Skip to main content

D Day plus 1: The day after

So here I am, the day after surgery, taking codeine with Tylenol and feeling like I was run over by a truck. Yesterday was a long day; up at 5:30, at the ambulatory surgery center by 7, in surgery around 11 (lots of procedures before surgery which took hours), out of surgery around 4, home around 7.

But then there's the good news:
  • Dr. Cahan is pretty sure he got clean margins
  • There's no lymph node involvement
  • I'm home!
  • I didn't faint (well, I almost fainted when the nurse had trouble getting the IV in, but I didn't faint during the needle localization, thanks to the two nurses, Christine and Anne Marie, who held my hand and put an ice pack on my neck when I started to feel faint)
  • Did I mention that I didn't faint during the needle localization? That was the part I was most worried about.
And I have the best family and friends anyone could want. Gini and Bob arrived at the hospital around 10 so I got to see them before I went into surgery and they spent the day with Anne. They left around 5 and picked up my painkillers for me--we were concerned that the drug store would close before we could get there.

Tracy came to help bring me home, and Emily was at our house when we got there. We couldn't have managed without them. Tracy made me macaroni and cheese, Emily brought tuna salad, egg salad and hummus for "dinner." We lit Shabbat candles, made a motzei over the round challah, and ate. 

My sister Gini sent me the greatest pillow --
 -- and that made sleeping easier.

And now I need to rest and heal!


Comments

  1. Debbie AmoreseSeptember 23, 2017 at 11:07 PM

    Praise God for a successful surgery and God Bless you as you heal.
    Love,
    Debbie

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

"The Waiting is the Hardest Part" RIP Tom Petty

Okay, so I used that as a title in August-who knew that Tom Petty, a man younger than me (who apparently didn't know the rules: people younger than I am aren't supposed to die!) would die ! And actually, at this point, waiting isn't the hardest part. Healing is the hardest part. Every day I feel a little bit stronger, just enough to be dangerous. I'm almost "back to normal" and I just want to resume my "normal" life. As if life can ever be normal once you've learned that you have cancer. I'm still very sore but most of the bruising of the left breast is gone; the right breast is having a harder time of it. My sister drove from PA to spend the day with Anne and me yesterday. It was a wonderful visit.  I had a chance to ask her all the questions I had about radiation. She looks good and is feeling better, so that's encouraging. We had a great lunch at 105Ten in Briarcliff Manor. (Clever name, right? A take-off on the zip code). T...
6 comments
Read more

I feel like I was stepped on by an elephant

who kicked me in the sternum on his way out. Other than that, I'm fine! Seriously, I'm basically tired. I thought I was tired on Saturday, I had no idea what tired even means!! I slept nearly all day Sunday. But the good news is that I'm off the Tylenol and codeine. Tylenol alone is enough to deal with the pain. And I've been able to shower each day and wash my hair, which at least makes me feel somewhat human. Oh, and to add to the fun, I have some kind of rash (Anne thinks it's poison ivy, I think it isn't but I don't know what it is) that itches like mad. Me with pillow and bear And I have enough concentration to read- Glass Houses by Louise Penny. I'm enjoying it immensely. Maybe in a few days I can read The Thinking Woman's Guide to Breast Cance r -- just not now. I am so lucky--friends have dropped off food, delivered a beautiful stuffed bear (thank you Matt and Suzanne!!), sent cards, called and basically "been there....
6 comments
Read more

Cancer...there I've said it.

I had a bone density test this morning. When I registered I was given a "profile" form to complete. I was going along, happily checking "yes" and "no" until I came to a list of things you could have, and I had to check "cancer." And when the technician asked me if there had been any medical changes since my last bone density test, I said yes, I have been diagnosed with breast cancer. Saying it out loud makes it real. My sister Gini told me how hard it was to go to the "cancer center" every day for her treatments, and she posted that she was " processing the fact that the word cancer is part of my life now and forever." I now know exactly what she means.
4 comments
Read more