The Last 13 Days!!!!

OK - so I am an awful blogger - I am 60 years old and trying to keep up with all the new technology.
60 - that is what the Cancer 101 book said that the average age was for women to get breast cancer,
Happy Birthday present to me!!!   I am not angry - and I feel better now that the lump is out.

So,  I want to try to recap the last 13 days of dealing with breast cancer, family and work!

Surgery was March 2nd - I took two Xanex the morning of surgery - because the hospital nurse said I could take all medications I needed before surgery.  So I DID!  The Xanex took away all of the anxiety and vise-like grip that I had been feeling in my chest for THREE WEEKS!   And boy was I happy the morning of my surgery!  Dan drove me to Munson Hospital so that arrived on time at 7:30 am - one organization that really is ORGANIZED!  I am so happy to be living in an area where the hospital is so phenomenal!  We walked in and were immediately routed through to every station we needed to be at and thoroughly explained to about everything we would experience that day.

SIDEBAR - Beki Reed told me three weeks before to get on Xanex - to take the edge off things - I even had spent the night in the hospital Feb 11th because I walked myself in thinking I was having a heart attack.  Came through clean on that episode -passing all tests.  I kept asking why I had pain in my chest - but it took my primary care doctor visit three days before surgery before I was diagnosed with anxiety and given this fine drug.

So, when Dr.Tom  (first name basis) walked in to talked to me before surgery, I took his picture with my camera phone -and he is smiling.  He is a gentle man of very small words - but I make him laugh!  Then, I asked him to pray with me - reading a "prayer for operation" that asked the Lord to bless the person working on me - ending in commending my body and soul to Him,  Dr. Tom held my hand as we prayed and Dan and my sister Karen were there to experience the moment.  The anesthesiologist on the other hand did not smile.  He did not think I was funny when I told him my birth date was ten years younger than I actually am!  Boy those 50"s sure went by fast!

The last thing I remember was asking the anesthesiologist - don't remember his name- how long it would be until I would go out -and he said seconds - as I started praying the rosary.  

I woke up to find out that I had a drain in my side - which was not what we were hoping for - one of the five sentinel nodes had cancer - and so they had to take about 15 more lymph nodes out to see if it had metastasized .  I would have to wait a week for the answer to that.

So Friday March 2nd I had to spend the night at the hospital - again the nurses and level of care for me was so appreciated. They do ask you every time they come in to do any services for your birth date  - I kept lying!  Which endeared me to some . . .

I vaguely remember the visitors coming in - Dan, my sister Karen - I told them to leave as there was nothing I could do - and I wanted to sleep.   Paula came to visit - I don't remember much - but she left to attend her parents and I was grateful for her being with me during the procedure too.  Later in the day Meganne McC came to visit - I am sure she brought me something but I can't remember.  I did show her my surgery result - and how good it looked.  She of course was impressed - NOT - she didn't really want to see it but I insisted! Hahahaha!  She watched as I ate all of my dinner quite ravenously.  Food was good at the hospital - loved the tapioca pudding!

Leslie and Pat Heintz came by with some beautiful pink roses - always graced by their presence and their faith - can't rememeber what we said - but Les says the nurse told her that if they wanted to get a word in edgewise - they could do it when I had the thermometer in my mouth.  Nice!
Friday March 2nd into Saturday March 3rd ended up being the STORM OF 2012!  Over 20 inches in snow, blowing winds, power outages, and such.  I was safe with the emergency power that Munson hospital was able to employ.

During the middle of the night - one young nurse who was a bit grouchy earlier, spent some time talking to me - (still on drugs I think)  We must have started talking about  the weather (remember this was 13 days ago now) and she told me she was going to the Caribbean in two weeks and would be glad to be warm. She was going with her boyfriend of 9 years.  She told me that she was pregnant and that the hospital didn't know yet.  They were supposed to be getting married but she wasn't sure when, she just wasn't sure how it should be done.  I asked her if she really loved her boyfriend, she said yes and so I said " I think you should get married in the Caribbean then so that when your baby is born - her parents are married!" I told her that I am old fashioned, but I think that is the way it should be if at all possible since there didn't seem any reason she could tell me otherwise.  I don't remember her name.

In the early morning Dr. Tom came by to check me - and that I could go home - to NO POWER!
I got up, took a shower, again marveled at the job he did on my "bad booby", got dressed and waited for Dan.  My new friend, the formerly grouchy nurse, who was now my Hospital BFF, actually wheel chaired me out - all nurses had to stay extra hours because of the storm and they could not go home -so many had been there for hours.  As we got on the elevator she proudly showed me her engagement ring - I smiled and wished her a wonderful life!

More later today - as I move on to March 3rd memories . . . . and the Xanex!!