posted Tuesday, 28 February 2006
This past weekend was the Sixth Annual National Conference for Young Women Affected by Breast Cancer, in Denver, CO. It was co-sponsored by the Young Survival Coalition (YSC) and Living Beyond Breast Cancer (LBBC). I had not planned on attending. I did not want to spend a weekend with a bunch of people with cancer. It’s just easier to move forward (or should I say ignore?) here in NJ… Being engulfed in it seemed much too overwhelming.
The YSC has an online message board that I occasionally read. While in Ithaca, I saw a posting from a young woman in PA who had just been diagnosed. For some reason, I felt compelled to email her. She responded and asked if I was going to the conference in Denver. Well gee – this gal had only been diagnosed 2 weeks ago and she was going to the conference… maybe I should go… nah – still seems too scary. After discussing it with several of my close friends, I decided to suck it up and go. Worst case – I’d spend the weekend in Denver.
I booked my flight and found a roommate (or should I say roommates) on the YSC board (if the conference wasn’t scary enough, I roomed with two complete strangers: Marcela, from LA & Andrea, from Philly… fortunately, they turned out to be very nice ladies). I packed my bags and headed out to Denver.
Jen, the woman who initially inspired me to go to the conference turned out to be on the same flight as I did. We met in the airport and immediately hit it off. I know it sounds cheesy, but sharing something like a diagnosis of breast cancer has a way of bonding people. A sort of “sisterhood”, if you will… though one where your heart breaks each time you have to welcome someone new into it. With Jen, I think we probably would have been friends regardless – she’s a fantastic gal, full of energy, friendly & funny. This was nice because we could talk about things other than just *cancer*. Her boyfriend was attending the conference with her. He’s pretty alright too. As much as I had wished that I had a partner when I began this journey, I can’t imagine how hard it must be to be in that person’s shoes. I suppose it is the same for any dear friend or family member… to hear the news… and feel not only fear, but also to feel helpless from the inability to control or change the situation… to battle the uncertainty and despair of not knowing what to say or do to make things better (to be honest though… even just the “I’m thinking of you’s”, the hugs, the “I love you’s”, and the “I don’t know what to say, but I want you to know that I am hear for you’s” really do make a difference – as do the visits, the cards, the emails). Jen, Mark and I were immediately connected and I was thankful that I was not heading off to Denver alone.
We arrived in Denver and caught the shuttle to downtown. The ride from the airport to the hotel was relatively unimpressive, but as I gazed out the window, across the plain to the mountains in the distance, I thought: “I could live here…” (sorry Mom!) The conference was held at the Adam’s Mark Hotel, which is right on the pedestrian mall in downtown Denver. Walking out of the lobby put you smack dab in the middle of the action – restaurants, stores, etc… were all within a short walk (or ride on the free “Mall Shuttle”). We grabbed lunch and then headed back to the hotel to register for the conference.
At registration, they were handing out Hawaiian leis (the cheap plastic ones), which we were supposed to wear all weekend. The colors of the leis had meaning:
• White = diagnosed within the past year
• Blue/Purple/Pink = diagnosed 2-3 years ago/4-7 years ago/etc (not sure of the actual colors/time frames here)
• Orange = metastatic (the cancer has spread beyond the breast)
• Yellow = caregiver
• Blue = health care professional
There were 700+ participants at the conference, the majority of which are breast cancer survivors. The first thing you saw when you met a new person was their lei. I could not help but cringe any time I saw an orange one. My first thoughts were of sympathy and concern for that person (metastatic cancer is not yet considered “curable”, however you can live for many years with chemo keeping the cancer in check)… but they also drifted to anxiety… what color lei would I be wearing a year from now? 5 years from now? When confronted with these thoughts, I tried to focus on the fact that these women were here this weekend – they were still living and fighting and hopefully, treatment will continue to improve.
The conference ran from Friday afternoon to Sunday afternoon. There were 3 breakout sessions (which I will describe later), as well as several plenary sessions. There were also many “networking breaks” built into the session. The first networking session broke us out by geographic region – the girls I met from the northeast became my pals for the remainder of the conference (Jen, Suellen from NJ, Heather from MD, Pam from Boston). Some of these breaks were spent wandering the Exhibit Hall (full of tables from non-profits, clothing, jewelry, pharma companies, etc)… while some were spent “networking” at the hotel bar upstairs or enjoying the sunshine and some caffeine at Starbucks, across the street… I’m not sure why I feared meeting other women who have gone through this same battle… It was nice to feel connected and know that I am not the only one who has dealt with this at such a young age. Plus, the girls were great! I like to think that I will stay friends with several of them as this experience falls further and further into the past (of course, I don’t doubt that this experience has changed me at the core and will never truly be in the past).
The Breakout Sessions:
• Food for Thought: Practical Advice on Diet and Fitness - The nutrition part of this session was interesting, though it didn’t shed any light on my most burning nutrition question (soy is a phytoestrogen or natural estrogen and the jury is still out on whether it is ok for folks with estrogen receptor + cancers, where the tumor fed on estrogen). The fitness section of this session was pretty pointless, which didn’t really surprise me. Unfortunately, the session was so packed that we had to sit on the floor. We weren’t off to an incredible start.
• Outer Strength, Inner Peace: Using Stress Management Techniques to Enhance Your Life - I debated which session to attend for the second breakout – fertility, genetic testing or this one. Since I had been to several talks about the former, I chose stress. I chose poorly. I did get a chuckle at this session though. We had gone through the “symptoms of stress checklist” and were walking through many of them, with a show of hands to people who felt they had each symptom. “Headache” – the whole room raised their hands… “Indigestion” – again, nearly everyone had their hand up… “Back tension” – the same… “Irritability”, “Bossiness” – many were still raising their hands. We then moved into behaviors… “excessive use of alcohol” – again, I raised my hand… I was the only one. WHAT!?! Earlier, we had brainstormed on ways to relieve stress (take a walk, massage, garden, etc) and “drink alcohol” came up… but nobody raised their hand for “alcohol use is a symptom of my stress”. I then looked down at the pin that I was wearing on my nametag, which I had purchased in the Exhibit Hall – it was a pink martini, where the stem of the glass was a pink ribbon (I’m not a big fan of the “in your face” pink ribbon campaign, but this was cute and not so obvious…). So here I looked like this big boozer (which we know is not the case)… it was pretty amusing. Next, we did a “relaxation exercise”, which was frustrating – it was too difficult to concentrate/relax in a room with 70 other people… and the session was feeling a bit too hokey for me. I bailed and headed to the bar… (just kidding – I headed to the session on Fertility)
• Preserving Fertility After Breast Cancer: Options and Strategies - This was a smaller session, but clearly, a topic very important to those attending. Unfortunately, the speaker didn’t gauge the audience well. She spent the first half hour talking about ways of preserving fertility before beginning treatment. The room, however, was full of women who had already gone through treatment. That ship had already sailed. The frustrating thing is that there really isn’t much that she could have told us – nobody seems to know why some women’s ovaries shut down from the chemo, how long it takes for one’s period to resume (it varies wildly), or what can be done to kick start ovarian function. While I know that I can still be a mom, regardless (there are many children out there needing love), but I can’t help but to cheer on my ovaries daily (come on girls!) and anxiously await the return of my old “friend”…
• Finding Your Way: Dating After Breast Cancer- I remember attending a YSC dinner in early December, where I met ~30 young women who had survived breast cancer. As we went around the room and introduced ourselves, I realized that I was the only single gal in the room. It then hit me. Dating was hard enough before all of this. How am I ever going to meet someone now? How do you tell a new guy this history without him bailing for fear of “emotional baggage”… or worse… When do you tell him? It’s too hard. The irony of this all, as many of you probably know, is that shortly before Christmas, the unthinkable happened. I met somebody. I guess “met” is an inaccurate term, since I’ve known Mike for nearly 10 years… but I suddenly realized that this friend of mine was a pretty terrific guy… and that the pursuit of a deeper relationship would bring personal growth and joy to my life. The best part of it was: he already knew that I had been sick. I find myself amazed at his strength – I didn’t have a choice about whether I wanted to get cancer, but he has a choice. He chose to join me in this fight… and every day, I am thankful that he has.
• Shaping the Future: Understanding Your Breast Reconstruction Options – If you’ve been following my blog, you probably know that this session alone provided the majority of my motivation to attend the conference. Because the expander + implant route didn’t/won’t work on my left side, I am faced with a tough decision about using tissue/skin/muscle from another part of my body (typically stomach or back), in order to complete reconstruction. This is something that, frankly, terrifies me. I have given up enough this past year, I really don’t want to wind up with diminished muscle functioning for a surgery that is essentially cosmetic. There are some new techniques where they take just the fat and skin (no muscle) from your stomach or butt and move it to your chest. The difference is that since they are sparing the muscle, they must sever the blood vessels and sew them into the blood vessels in your chest. This is a much longer surgery and there is a risk of the skin flap failing (thus putting you back to square one). This session was informative, but initially frustrating – the MD announced at the beginning that we should feel free to ask questions as we went through… however, suddenly, we found ourselves more than halfway through the time slot, on page 2 of his presentation and listening to him respond to women who were asking very specific questions that pertained only to their own experience (and which, he couldn’t give a great answer to without understanding their complete history). Finally, someone commented that they’d like to hear his presentation and we got back on track. Bottom line: the “free flap” procedures, while sparing muscle, leave extremely large/visible scarring on the donor site. He has had very few complications with the lat flap (where they take muscle from your back) and it sounds like this is not as scary an option as I initially believed. I’m still not sure whether I want to do the surgery this spring or wait until next winter, but I am leaning towards the lat flap procedure…
Outside of the planned sessions, I managed to have a great time too! On Saturday night, Jen, Mark and I skipped the PJ Party at the hotel and hit a piano bar called Sing Sing, which was a blast! We got there too late to get a seat, which worked out fine, since everyone was on their feet dancing all night long… if you are ever in Denver (or Pittsburgh, where they also have one), I totally recommend it!
On Sunday, Kara (a Rutgers alum who lived in NJ until relocating to CO a few years ago) came and picked me up after the conference ended. I got to see her house, downtown Boulder and some great views from Flagstaff Mtn. I am really glad that I got out of downtown Denver to see more of the area – it was gorgeous! Plus, it was great to hang out with Kara & Stu – people who you can go for years without seeing and then spend a day with, like you are old neighbors.
On Monday, I hung out with Suellen and her friends who live in Denver. We did some shopping, including the Title 9 store, REI, Patagonia (troubles!) and had lunch… Suellen was heading back on a 5pm flight and mine wasn’t until nearly midnight, so they dropped me off at the park in front of the capitol building, where I hung out on a bench, reading and talking on the phone. While I was lying there, an SUV with tinted windows rolled up and gave me a “verbal warning” for sleeping in the park (apparently, you are only allowed to sleep in the other side of the park, which I had walked through and found to be quite scary…). So, I wasn’t sleeping, but I was lying down and I did have several shopping bags with me… kind of funny. The guy left with a stern warning “just make sure you don’t fall asleep here!” Once night fell, I found it difficult to kill time, but I did go get a manicure, check out the souvenir shops and eat a Cajun dinner before catching the shuttle back to the airport. I am definitely glad that I stayed the extra day to check out the scene.
Tuesday, February 28, 2006
Tuesday, February 21, 2006
OH YES IT'S LADIES NIGHT...
posted Tuesday, 21 February 2006
Nancy and I had been planning a trip to "someplace warm" for the end of February. It was intended to be a celebration of the end of all my surgeries... Unfortunately, the complications I experienced in early Feb left me a bit skittish and thinking that a trip to a 3rd world country was probably not prudent at this time. So, we planned to wait for the e-savers to come out and take a spur-of-the-moment trip somewhere.
Thursday, the e-savers went out and we checked the weather report.... apparently, this weekend's weather everywhere stinks! In TX, it wsa 80 degrees on Friday and 40 degrees + raining all weekend... CA was similar.... so rather than spend money to fly somewhere with horrible weather, we figured we'd drive somewhere nearby. Of course, we hadn't considered that it was President's Day Weekend, so everything in the NE (VT, etc) was not only expensive... it was sold out.
Enter Bonny. Bonny found herself with a few days off from work and though of Mrs Duncan (mother of her best friend from high school, who owned a condo in Rehoboth Beach, DE). She rented us her beach-front condo and we loaded up the Rav 4 and took off for DE. We arrived on Sunday, did some grocery shopping and tapped into the 3 bottles of wine that we had brought. Around 7:30pm, we strolled down the boardwalk to Grotto's pizza and ordered some dinner. After a quick stop at the candy shop (for fudge), we headed back to the condo for an evening of singing, olympics, and CPR training on the blue lobster (ask Nancy for details!)
Monday was spent hitting the sales at the outlets... serious damage was done... good thing Bonny received excellent news about a new job and was able to spend without feeling badly (Nancy and I had little excuse for our lack of restraint). Monday night we had dinner out at a cute little restaurant.
Tuesday was met with another quick jaunt at the outlets before hitting the road.
Trips like this make me so thankful for my girlfriends. Growing up, I didn't have many (really only Katie & Tracy). I tended to run with the boys... playing sports, catching craw-dads and such... but over the past 10 years, I've realized that even tom-boys can have girlfriends... there are lots of girls out there who aren't "girly"... they are down to earth and totally real... and it's times like this (and the past 6 months) that I realize just how lucky I am to have my girls by my side.
Nancy and I had been planning a trip to "someplace warm" for the end of February. It was intended to be a celebration of the end of all my surgeries... Unfortunately, the complications I experienced in early Feb left me a bit skittish and thinking that a trip to a 3rd world country was probably not prudent at this time. So, we planned to wait for the e-savers to come out and take a spur-of-the-moment trip somewhere.
Thursday, the e-savers went out and we checked the weather report.... apparently, this weekend's weather everywhere stinks! In TX, it wsa 80 degrees on Friday and 40 degrees + raining all weekend... CA was similar.... so rather than spend money to fly somewhere with horrible weather, we figured we'd drive somewhere nearby. Of course, we hadn't considered that it was President's Day Weekend, so everything in the NE (VT, etc) was not only expensive... it was sold out.
Enter Bonny. Bonny found herself with a few days off from work and though of Mrs Duncan (mother of her best friend from high school, who owned a condo in Rehoboth Beach, DE). She rented us her beach-front condo and we loaded up the Rav 4 and took off for DE. We arrived on Sunday, did some grocery shopping and tapped into the 3 bottles of wine that we had brought. Around 7:30pm, we strolled down the boardwalk to Grotto's pizza and ordered some dinner. After a quick stop at the candy shop (for fudge), we headed back to the condo for an evening of singing, olympics, and CPR training on the blue lobster (ask Nancy for details!)
Monday was spent hitting the sales at the outlets... serious damage was done... good thing Bonny received excellent news about a new job and was able to spend without feeling badly (Nancy and I had little excuse for our lack of restraint). Monday night we had dinner out at a cute little restaurant.
Tuesday was met with another quick jaunt at the outlets before hitting the road.
Trips like this make me so thankful for my girlfriends. Growing up, I didn't have many (really only Katie & Tracy). I tended to run with the boys... playing sports, catching craw-dads and such... but over the past 10 years, I've realized that even tom-boys can have girlfriends... there are lots of girls out there who aren't "girly"... they are down to earth and totally real... and it's times like this (and the past 6 months) that I realize just how lucky I am to have my girls by my side.
Friday, February 17, 2006
Ithaca is GORGES
posted Friday, 17 February 2006
Things worked out really well for once, as ZS was doing interviews this week at Cornell. Lucky for me, I have a new "friend" at Cornell who I would be more than happy to spend some time with. So, my first trip to Ithaca was scheduled and I was going to do some work while I was at it.
I drove up on Friday night, after dropping Otis off at his "dad's" house... I'll miss that little boy, but he'll have lots of fun playing with Phinny! I hit a pretty decent snow just north of Binghamton, giving my new SUV it's first test. The dealer told me that people call the Rav4 the "snow killer"... I'm not sure that I really collected enough information to either confirm or deny that claim, but it's funny to think about.
On Saturday, we played poker with Mike's friends (all grad students)... as it whittled down to just a few remaining participants (including moi), a friend of Mike's realized that I was the only one with a real job and I was poised to win all of their money. His prediction was right and I walked away from the event $40 richer... boo ya.
Sunday we went out and hiked a little ways up the gorge at Cornell. It was beautiful - all frozen (for some reason, I am feeling rather un-photogenic these days... and, of course,I forgot to charge my camera, so I only wound up with mediocre photos) and it felt sooo good to be outside and acting like a normal gal. Sure, I was out of shape, but I was doing more than sitting on the couch, so that's a victory in my book.
Tuesday night, I gave a presentation to about 30 students interested in working at ZS. Again, it felt good to feel "normal" again. We interviewed 14 students on Wednesday for the Operations Research Analyst position. What a long day! I couldn't believe how tired I was! As excited as I am to get back to normal life, I think it is going to be quite a shock to actually do it! I think I may still try to go back to work on March 1, but I am definitely going to try to ease into it... after these two days recruiting at Cornell, I know that my body is still a bit worn down.
I went to the Cornell bookstore and had an interesting encounter. This young girl who was working at the bookstore commented on "how healthy my hair was"... I thanked her and she made another comment, so I volunteered the information that I had just finished chemo, so my hair had never been damaged by sun or chemicals. She told me that she could tell - she had been through chemo a few years ago - and she recognized my "victory hair" I beamed. We connected and wished each other well. What a great thought - I am victorious. All this while, I was thinking that the finish line was near.... but in reality, I've crossed the finish line... everything that is left is just the victory lap... and cleaning up after the race.
I drove up on Friday night, after dropping Otis off at his "dad's" house... I'll miss that little boy, but he'll have lots of fun playing with Phinny! I hit a pretty decent snow just north of Binghamton, giving my new SUV it's first test. The dealer told me that people call the Rav4 the "snow killer"... I'm not sure that I really collected enough information to either confirm or deny that claim, but it's funny to think about.
On Saturday, we played poker with Mike's friends (all grad students)... as it whittled down to just a few remaining participants (including moi), a friend of Mike's realized that I was the only one with a real job and I was poised to win all of their money. His prediction was right and I walked away from the event $40 richer... boo ya.
Sunday we went out and hiked a little ways up the gorge at Cornell. It was beautiful - all frozen (for some reason, I am feeling rather un-photogenic these days... and, of course,I forgot to charge my camera, so I only wound up with mediocre photos) and it felt sooo good to be outside and acting like a normal gal. Sure, I was out of shape, but I was doing more than sitting on the couch, so that's a victory in my book.
Tuesday night, I gave a presentation to about 30 students interested in working at ZS. Again, it felt good to feel "normal" again. We interviewed 14 students on Wednesday for the Operations Research Analyst position. What a long day! I couldn't believe how tired I was! As excited as I am to get back to normal life, I think it is going to be quite a shock to actually do it! I think I may still try to go back to work on March 1, but I am definitely going to try to ease into it... after these two days recruiting at Cornell, I know that my body is still a bit worn down.
I went to the Cornell bookstore and had an interesting encounter. This young girl who was working at the bookstore commented on "how healthy my hair was"... I thanked her and she made another comment, so I volunteered the information that I had just finished chemo, so my hair had never been damaged by sun or chemicals. She told me that she could tell - she had been through chemo a few years ago - and she recognized my "victory hair" I beamed. We connected and wished each other well. What a great thought - I am victorious. All this while, I was thinking that the finish line was near.... but in reality, I've crossed the finish line... everything that is left is just the victory lap... and cleaning up after the race.
Comments:
1. susie left...
Friday, 24 February 2006 2:11 pm
Ooh--this blog entry made me feel so happy! i love it linda!!!
Sunday, February 5, 2006
SUPER SUNDAY
posted Sunday, 5 February 2006
Have I mentioned that I have the best friends a girl could ask for? Well, I do.
I was kind of bumming about the latest surgery. Though I was feeling well, I wasn't really out and about. Last year, I watched the Super Bowl at Robin's & then Susie & Jaeger's... both of whom have moved away. :( I'm not a huge football fan, but I do like the company, the commercials & of course, the grid pool!
And then this email came out.....
hey all,
in light of recent events and in an attempt to be sure that none of us is excluded from superbowl festivities because of sucky infections, we're gonna bring the superbowl party to linda's crib. bring food, drink and/or a commitment to clean-up afterward. or just bring yourself, whatever you're capable of. I'm bringing chili. we could really use some appetizers and non-alcoholic beverages. If you could please "respond to all" either way to avoid gaps or overlaps. last minute responses (better than no response at all) can be accomplished by calling or texting me. we'll set up a grid with superbowl boxes for $1 or $2 a box. please, in the spirit of spontaneity, friendship, and support, consider being there for this gathering. it'll be a lot more than just another superbowl party.
peace,
mj
And that is what friendship is all about. 12 people made the party -- mike v, rowley, ari, jackson x2, rebecca, biddle, keith, blo, vlad, soda & his lady (sorry I can't remember her name). We ate like royalty (aro's homemade salsa & guac, keith's famous taco dip, mj's magical chili, rebecca's bodacious brownies, pizza, blo's ton of tater tots, vlad's brocco-delite & mango sundae surpise and much much more). People stayed to clean (Vlad even ran the vacuum cleaner) and I didn't have to lift a finger.
I didn't get lucky in the grid pool (congrats to ??, vlad, mike v, and biddle for their winnings), but I felt like a very lucky girl to be surrounded by such good friends.
(Photo to come)
Have I mentioned that I have the best friends a girl could ask for? Well, I do.
I was kind of bumming about the latest surgery. Though I was feeling well, I wasn't really out and about. Last year, I watched the Super Bowl at Robin's & then Susie & Jaeger's... both of whom have moved away. :( I'm not a huge football fan, but I do like the company, the commercials & of course, the grid pool!
And then this email came out.....
hey all,
in light of recent events and in an attempt to be sure that none of us is excluded from superbowl festivities because of sucky infections, we're gonna bring the superbowl party to linda's crib. bring food, drink and/or a commitment to clean-up afterward. or just bring yourself, whatever you're capable of. I'm bringing chili. we could really use some appetizers and non-alcoholic beverages. If you could please "respond to all" either way to avoid gaps or overlaps. last minute responses (better than no response at all) can be accomplished by calling or texting me. we'll set up a grid with superbowl boxes for $1 or $2 a box. please, in the spirit of spontaneity, friendship, and support, consider being there for this gathering. it'll be a lot more than just another superbowl party.
peace,
mj
And that is what friendship is all about. 12 people made the party -- mike v, rowley, ari, jackson x2, rebecca, biddle, keith, blo, vlad, soda & his lady (sorry I can't remember her name). We ate like royalty (aro's homemade salsa & guac, keith's famous taco dip, mj's magical chili, rebecca's bodacious brownies, pizza, blo's ton of tater tots, vlad's brocco-delite & mango sundae surpise and much much more). People stayed to clean (Vlad even ran the vacuum cleaner) and I didn't have to lift a finger.
I didn't get lucky in the grid pool (congrats to ??, vlad, mike v, and biddle for their winnings), but I felt like a very lucky girl to be surrounded by such good friends.
(Photo to come)
Friday, February 3, 2006
DID I REALLY JUST HAVE SURGERY?
posted Friday, 3 February 2006
Surgery yesterday went much better than expected. I actually woke up feeling better than I felt before the surgery... no pain... no nausea.
I arrived at Robert Wood Johnson at 7am (I had to get up at 5:30am, which is by far, the earliest I've woken up in many months). I was experiencing a bit more pain in the left side than I had been, which made me thankful that we were going in to check things out. Check-in was a breeze - I registered, got changed and climbed into bed at Pre-op Station #7. This was a much busier hospital than Princeton, but they were still very nice/friendly. The nurse got ready to start my IV, and I found myself fully reclined, with my arm hanging down over the bed, trying to find a vein to use... it isn't getting any easier... but she did a fairly good job and got a return with just a few jabs. Once I was all set, Mike was allowed to come back and wait with me until it was time for the surgery.
The anesthesiologist stopped by and I made sure to emphasize my history with anesthesia... he promised to try and get me through this without feeling sick on the other side. Sounds good to me! Another half hour or so later, he came back to take me into the OR. He gave me a beautiful paper hat to put on (which he told me was part of the new spring line for versace... but when I told him that I would keep the hat forever, he said he hadn't told me "which" Versace... Pablo Versace... it made me laugh). We got into the OR, where there were 6 or 7 people in there waiting. I slid over onto the table and prepared to be strapped down. The anesth. continued talking to me, which was a nice distraction from the folks preparing to slice me open. He gave me a shot of fast-acting valium... which definitely took the edge off (and made the room spin a little bit... not in a bad way though...) Dr Borah was running late, so we sat there for a good 10-15 minutes before they put me to sleep. Just long enough for me to:
• Find out that the anesth. was married to a woman from Belaruse, but he had never met her family -- she had applied for assylum in the US, so she can not return home
• Share stories about all the places I've travelled recently (in the past few years) - Jamaica, Cancun, Grand Canyon, etc
• Discuss the pleasantries of upstate NY - I am from Rochester, he went to undergrad at SUNY Buffalo, I went to school in Albany...
• Call the anesth a dork (he was excited to finish his last year of residency so that he could spend more time on things he enjoys... like playing chess)
• Convince him that "dork" really was a compliment in my book
• Explain the ins and outs of ultimate frisbee -- and all about Wicked
• Invite him out to play in a pickup ultimate frisbee game held on Saturdays at Buccleuch Park (which is right around the corner from the hospital)
The last thing I remember is seeing the clock -- just past 9... and then the next thing I remember is waking up in the recovery room, just before 11am. I felt groggy... but no pain... In fact, I felt remarkably well - I was wrapped in blankets (which reminded me of when Vanita had to "swaddle" her baby, Tara, in blankets, wrapping her arms in close to her body, to keep her still enough to sleep and prevent her from flailing and waking herself up), which were heavy and warm. They had even wrapped a blanket up around my head, so I was in a full "coccoon" from head to foot. The nurse came over to "check my drain".... GRRRR.... I couldn't believe that they had put another drain in! The anesthesiologist stopped by to check on me and said "maybe I'll see you out at Buccleuch!". Somebody else came by to check on me (not sure who) and I asked them what they had done. She explained that they had to remove the expander on the left (which is why the drain was needed - the human body doesn't like random voids in it and tends to fill these voids with fluid). They also "cleaned up" the right side, which had a spot that was looking like it might open up too. They did not have to remove the expander there.
By 11:30, I was eating ice chips and sitting up slightly. They moved me over into the 2nd stage post-op recovery area, where they gave me some cranberry juice and let Mike come back to see me. A nurse came by to take my vitals. She then helped me up for a quick walk (hobble) over to the ladies room (in order to go home, you have to drink & pee... according to the nurse). I passed the test and they brought me back to the next station over, where there was an armchair (as opposed to a hospital bed). I sat for a while, drinking my juice. The nurse came back and took out my IV so I could get dressed. She then gave me my discharge instructions (it always makes me laugh that they make you sign a paper that says that you are not allowed to sign any legal documents for 24 hours...) As I was leaving (at around 12:30pm), she gave me a flower, which was really sweet (even though it was Jessica T's least favorite flower in the world!). They wheeled me out and Mike took me home.
I was a little bit tired, but didn't have any pain -- I didn't even take a tylenol! I took a brief nap and by the time I woke up, mom was here. We watched tv for a while and I ate some mac & cheese. Yum. The three of us laid pretty low, but if you didn't know it, you would have been surprised that I had just had surgery that morning. Perhaps it was lingering effect of the anesthesia, but besides being a little bit tired, I felt pretty ok.
While I feel ok physically, I am a little bit disappointed with the results of the surgery... it turns out that I don't really have enough skin left on the left side to go through the "expansion". I believe that in order to do the reconstruction, I may need to have a "latissimus dorsal flap", which is a procedure where they take skin & muscle from your back and tunnel it around to the front to use for the reconstruction... sounds a bit scary, so I am not going to think too much about it until my follow-up appt next week.
Surgery yesterday went much better than expected. I actually woke up feeling better than I felt before the surgery... no pain... no nausea.
I arrived at Robert Wood Johnson at 7am (I had to get up at 5:30am, which is by far, the earliest I've woken up in many months). I was experiencing a bit more pain in the left side than I had been, which made me thankful that we were going in to check things out. Check-in was a breeze - I registered, got changed and climbed into bed at Pre-op Station #7. This was a much busier hospital than Princeton, but they were still very nice/friendly. The nurse got ready to start my IV, and I found myself fully reclined, with my arm hanging down over the bed, trying to find a vein to use... it isn't getting any easier... but she did a fairly good job and got a return with just a few jabs. Once I was all set, Mike was allowed to come back and wait with me until it was time for the surgery.
The anesthesiologist stopped by and I made sure to emphasize my history with anesthesia... he promised to try and get me through this without feeling sick on the other side. Sounds good to me! Another half hour or so later, he came back to take me into the OR. He gave me a beautiful paper hat to put on (which he told me was part of the new spring line for versace... but when I told him that I would keep the hat forever, he said he hadn't told me "which" Versace... Pablo Versace... it made me laugh). We got into the OR, where there were 6 or 7 people in there waiting. I slid over onto the table and prepared to be strapped down. The anesth. continued talking to me, which was a nice distraction from the folks preparing to slice me open. He gave me a shot of fast-acting valium... which definitely took the edge off (and made the room spin a little bit... not in a bad way though...) Dr Borah was running late, so we sat there for a good 10-15 minutes before they put me to sleep. Just long enough for me to:
• Find out that the anesth. was married to a woman from Belaruse, but he had never met her family -- she had applied for assylum in the US, so she can not return home
• Share stories about all the places I've travelled recently (in the past few years) - Jamaica, Cancun, Grand Canyon, etc
• Discuss the pleasantries of upstate NY - I am from Rochester, he went to undergrad at SUNY Buffalo, I went to school in Albany...
• Call the anesth a dork (he was excited to finish his last year of residency so that he could spend more time on things he enjoys... like playing chess)
• Convince him that "dork" really was a compliment in my book
• Explain the ins and outs of ultimate frisbee -- and all about Wicked
• Invite him out to play in a pickup ultimate frisbee game held on Saturdays at Buccleuch Park (which is right around the corner from the hospital)
The last thing I remember is seeing the clock -- just past 9... and then the next thing I remember is waking up in the recovery room, just before 11am. I felt groggy... but no pain... In fact, I felt remarkably well - I was wrapped in blankets (which reminded me of when Vanita had to "swaddle" her baby, Tara, in blankets, wrapping her arms in close to her body, to keep her still enough to sleep and prevent her from flailing and waking herself up), which were heavy and warm. They had even wrapped a blanket up around my head, so I was in a full "coccoon" from head to foot. The nurse came over to "check my drain".... GRRRR.... I couldn't believe that they had put another drain in! The anesthesiologist stopped by to check on me and said "maybe I'll see you out at Buccleuch!". Somebody else came by to check on me (not sure who) and I asked them what they had done. She explained that they had to remove the expander on the left (which is why the drain was needed - the human body doesn't like random voids in it and tends to fill these voids with fluid). They also "cleaned up" the right side, which had a spot that was looking like it might open up too. They did not have to remove the expander there.
By 11:30, I was eating ice chips and sitting up slightly. They moved me over into the 2nd stage post-op recovery area, where they gave me some cranberry juice and let Mike come back to see me. A nurse came by to take my vitals. She then helped me up for a quick walk (hobble) over to the ladies room (in order to go home, you have to drink & pee... according to the nurse). I passed the test and they brought me back to the next station over, where there was an armchair (as opposed to a hospital bed). I sat for a while, drinking my juice. The nurse came back and took out my IV so I could get dressed. She then gave me my discharge instructions (it always makes me laugh that they make you sign a paper that says that you are not allowed to sign any legal documents for 24 hours...) As I was leaving (at around 12:30pm), she gave me a flower, which was really sweet (even though it was Jessica T's least favorite flower in the world!). They wheeled me out and Mike took me home.
I was a little bit tired, but didn't have any pain -- I didn't even take a tylenol! I took a brief nap and by the time I woke up, mom was here. We watched tv for a while and I ate some mac & cheese. Yum. The three of us laid pretty low, but if you didn't know it, you would have been surprised that I had just had surgery that morning. Perhaps it was lingering effect of the anesthesia, but besides being a little bit tired, I felt pretty ok.
While I feel ok physically, I am a little bit disappointed with the results of the surgery... it turns out that I don't really have enough skin left on the left side to go through the "expansion". I believe that in order to do the reconstruction, I may need to have a "latissimus dorsal flap", which is a procedure where they take skin & muscle from your back and tunnel it around to the front to use for the reconstruction... sounds a bit scary, so I am not going to think too much about it until my follow-up appt next week.
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