Surgery

Thursday, May 23 -  I'm just giving a quick update to those of you who aren't on facebook.  Dane tried to update the blog after surgery yesterday but for some reason it wouldn't allow him to publish it.

Surgery went well and according to plan.  They removed all my lymph nodes on the left side, did the mastectomy on the left side and removed the right papilloma.  Surgery was about 2 1/2 hours.  After waking up, I was mildly sore, but not too terrible.  I had trouble keeping anything down most of the afternoon, so that wasn't very pleasant.  I got to my room around 6:30 p.m. and got settled in, ate some chicken noodle soup and took a couple of tylenol.  I was afraid to take anything stronger due to past experiences with those meds.  Since I was the only patient there, I had plenty of attention.  Dane also spent the night with me.  I couldn't sleep worth a darn, so we watched the cardinal game.

Around 10:30 I was feeling hungry so had 1/4 of a sandwich and some fresh fruit.  It was pretty tasty.  I was tired of laying around so Dane and I walked the halls for a little bit.  It really felt good to move around.  I settled back in bed thinking I could go to sleep, but it just wasn't happening.  I watched some more tv, then read a while.  I finally dozed off towards morning.

The doctor came in around 9, checked all my incisions and wrote the discharge papers.  Dane will be in charge of dumping my two drains three times a day and measuring the output.  When each of them measures  less than 30 cc, they will be pulled. The average time for this is 10 days.  The surgeons office should be calling Tuesday (since Monday is a holiday) and letting me know of any pathology reports and to set up some appointments for future treatments (chemo & radiation).

I can't say enough about the compassion and care that this facility has given me.  Everyone has been great, I would highly recommend this place to anyone undergoing breast cancer.

We got home around 10:30 and both took a nap.  I have been taking some Percocet and that seems to be helping with the pain as long as I have food in my stomach.

Thanks again for all the prayers and good vibes.  They seem to be working so keep it up.  I can definitely feel the love and support from all of you!

Nap time!