Maybe it's because I can't remember when my breast didn't hurt, but today has been much easier than I thought it would be. Yesterday afternoon I had what is called a "re-excision lumpectomy" in the surgical suite at my surgeon's office. My original lumpectomy was done in the operating room at the hospital, but since one side did not have the extent of clear margin (no cancer cells in a rim of normal tissue), my surgeon went in to extract more tissue on one side. In my first surgery, the anesthesiologist gave me a drug which gave me short-term memory loss. The last thing I remember is saying goodbye to Walt as the attendants started wheeling me down the hall. I don't remember anything about the operating room or being put under anesthesia. I woke up hearing a man behind another curtain complain, "I can't log in! I can't log in!" I wasn't sure if I had surgery yet or not, but then noticed the aching pain in my chest and checked out the bandage.
This time, I lay on the bed in the surgery room and the anesthesiologist inserted my IV. After pumping in fluids that had been depleted during my 14 hour fast, he put in the sedative. I thought, I'm not tired at all, and the next second my eyes were closing. I then woke up, hearing my name, wearing my glasses and all dressed. Other than briefly saying hi while in the waiting room, I didn't see my surgeon at all. He just whisked in, did his job, and whisked out! However much or little I actually see him, I'm grateful for his skill and willingness to do the job he does.
After being wheeled out to the recovery area, I realized that unlike the first surgery, I was not in pain at all. We had to stay a little longer than expected because my heart rate wouldn't climb higher than the 40s. The nurse even gave me two drugs to try to get it going faster, but it continued to hover between the high 30s and the high 40s. My surgeon had left already to coach his kid's lacrosse team, but my anesthesiologist gave the okay to go home. My pulse is ordinarily low, so I wasn't worried. I knew I was headed home to relax in front of the tv...sort of like a mini-vacation!
Today I got a call from my oncologist's office to schedule chemo treatments. On Friday, June 8, we will go in for training and consult. Here is where I'll get a better idea of what will happen. I needed to pick one day of the week to have treatments, so I chose Thursday morning. This summer is fairly flexible, but next fall is a bit harder to find time for a 4+ hour appointment every 3 weeks. I take the kids to co-op classes on Monday and Wednesday. Even though we are also doing a literature co-op on Thursdays, I can easily get them a ride for this co-op. I think she said days 1-4 or so are going to be the hardest, so we wanted as many days as possible (including the weekend) to try to recover before I had to run the kids around again.
That's all for now. I'll use this as a means of communicating to anyone who is interested. Thanks again for all your support, help with kids and meals. It is so appreciated.
4 comments:
You are such a trooper, Linda! I'm so glad the second surgery was less painful for you.
I love the theme and verse you used for the title to your blog. I was at Alex's track meet today. There was this one boy that was running the mile. He was struggling and eventually got lapped. Several of the other kids started to run beside him to encourage and support him and to help him finish strong. It really touched my heart and reminded me of this verse. As you run your race know that you've got lots of people running along side wanting to encourage, support, and love you through it.
By the way, I didn't hear any cheers for the guy who came in 1st. It was the other boy's victory that was most celebrated :)
Thanks for sharing, Wendy. I can picture that scene and it brings tears to my eyes! Thanks for running along side me, too... and reminding me that I even though I have breast cancer, that's not all I am. Love living life with you guys!
That was beautiful.
Post a Comment