It went well...

We got to the Valley Hospital yesterday at 7:00 AM. They tried to access a vein for IV, but no luck. I can't believe I'm such a basket case when it comes to those kinds of pokes. An earlier poke inside my elbow to DRAW blood was no problem, but trying to put in an IV line...heck, that's why I got a port! Needless to say, after some discussion with the anesthesiologist, they got permission and a special person to access my port. Piece of cake.

This delay made me late for the radiologist, but got in around 9 o'clock. Now the job was to locate my tumor via mammagram, (there was a "clip" put in there February 2nd) insert a hollow needle to it, then take another mammagram from another angle to see if on target. Not even close. Let's try again from below and use a longer needle. The doctor said the needle was 9 cm. long with 8 cm. inside. This time he was right on the money, so then he inserted a wire with a hook so the surgeon could know where to cut. All this while I've got my you know what in a wringer to hold it in place while they develop film, make a grid, etc., then check again to see if they got where they were supposed to be. To tell the truth, those needle pricks don't bother me as much as those IV ones. (Probably because I got other things to worry about!) After two and a half hours of this I'm wheeled back to my room. Luckily the original 10:30 surgery time had been changed to 12:00, but now we get the news that Dr. S. is even running late on THAT time. So, we just twiddle our thumbs, thinking about a Heath Bar Blizzard that I want as soon as I can eat something!

I think it was around 2 o'clock that I was on the table. Dr. S. removed an area bigger than a golf ball, but smaller than a tennis ball. Hopefully they got clear margins.

Fred decided he had to get back home to do some chores and seeding or tilling, so he assured me he'd be back after dark with my Blizzard. They feed you well at Valley Hospital. They call it "Room Service." You pick what you want from their menu, call their number, and they'll have it to you within 45 minutes. Pretty good, too! Anyway, the next few hours were still a fog for me, what with the drugs I was on. Around 10 I got a call from Fred saying Dairy Queen was already closed, he'd tried Jack-In-the-Box, and they were closed, too, so was heading to MacDonald's for a strawberry shake. Forty-five minutes later he walked into the room with his booty. Security downstairs had given him a really bad time, more so than the TSA at the airports. Ah, but even the strawberry shake was still cold and filling.

I told him to go home and get some sleep. I was fine. I'd wake up about every 4 hours requiring a pain med, but the graveyard nurse said I could have TWO of them. Well, heck, let's go for it! Dang, that round kept the twinges away for over 8 hours! What woke me up in the morning was the alarms going off on the O2 machine. It was saying my pulse was way too low. It bugged the nurses enough that they just disconnected it! Now the only reason I was to spend the night there was to make sure I didn't stop breathing or beating! I guess they figured I'd made it through the night, so their job was done. I had to get up anyway.

I'm home now. We stopped at Dairy Queen on the way home, and I got my Heath Blizzard after all. I took some meds a couple hours ago, but don't expect I'll need anymore till bedtime. Doc used glue and butterfly bandaids to close the incision, and that part looks pretty good. Big bruise, though. I'm just sleepy. I'll be seeing Doctor Surgeon next Wednesday. By then we'll have the pathology report to see whether or not more surgery is required. Look for my next post then.

Again, thank you for your notes of encouragement and everything else you've done for me. I don't feel alone because of all of you.