posted Tuesday, 28 June 2005
My surgery included two procedures:
• Lumpectomy
• Axillary Lymph Node Dissection
I met with dr d at 8:30am this morning, to discuss/finalize our plans. since there is no signifcant advantage to a mastectomy vs lumpectomy + radiation, and my tumor is still relatively small, i opt for the lumpectomy. i'm not sure who opts for the mastectomy (where they remove the entire breast)... perhaps people who are freaked out by the cancer and just want all of the offending party gone.
Since they believe that breast cancer spreads to the body through the lymphatic system, they will also be doing lymph node dissection. this will be a second incision, under my arm, to remove some lymph nodes, including the swollen one that dr d can feel and that "lights up on my artwork"... not a great sign (since that likely means that the cancer has infected at least that lymph node), but also still not anything that i'm going to get bent out of shape about... it is what it is.
Again, the worst thing about the surgery: No food or drink after midnight... and the surgery is at 2pm. So, after the 8:30am dr appt, mom & i have to entertain ourselves until noon, when we have to be back at the hospital. now, keep in mind, i can't eat, and neither one of us can walk well (i pulled off a pretty fantastic ankle sprain on sunday, playing ultimate frisbee & mom has a torn meniscus in her knee - waiting for surgery of her own!) so, we settle on "bed-shopping" i figure, i'm going to be having lots of company and i'm going to have to spend some time in bed recuperating... i might as well get a new bed... and a nice one at that ("Thanks to gravity and your body's natural heat, the unique surface configuration of Body Rhythm's high density Visco-elastic memory foam contours to your body for maximum support and comfort.") sweet.
then, back to the hospital for a noon check in. they take my temp, bp, etc... and then trot me off to an exam room to get ready. i change into my gown, hop onto the bed (despite the fact that i've been testing fancy mattresses, the bed on wheels is fairly comfortable. the woman on the other side of the curtain, however is very chatty... so i put on my mp3 player and tune her out. nurse pat starts an iv, and hands me a valium "to take the edge off". jen m has shown up (she is such a doll and offered to come and keep my mom company in the waiting room) and the two of them join me as we wait. i think perhaps they could have benefitted from some valium too.
eventually, a man shows up - he's my ride... and they wheel me off. he's pretty speedy... we race down the halls, with jen & mom trying to keep up. they say goodbye as he pushes me into the OR. here, they park me in the hallway, waiting my turn. the anesthesiologist stops by (i met him a week ago at pre-admin) and so does dr d. he offers me some more pain killers in my iv (again, "to take the edge off") but i pass... i'm surprisingly calm. i'm not sure how long it took before they took me into the actual OR.
the operating room itself was a bit intense. machines everywhere. there was dr d. phew. they scooch me over onto the operating table (not as comfy) and attach these "arms" to the table... it looks like the tables they use for lethal injections. yikes. they start to hook me up to all sorts of things - heart monitor, oxygen monitor, compressor boots (that look like leg warmers from the 80s- mine were pink in the 80s...these were tan) that keep my blood circulating, etc. then they strap me down. nice. dr d says "we'll be with you the whole time" to which the anesth. jokingly retorts "like she thought we might be headed for the beach as soon as we knock her out?" glad they were having fun. "we're just going to give you something to make sleepy............................." and that's all i remember.
next thing i know, they are waking me up - i am in the recovery room. apparently 3 hours have passed, but it felt like 3 minutes. dr d is there - "everything went really well, Linda". a nurse is there - "are you in pain?" YES "do you want morphine?" YES (check check). i go back to sleep. i think it was just too much for me to handle, so i slept to avoid dealing with it. over the next 3 hours, i floated in and out. they took off the breathing tubes on my face. mom & jen came in - they said i looked awful (thanks!). they finally tried to sit me up... woah... nausea... they gave me some zofran before i could put in my request for anzemet... oh well. i go back to sleep. around 8:30, i am finally becoming slightly aware of myself and i try to wake up. here's my favorite part... nurse donna has another patient coming in, so she wants to go over the discharge instructions... "don't drive... don't sign legal documents (good thing i moved my closing up to yesterday)... don't get the bandage wet..." then she asks me to sign the form. "wait! she just told me not to sign anything...." whatever... at this point, i really don't care about anything.
i eat 2 graham crackers and sip some juice. the nurse helps me get dressed. they put me in a wheel chair and send me downstairs. mom gets the car. on the ride home my head starts to spin. as i get out and start to walk inside, waves of nausea return. the graham crackers and juice will make great fertilizer in my lawn, i am sure.
Here are links for information about the surgery:
Lumpectomy: http://www.breastcancer.org/tre_surg_conssurg.html
Lymph Node Removal: http://www.breastcancer.org/tre_surg_lymphrem.html
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