Drain Out! Recuperating Well

So today I met with Dr. H to get the drain taken out of my left side.  I was thrilled.  He said he's never had anyone who said "Gee....I wish I could keep this a bit longer."  Really?  There was a resident with him.  I said "Hey, you get to learn from the best."  Dr. H said, "Thanks, that's another $5 in your pocket.  Keep it up!"  LOL. Dr. H said it wouldn't hurt for him to pull the drain out.  He lied.  I forgive him. 

If I Keep Beating the Odds, Why Can't I Win the Lottery?

Went in Thursday morning for the port placement and the sentinal node biopsy.  The nurse made me take a pregnancy test which for some reason just pissed me off.  Unless I'm carrying the next messiah into the world, I'm NOT pregnant. "Hospital Rules Honey...." Grrrr. 

Got the IV stuck in my right arm.  Had to draw a purple "X" on my left boob with a marker so that they'd take the sentinal nodes out of the correct side. Lord, that's enough to make you nervous! They won't know unless I mark it for them???

Later Dr. H came in carrying a small lead box.  I asked him what he brought me for lunch.  He said a radioactive shot.  Ouch.  They injected the radioactive dye into my left breast. It stung!  Then I had to wait for two hours for the dye to move to the sentinal nodes before they could operate. There was no television in the room so I read and did puzzles and chatted with mom a bit. Couldn't sleep because it was still morning and I wasn't tired.  Just nervous.  Finally at 12:30, Dr. H was ready for the surgery.  Told my mom I loved her. They gave me the cocktail in my IV and wheeled me into the operating room. Next thing you know, I woke up back in my little room in the surgery center.

Bad News.  There's a really rare chance that the radioactive dye from the shot doesn't work.  Guess who beat the rare chance?  You got it!

That means that they went ahead and took out all of my lymph nodes on the left side...regardless of whether they were cancerous or not.  Apparently they can't tell which are the sentinal nodes without the dye working so they don't know which ones to test.  They just rip them all out.  I think this is the first time I really cried.  I did NOT want my lymph nodes removed if at all possible. To think that it may have been an unnecessary surgery and a lot longer recovery makes me upset.

Echocardiogram (aka Ultrasound of the Heart)

Just had an echocardiogram, or ultrasound of the heart. It is supposed to be able to tell if your heart muscles are healthy enough to go through chemotherapy.  They look to see if there are any leaks between the valves and the amount of "squeezing" the heart muscles do.  And something called "strain."

The tech doing the test was young and really cute.  The room was barely lit.  My heart was pumping (lol). I sent him telepathic messages to drop the ultrasound wand and grab my boob since he was right there anyway. 

Guess it's true - men really aren't mind readers.  LOL!!!

If I have any blood left!

Waited at home for the phone call from Dr. Hubbard's office and/or the Outpatient Surgery Center to see when I would get scheduled for my pre-surgery tests and the outpatient surgery as well.  Autumn at Dr. Hubbard's called about 9:00 to tell me that they couldn't get me scheduled until Thursday morning.  That's when they'll implant the port and do the lymph node stuff.  I was supposed to go pick up my paperwork at Dr. Hubbard's office and then get the blood work and EKG in the afternoon. 

I drove to work as quickly as I could and after meeting with several people on "important" issues (not), I was able to leave about 11:00 and go up to the Woodlands to get started. 

First to Dr. Hubbard's to pick up the paperwork.  While I was waiting, Dr. and Mrs. Hubbard arrived with their lunch in tow.  Of course Dr. H came out to see if I was getting everything squared away.  I told him I was a bit concerned that if they couldn't put the port in until Thursday that perhaps I'd have to delay the chemo for a week.  He said that unless I have to stay in the hospital for the lymph node surgery I could probably still get the chemo treatment if late on Thursday afternoon.  Really?  Wow!  I am thinking I'd need a mental break if nothing else, but maybe it's good to get it all taken care of on one day. 

Mrs. H came out and talked to me about the Lymphedema testing that they can do upfront to detect whether or not you'll get lymphedema.  Said that they can monitor the swelling in my arms and legs and if anything is detected prior to it actually showing up, I can be treated so that it is controlled before the massive swelling takes place.  Apparently the swelling NEVER goes away once it's at a certain stage! REALLY?  I had no idea.  I decided to have the testing done.  Insurance doesn't cover it but it's $85.  I think that is much better than waiting until your arm swells up to twice its size and then living with it.  Gross.  Mrs. H hooked some electrode strips up to both arms and one foot.  Took my baseline measurements and that was it.  In three months I go back in for them to measure again.  Easy as pie.

Went on to get blood work done AGAIN.  I'm getting tired of getting stuck.  Maybe it's better that I have this port-thingy.  Don't have to watch them poke a needle in my arm everytime I need chemo. 

Waited about 40 minutes to get the EKG.  That took all of a few minutes as well.  We talked about the devastation in Japan. What a mess.  Yes, things could definitely be worse than they are for me right now. 

Thank you Lord Jesus for such a wonderful medical team surrounding me and guiding me in my process.  Thank you for the roof over my head and a warm bed to sleep in at night.  Thank you for my family and friends to pray for me and support me.  Thank you for hope and a bright future.  Thank you for your grace and mercy and peace.  Amen!

I think he's scared...

Retrieved up my son from UT Austin yesterday.  I had my hat hair with me for fun. I put it on for him when he got in the car.  Then I asked him if he wanted to try it on to see how he'd look with long hair.  He just said "No."  Later when we were home and unloading everything from the car, he got the things out of the backseat.  We got in the house and I couldn't find my "hat hair."  I went back to the car to see if it got left behind. There it sat, untouched in the backseat.  I don't think he wanted to pick it up.

Really?

Can I just say that my illness seems like such an inconvenience to you...

Shopping for Alternative Hair

All I can say is take a friend of two with you and make a day of it.  I asked three friends to go on my wig shopping day with me. We started out with lunch at LaMadeline.  Yum.  Afterwards we went to the most wonderful place on earth.  Gayla's Wigs. This lady is soooo darn amazing. She spent TWO HOURS with us giving me personal attention, care and compassion.  She considers this her ministry and it's evident.  She talked about her own journey and I could truly say that she understands what women go through. At the end of the day, she gave me a card. It was a musical card with a Christian song and a personal message in it.  She hugged me tight and told me everything would be okay.  Wow.  Who would have known?  I ended up ordering a cute wig and got a hat with hair.  My friends and I ended up going out for a margarita to celebrate.  I wore my hat/hair for grins to try it out.  Kept thinking people would do a "double take" cuz it would look funny, but no one did.  We sat on the patio outside because the weather was so wonderful. I can not thank my friends enough for all of the wonderful support they give me.  Love you guys!!