes later Dr C came in for a final check with me and we were on our way. I don't actually remember much after going into the surgery room: a couple nurses introduced themselves, an anesthetist told me she would be starting sedation, and I slid over onto the operating table. The nurses started strapping things to my body. Then I *woke* in recovery.
And I woke to lots of encouraging news: Dr C was able to remove all four tumors along with the two sentinel nodes in one incision. I don't have a drain. The initial dissection of the sentinel nodes didn't indicate cancer. I get the final path report on Tuesday.
I was released about two hours later. Thanks to my new friend Janine, I had brought along a pillow for the car. Thank you, Janine! I definitely didn't want to strap that seat belt over my sore boob. We went through the pharmacy drive-thru for my pain meds but so far, I haven't needed any. I do have an ice pack wrapped in a dishtowel under my sweatshirt.
I ate PB&J for supper, and Walker mixed up some munchies for the Survivor debut tonight. All things considered, today was a great day.
Off to See the Wizard
The Wonderful Wizard of Boobs! We need to leave here in about twenty minutes. I'm a nervous wreck. I didn't sleep much. I keep reminding myself that in about 9 hours we'll be back here and it will be behind me. The hard part is the next couple hours, waiting.
Minutes Creeping By......
I should be in bed. I have to get up in five hours for my surgery. All day I alternated between feeling relieved to finally be taking some action and mind numbing fear. It wasn't so bad while I was at work ~ I was busy there, too busy to think about it. But now, at home, well, if I manage to sleep at all it will be a miracle. It doesn't help that I'm normally still at work at this time of night, or that Lily is running around like a hummingbird on speed.
Tomorrow, I see Dr U who will insert wires through my skin into the tumors. Then I have a three hour wait for the surgery. Dr C is doing what she calls a quadrectomy, like a lumpectomy on steroids. She'll be taking the four little tumors out in a section that looks kind of like a wedge of orange. She's going to do a sentinel node dissection, too. If all goes well, I'll be home by suppertime. Of course all will go well. Being me, I'll pack a little bag anyway, just in case. I don't want to get stuck wearing paper underwear again, like I did after my emergency appendectomy.
Tomorrow, I see Dr U who will insert wires through my skin into the tumors. Then I have a three hour wait for the surgery. Dr C is doing what she calls a quadrectomy, like a lumpectomy on steroids. She'll be taking the four little tumors out in a section that looks kind of like a wedge of orange. She's going to do a sentinel node dissection, too. If all goes well, I'll be home by suppertime. Of course all will go well. Being me, I'll pack a little bag anyway, just in case. I don't want to get stuck wearing paper underwear again, like I did after my emergency appendectomy.
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