Well, I’m home from the surgery. It went so much better than last Monday’s.
Of course, I didn’t have full anesthesia or any work done on the lymph nodes. But I’m still pleased with how well it went.
But, I’m also exhausted (sedatives do that!), so will sign off now…
Laurie’s surgeon just came out to tell me that everything went fine, and apparently pretty quickly. The status board showed surgery starting at 11:50, so it took less than 30 minutes.
More when I know more, probably when we get home.
Laurie just went back to the operating room for her follow-up surgery. The last thing she told me as they wheeled her off was “blog this”. Since she said it about ten times in a row, I guess she really meant it!
They are just excising a bit more at the front of the lump, because pathology showed cancer at the front margin from the last operation. It should be very easy on her compared to last week. No general anesthesia, just heavy sedation.
I’ve been told to expect to next see her about 1:30, plus or minus a lot, so I’ll post whenever I get any new information.
Okay, nothing to do with cancer, but…
I was born and raised in Gainesville, Florida. Charlie and I may have met there when we were two or three years old and definitely met there years later in grad school. We have a total of 4 degrees from the University of Florida. And we’re wondering what tens of thousands of UF grads are wondering.
What’s with these round balls?
It’s gonna take some thinking, but I could probably get used to a sport other than football at UF. It’s a good thing I did my undergrad work at an ACC school!
Well,
I’ve had to face that miserable fact that I’m not SuperWoman. Sure, chemotherapy was rough, but I was in class every day afterwards, except for the first time. (And I missed class after my first chemo because I wasn’t sure how I’d be affected and it was easier to cancel classes than wait and see how I’d feel. And it was Veteran’s Day and, dammit, I should have Veteran’s Day off.)
But I had surgery a week ago and just got back to classes today. I wasn’t sure if I’d be ready to go back to school the day after I got out of the hospital, but I was sure I’d get there at some point last week. But no. I was off a whole week after surgery. And I reallio-trulio didn’t feel like going to class today. Unlike those times I’d feel the need to just force myself through the chemotherapy exhaustion, I would have been quite happy to stay curled up in my recliner all day.
Now, getting out and seeing the folks at church was wonderful for my spirit yesterday and if I had any sense, I wouldn’t have objected to going to work so much, but, well, who says I have any sense?
To my dismay, it was probably very, very good for me to go back to work today. Having to talk to people about what was going on forced me to find an approach other than the miserable self-pity I’ve been wallowing in. I mean, does anyone who asks how you’re feeling really want to know the constant pain that drains cause? Do they want to know how p.o.ed I am that I have to go back and have more surgery Friday since the pathology report showed cancer at the margins (even there is officially no cancer in the lymph system–something that wallowing in self-pity keeps me from being ecstatic about).
Com’on…as you’re reading this, all this whining is a bit much, isn’t it? I mean, this is happening to me and I find the last paragraph a bit tedious.
So instead I talked to real frat boys about projectile vomitting and compared notes on the “balls” we’re carrying around with other members of the department (yeah, I’m the only female faculty member, so I hadn’t been able to discuss this sort of stuff with them before). So I did refind my bad sense of humor and it’s been that bad sense of humor that’s gotten me through so far.
That, and the prayers and concern and support of dozens (hundreds?) of people. And I was reminded at church yesterday and at work today that I still have all that as well.
So all of the pain I’m feeling is because of dissecting lymph nodes to see if the cancer is still in my lymph system. Of course, the doctors sent the tissue off to be checked and when I called the surgeon’s office to see if there was a problem with gauze in my drainage tubes (there isn’t a problem), they had the pathology results.
But the receptionist and the nurse couldn’t officially give me the results. I’ll have to wait until next Thursday when I see the surgeon. That’s a whole week, a long time to worry.
But while talking to them, I got surprisingly psychic. I do believe that the results will show that there is no trace of cancer in my lymph system. And that’s very good news. So I thank those wonderful women who helped me become so “psychic!”
Charlie here. I never would have guessed, but Laurie may be a frat boy at heart. She’s very proud of just how far she was able to vomit at the hospital. She’s telling everybody. It was almost the first thing she told her pastor when he visited her at the hospital.
Okay.
I’m home. I should be well, dammit, but the drains that are under my left arm (and that will be there for at least another week) hurt. And, for a right handed person, it’s amazing how much I used to use my left arm–I’ve discovered since I haven’t been able to use it.
I’ve gotten used to lots of things, so can probably get used to pain. Or discomfort, as they all call it at the hospital.
Still, I’m really looking forward to Charlie getting home with my pain meds.
The good news is that I have “the magic pink basin.” The techs found it for me last night after my Exorcist incident and I’ve had no use for it since then. I figure as long as I keep it within (right) arm’s reach, I’ll be fine.
Well, up till now, I’ve worried that things have gone way too easy. I don’t feel that way about surgery. I’ve got quite a bit of pain under my arm where they dissected lymph nodes (whatever that means). And the nausea has been Exorcist-like. After just water and Sprite, I managed to vomit strongly enough to hit my feel while I was lying down.
But the MCCG staff is efficient and supportive, so I’m in a dry bed and dry gown now. And I have a bucket next to me now, just in case.
Charlie hasn’t told you about my “magic stockings”. I’ve got support hose and some sort of device that compresses my calves every five seconds or so. Thankfully, they weren’t hurt by my spewing.
I don’t know that I have anything else to say. I appreciate all the prayers, well-wishes, and good thoughts, and I’m sure I’ll be better in the morning.
Laurie’s out of surgery, in the recovery room. I won’t be able to see her until they move her from there to her regular room where she’ll spend the night.
Her surgeon came out to talk to me, and told me that she’s fine and the surgery went well. She’s going to have a bit more pain than for the biopsy, and she’s going to have a drain for more than a week. But I think she’ll handle that well.
We’ll hear from pathology later this week. The results will guide her radiation treatment. It’s possible she won’t have to have it, but Dr. Conforti agreed that it was almost always used.
The next post you read is likely to be from Laurie herself, once she’s in her room.
Laurie White's Blog 