Minor Sunday crisis 3/7/2010

I woke up this morning feeling pretty good. Got up, went into the bathroom to empty the drains, and did so. One had about what I had expected. The other just had very little. Oh well, made the notes on my tally sheet, and went downstairs. Ray had gotten up earlier, and as I approached my computer, I asked Ray if he noticed anything awry at the wound site. Oh yeah. Apparently the drain had gotten clogged and was not draining, and the gauze, as well as my pajama top were soaked in blood. Uh oh. Called the doctor who walked me through unclogging it, and during the process almost passed out--my blood pressure must have dipped...A quick lie down on the cool bathroom tile did the trick to revive me. Bottom line, it seems to be draining now. Geez--I'll be glad to get rid of these!

A larger chunk 3/6/2010

I knew that I'd been coming around to the surgical center at Southern NH Medical Center too frequently (3 times in the last 5 months)when the nurses there called me by name...They took a second bite out of the tumor area yesterday, and I have TWO drains now to show for it. And I came away with a SPECIAL bra to hold those drains. Do I define sexy, or what?

Actually, I feel pretty well, except for the scratchiness of the velcro on this surgical bra. I'm pretty sure they don't sell these at Victoria's Secret...

I meet with the doctor at the radiation center on Tuesday.

2nd time is the charm? 3/3/2010

I heard from the surgeon's office today, and was told to gear up for the 2nd surgery by Friday the 5th. Since the surgeon was out sick today, it is hoped that they won't have to cancel or change anything because of a continued absence. But the scheduler assured me that they would get me in for the second go round next week at the latest.

I went to the gym today for the first time since surgery. It was weird since I still have the drain in. Under my tee shirt it looked like a third boob. I was able to do my regular work out, except for the lifting. I just did exercises to stretch my surgery side as was suggested to me. All was well until I got back into the locker room to take a shower. I found myself in a fit of laughter as my sports bra got somehow twisted up and stuck on my bandages as my arms were over my head, and I couldn't get the damned thing off! Thank god there was no one in the locker room at that point. After I stopped laughing, I was able to maneuver my arm out.

BTW, I'd like to ask all the Blanks and other friends out there to pray for my sister Chris' husband, Frank , (and Chris, too) who will be having cancer surgery on Friday as well. Let's make the circle really BIG!!

Power's back! 3/2/2010

Last night as we were leaving at 7:00 or so to go out to dinner, we noted that our next door neighbor's generator was not running, and that he had lights on. We dashed back inside, threw on the breakers to find that we had power as well. Oh joy!!

At the doctor's yesterday, I discovered that my drain, while empty, could not yet be removed. Apparently, the reason the drain was empty was that it was plugged up. As soon as the plug was freed, it began to flow again. Damn! So I guess I'll have it for a while yet.

I now have an appointment for next Monday to talk to the doctor at the radiology center where I will get radiation. This is the first male doctor I will have talked to in the last several months.

Still waiting to hear about my next surgery.

Dealing with it 2/28/2010

Ever take a bath in 2 1/2 gallons of water? No? Lucky you! Today, we put 2 gallons of spring water in the tub, to which we added a tea kettle of boiling water (boiled on the propane stove on the porch, for safety). Oh, the luxury of it!

Power is still out, and from what we're hearing, it may be several more days. We drove up Horace Greeley and Chestnut Hill Roads , and saw trees draped over the power lines.

Stay tuned...

Good news, bad news 2/27/2010

First the good news: the pathology from the surgery came back and it showed that there was no cancer in the lymph nodes. Yay!!!!

Now the bad news: the same pathology showed that there are still some cancer cells left in the breast. Booooo! So probably next week, I will have to go back to have another surgery to remove more tissue.

Will advise particular timing.

This surgery was not so bad. I feel pretty good, with some soreness at the surgical site, but not so bad that I've had to resort to pain killers. Probably the worst of the situation is that we have not had power since Thursday night. While we do have a generator that provides us with refrigerator and lights, we have no running water. Since I have to take a bath (so I don't get the surgical site wet), and no one we know has water, I'm getting anxious for a bath. Ray can go to the gym to shower. We're hoping for power to come back soon, but have been told it may be many days til it does. C'est la vie.

No problemo 2/24/2010

I checked in to the hospital at 6:30 this morning, and was ushered in to the prep area. Shortly after I was dressed in the hospital's finest rear-opening gown, I was wheeled down to radiology where they would take some "pictures" and insert a guide wire so that the surgeon could easily find the chip that had been inserted into the tumor when I had had my sentinel node biopsy. That sounds so innocuous, doesn't it? Holy smoke! To do this procedure , they lay you down on a table that has a hole in it so you can place the breast with tumor in it. The challenge came when they discovered that the clip/(former)tumor was close to my chest. To get a good picture, they had to play tug-of-war (they won) with the aforementioned breast and shoulder, then squish said breast with mammogram-like plates. It took them 3x as long as usual to get the pictures they needed. Then the radiologist numbed the spot (they need to work on the effectiveness of numbing swab) and inserted a wire just slightly thinner than angel hair pasta. The wire protruded from my body and the surgeon could then follow the wire (like a bread crumb trail) to where the clip/tumor was.

It was all downhill coast from there. Anesthesia is a wonderful thing. I was out before they wheeled me into surgery. When I woke up, I felt pretty well, got my walking papers, and went home. Steve drove up today for support--(thanks, Steve), and will stay the night with us.

I have a little drain that collects fluid from the incision. That's probably the most annoying part of this. But otherwise, no problemo.