Happy Valentine's Day, Friends!!!
What better way to celebrate the day of love than reading my "Woe is Me" blog!!! I have privately emailed of some of you some of this information, so if you are thinking this all sounds familiar, it probably is!
Post surgery my scars healed pretty well, on average. "Righty" healed quickly and was a beautiful scar--everyone said so...doctors, nurses, physical therapists, bra fitters. "Lefty" took longer to heal and is pretty beat up looking--a result of having radiation there 7 years ago. But, it finally did heal.
However, Righty kept filling up with fluid. Again and again and again. I went in to the surgeon's office 12 (yep...TWELVE) times to have it drained. After #11 the doctor said that I was heading down a path to having to have a procedure--he'd give Righty one more week. One more week didn't do it, so we scheduled "The Procedure."
See, in my layman's terms and understanding, you have the skin on top and chest below. They are supposed to heal together, so there are no pockets or spaces. He was pretty sure that mine had healed separately and had made a nice pocket. And the body does not like pockets. It makes fluid to fill them. That can lead to uncomfortability (I made up that word) and infection.
The procedure was to go in and make an incision (in the beautiful scar!!!) and go in with a tool (I had envisioned a cheese grater, but he told me it was more like a mini-ice cream scoop with sharp edges) and rough up all the skin. Then put in another drain. Then my job is to compress like crazy for two weeks so there is no chance of another pocket forming. I really had been good at compressing ever since surgery and he said that this was not my fault--that nothing I did caused it.
At first he offered to do it in office, but I thought that was terribly creepy. And later he rescinded that offer, upon further reflection. (When the doctor's nurse tells you that you would be "pretty uncomfortable" and that he always does these in the operating room, you tend to listen!! I was going to reject that idea!)
We scheduled the deal so that Loy could be there. BUT...the day before the surgery center left me a message saying, "We'll see you at 11:30." I called back and told them that the doctor said 1:00. "Well, he has changed his schedule." So, Loy couldn't get out of teaching his class with that little warning, so my friend, Kammy, went with me. She is the friend I really take care of and show a good time to: I dragged her down to Arkansas to spend a whole weekend with MY relatives (no offense, relatives), I have had her spend full days with me while I get chemo...twice, I have had her drive me to innumerable doctor appointments, she bought my car with me (OK, maybe that one was fun), and she sat with me through my septoplasty surgery over a year ago. What's one more surgery between friends? (She is a nurse, so I feel really comfortable with her being there--I'm not going to gross her out, I don't think, anyway.) And, by the way, Loy did come later, after class. He does not like the way doctors change times at the last minute. The surgeon even said to me, "Well, you think it's all about you, but it's really all about me." Honest, at least!
They took me back to get ready and it looked like the Indy 500 pit crew. In this teeny, tiny room I had four different nurses and doctors all doing things and talking to me at the same time. It was all a bit overwhelming. There was a big discussion about where to put the IV. When you have had lymph nodes removed "they" always tell you to NOT have blood drawn or IV's in that arm. No problem if you've just had one side done. But I have had 3 lymph nodes removed on one side and 4 on the other. Now, in the lymph node world, 3 an 4 is not many, so it is not certain if I really even need to abide by these rules, but the doctors have always said to be safe and don't do it. The next level of rule, if you've had them taken out of both sides, was to avoid the side that had the cancer, which would mean that we always put things on the right. BUT on this day that was the side we were doing surgery on. So it boiled down to do we put it on the left, which he thought would be OK since I don't routinely do that side, (although there was a chance that my arm would balloon up, but he thought that was slight) or put it in my foot. AND HE LEFT THE DECISION UP TO ME!!! Isn't that why I pay a doctor??? We went with the arm. So I kept lifting my arm up to Kammy and saying, "Does it look swollen???" Finally she told me I was looking at the totally wrong spot and if it was going to swell it would be down here and it looked great. Gotta love nurse-friends!
The procedure was really quick and it went well, I guess. The doctor DID ask me if I remembered anything from the surgery, which kind of makes me wonder if there was something BIG and icky that I might have remembered, but I don't. So I'll pretend nothing happened.
Not much pain at all, just a sort of sore muscle feeling. And I'm left with an icky drain--but he put it in the numb spot I still have, so it doesn't bother me as much as they did before. He doesn't think this one will have to be in for long...maybe till Monday. But after the problems I have had, I am going to make sure it's running pretty darned dry and low before I have them take it out!!! :{
On other fronts I am doing well. My hair is growing, albeit slowly. I am doing PT for my neuropathy on feet and hands. No change noted yet, but they told me it may take a month or more before I felt any difference. I can easily walk 2 miles now. In my Refit class (exercise) when I started in January I had to sit in a chair for 3 different songs to rest. Last Tuesday I sat for 1/3 of 1 song. My afternoon naps are not nearly as long or as vital to my well-being. Progress. Progress. Progress.
I have a PET scan in 2 weeks to double-check things...that is, assuming my all-knowing insurance company deems that medically necessary. They say that the MRI done pre-surgery, which 2 doctors wanted me to get so the surgeon knew if there was any cancer left and, if so, where it was and how big was it, anyhow, that was not medically necessary. I am appealing that decision!!! Then an oncologist appointment in March. Then just every 3 months for 2 years. Then every 6 months for 3 years. Then once a year for life.
Thanks for listening to me rant and ramble!!
Go hug your honey!!!
Love,
Kitt.
