Tuesday night, we played a game that Cathy brought, and ate a late dinner provided by my friend from dance, Rebecca. She's like the daughter I never had, I love her.
I think I actually slept for a couple of hours.
Wednesday morning, got up bright and early, showered, and was at the hospital and checked in by 7:30.
Then we sat there and waited for almost 3 hours. My surgery was scheduled for 9:30, and I don't think they wheeled me to the O/R suite until 10 or 10:15..
They gave me a xanax for the anxiety. Cathy also rubbed my feet and provided comic relief, threatening to go outside of the curtain and cause a scene.
The surgeon came and we went over everything one last time, and told me the team was running a bit late.
The anesthesiologist came and went over what he was going to do.
A nurse came in and got my full size IV in. Yikes. That hurt, but I don't have a bruise!
Then, we waited some more. Dave would occasionally show me a post of good wishes someone put up on Facebook.
I remember saying "see you later" to Cathy and Dave, and finally being wheeled into the O/R about a half hour or 45 minutes after my scheduled time.
I remember the light fixtures in the O/R, and the anesthesiologist smiling at me and saying hello.
Then I was waking up, answering a nurses questions with no voice, and asking why my tongue was numb.
Next, I remember being wheeled into an elevator, then into my room, transferred by draw sheet from the gurney into my bed, and looking up on the wall where the clock said it was just after 2 pm.
Cathy and Dave were in the room already. I vaguely remember weeping.
I lay there in the bed for a while, and became aware that I had to pee.
Dave pressed the call button, and the nurse helped me sit up. I sat there on the bed for 40 minutes fighting waves of extreme nausea and dizziness. They gave me a compazine, and after it took effect, I was finally able to get up and waddle into the bathroom.
My pee was blue. No. Really. It was blue. The first several times that I went to the bathroom, my pee was gradually less and less blue.
Anyone ever heard of that one before?!
I had one more wave of nausea after that, but then I was fine. They told me to always press the call button if I had to use the bathroom again, to not try to do it myself, so I complied with that.
I was very shaky and weak.
They brought me a tray of liquid foods to get something into my belly. Jello and extremely salty broth, and juice. I wanted the red jello, but they brought me orange instead...OSU fans?? I thought it was funny (the big college football rivalry here is between OSU and OU, and their colors are orange and red, respectively).
I consumed almost all of it. The nursing shift changed, we met my night crew. Dave and Cathy went down to the cafeteria and I went to sleep.
After dinner, they sat in my room with me, We turned on the tv to try to find something interesting. The picture sucked. I had to get up to pee another time or two.
Dave took Cathy home around 8 and he returned around 10 to sleep on the recliner next to my bed. While they were gone, I tried to read, but could not get my eyes to focus, so I napped.
They had me hooked up with these things on my lower legs that had air chambers in them that would inflate and deflate to provide a constant massage in order to prevent blood clots. This was another reason I could not get out of bed by myself.
The nurses came in at intervals to take vitals and give meds, and change drip bags. I was given antibiotics this way, but was not given any to take orally at home.
Once the anesthesia wore all the way off, I was starving. Between the hunger, the nurses, the massaging things on my legs, the noises, and the fluids making me have to pee, I did not get much sleep, but I was so out of it from the pain meds that just resting was enough.
Next morning, the nurse shift changed, and I was given what equates to a room service menu. Dave called and ordered an omelet and yogurt for my breakfast.
I ate almost all of the solid food, and felt SO much better for it. Dave went down for breakfast himself then.
The surgeon came at 8:30 to check on my wounds, and said I was good to go home. Dave went home and showered, and picked Cathy up.
They finally unplugged those massage devices from my legs and allowed me to "move freely about the cabin" as long as I wheeled my IV tower with me. I could finally use the toilet on my own, and get UP to brush my teeth! (Dave had helped me brush my teeth the night before and after breakfast by bringing me a cup of water to use to swish and spit).
The anesthesiologist's nurse came to check on me while Dave was at home, and I asked her about my numb tongue. She said it WOULD go away, but that it could take several days. Ugh. At least it's only a spot on the left side.
The case worker came and explained to me that I had been under observation, not an admit, and that my insurance might balk at that. I signed the paper she gave me to acknowledge that, and explained to her that I know all about that, thanks to 13 years in medical billing.
I gave the paper to Dave, and hope that we don't have issues with observation not being a paid service.
We waited around until after lunch (I had a chef salad and yogurt!), and that was when I remembered that I was the one who was supposed to alert the nurses when my ride had arrived so we could start the discharge process.
They should know better than to trust a post surgical patient hopped up on pain meds to remember anything!
We probably could have gotten out of there a couple of hours earlier, but it was okay. I got another meal out of it, and was more ready to go than I might have been earlier.
We stopped at the Womens' Health Boutique on the way home to get my special bra for mastectomy patients that has pouches for the drains that are coming out of my chest.
It took a while for the insurance process to go through (they will pay for one bra), so Dave went and filled my pain meds scrip while Cathy and I chatted with the boutique lady.
Got home Thursday afternoon around 3:30.
By then my mouth wounds were really bugging me, so I rinsed with salt water to get a head start on healing them. There was a cut on the bottom of my tongue from one of my teeth, I guess, and one near the back of my mouth.
Cathy washed out the bra thingie, and got my drains pinned to my shirt. The boutique also gave me a lanyard with a clip for use in the shower.
Because the dangling drains were bothering me, we tried the lanyard, but the weight of it and the bouncing when I walked was irritating, so we went back to having the drains pinned in my shirt.
Dave and Cathy both agreed that I should take my pain meds every 4 hours the first 24 hours, so I did that. I think that helped me sleep that first night. They knock me out, but I would wake up right on time to take the next one!
The doc had said we could remove the big bandages on Thursday afternoon, and that I could shower right away, but I was afraid, so I just used some wipes, and we left the bandages alone, and I slept in my clothes.
Friday, Dave had to go in to work for a little while, and to run an errand or two, including going back to the boutique for me to obtain a second bra, but I had apparently purchased the last one in my size.
My mouth started to feel better, but I did the salt water rinse a few more times that day.
Cathy got the bandages off for me, and hooked the drains into the lanyard, and I took a very hesitant shower. It felt SO GOOD to get those big pieces of tape off of my skin!
The shower felt great, and I got some of that yellow betadine stuff off of my skin that was making me itch all over, but I was afraid to stay in too long and really do a good job on my upper body to get that stuff off.
The bra was finally dry, so she got me into it, and its SO much better than having the drains pinned to my shirt.
I found on Friday that I still love coloring books and crayons! Something to do to pass the time...and it was fun!
Cathy has been feeding me well, and is great at clearing the drains and measuring the output.
We were instructed to do that at 8 am, 2 pm, and 8 pm daily. The output needs to be monitored, so they gave us a chart to fill in every time. The flow is supposed to decrease, and as of today, it is.
Yesterday's am reading was pretty high on the right side, which has a bigger incision, and where more tissue was removed.
The whole process with the drains makes me sick to my stomach, so I turn my head and let myself be cared for. If Cathy isn't available (she sleeps later than we do), Dave is also very good at this process.
I am SO grateful that I don't have to go through this by myself and do THAT myself. Because it's gross.
Cathy's presence in the house, her cooking, her gentle ministrations, have all been SUCH a huge gift to both me and Dave. She even rubbed lotion on my head for me because it was itchy, and I was having trouble getting my hands up that high.
Friday night, Cathy was feeling a bit punky, so she went to bed early, and Dave and I watched our netflix movie.
I slept in my clothes again that night because I had no pajamas that button up the front.
I did not sleep well, though, because sleeping on my back is bothering my lower back a lot. The pain meds don't seem to help that, and they had started making me nauseous, too, so I have pretty much stopped taking them.
Fortunately, I am having very little pain, just as the doc had said...because the nerves were cut, so there's no feeling across my chest and into my arm pits.
I have been doing a little stretching, and can now reach up to put my hands on my head, and to hang up towels, etc
Saturday, Dave did a couple of errands in the morning, including going to Target and getting me some pajamas.
Cathy slept for close to 13 hours, and felt better when she got up. She helped me get showered again, and this time, I did a much better job on the betadine, and with not being afraid to take a shower.
I've also managed to look down at myself a few times. Progress.
Thanks to the shower, now the only places with the maddening itch are under the remaining tape that keeps the drain and chemo port incisions sterile and dry.
After my shower, I also used a swipe of deodorant, put on some nail polish, and a little bit of make up, just to make myself feel a bit less ugly. I noticed at the make up mirror, however, that there are deep dark hollows under my eyes that I have never seen before, and I have also noticed, when it is quiet, a constant pounding in my head.
I guess I went through something traumatic to my body...what do you think? *wink*
My mouth sores are gone. The numb spot is getting smaller.
Cathy and Dave went grocery shopping yesterday, and I sat out in the back yard and read in the fresh air. It was lovely. I also walked three laps around the back yard, and did some lifting of soup cans to assist in my stretching to get my arms to work again.
I've only had some twinges of pain in the ends of my incisions, and most intensely in the middle of the right one when I move a certain way. That could be being caused by the steri strips that are holding the incision tightly closed, but since I am mostly numb, I am not sure about any of it.
This morning, Dave did my drains, and they were down to almost nothing.
Unfortunately, since I don't have a second bra, and I have been wearing this one constantly since Friday, and it's blood stained, I will have to go back to pinning the drains to my shirt today so that the bra can be washed.
Cathy has promised home made Indian food and mango lassi today, but other than that, we have no plans. We have the game she brought, I have more coloring books to look at, we have several games and decks of cards....I'm sure we will pass the day pleasantly.
We were hoping and hoping for a good thunder storm (Cathy misses them, as they don't get them up in the PNW), but it never really materialized, and we hardly even got any rain.
I hope to figure out how to get a full night of sleep without back pain. Looking forward to today's shower, and to more reading and stretching and lifting stuff. May make some of my herbal tea that we think was keeping my blood count up during chemo to see if that helps with the dark eyes and pounding head.
Everyone have a good Sunday!
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