Last Surgery (?)

From the desk of Joni Sweet

Greetings :-) I'm happy you stopped by & I hope you enjoy browsing around... please, do leave a comment so I can stop by & visit your blog. You see, I've none of those privacy invaders that tell me who's been by [don't believe in em' actually] and to be honest they aren't accurate anyway! LOL
According to most blogs I stop by I don't even live near the town they say I do... which reminds me, no need looking me up on any map living in Taconite, Coleraine, or the other Iron Range towns that the privacy invaders say I'm from... I'm NOT there. :-)

And with that being said, on to the NEW happenings...
[re: Surgery - the rest will follow at a later time]

I'm home from the hospital :-)

Hopefully you'll find this informative if you are facing Breast Cancer Surgery after having a Mastectomy.
(See my previous blogs for previous testings, Mastectomy, etc)

Breast Cancer doesn't need to be frightening & you aren't alone!!!

Monday 08.10.09 I headed out of Grand Rapids for Duluth in the afternoon. A few hours later then planned as I spent the morning at the clinic first having an EKG, Electrocardiogram, Xray done due to SEVERE upper chest pain that came on Sunday Evening. Apparently a disk had slipped in the spine which was causing chest wall [rib cage] problems. Thank Goodness it turned out to be nothing serious & I was still able to stay scheduled for surgery Tuesday morning. So anyhow, Monday I arrived at the motel room around 5pm. It was nice to enjoy the spa & pool that evening. I'd brought some food items with so took my cooler outside & had supper while enjoying the fresh evening air :-)

[I live in an apt complex on 3rd floor so don't get that enjoyment often]

When I finally hit the hay I was well ready for some good sleep!
Tuesday, packed up & ready to go, I headed for St. Luke's Hospital by 0540 - once there things moved along quite rapidly.
Registration, Weight scale [which was the same as the previous few months], Change into gown & get all the necessary Pre-Op Stuff done.
0800 The fine nurses wheeled me into Operation Room & there I stayed for the next 6 hrs. Surgery went well [so I'm told]. The # I'd left for my Surgeon to call was missing the 1-218 in front of it so when he called it, he got a "disconnected message" Opps, Me Bad! Not use to being long distance in the same area code. Ha But that's the way cell phones are when calling from a land line...
Anyway, I don't remember waking up in Recovery nor being brought to ICU bed however I do remember everything once I finally really woke up. The nurse's were all super nice & had wonderful bedside skills. The pain was major so was kept on lots of pain meds. Had 3 JP's in [drainage tubes], cath & IV... wasn't allowed to have NPO ~ not even ice chips [yea right] Ha And beings it was ICU no visitors allowed except family *snicker* [Kev walked down to see me for 10 minutes] then the following day I was doing better than anticipated so was transferred to Surgical Wing where both Kev & Rhonda came to visit :-)
My surgeon also stopped in & removed the dressings which surprised all of us including the nurses!!! And by Supper time I was allowed Clear Liquids. That evening I was up walking [very slowly & lots of pain] so didn't go far. Kev stopped back & visited too.
Thursday was a day I won't forget... Not knowing the fact that when abdominal muscles are cut, it causes EXCRUCIATING PAIN in middle of low back, so wasn't prepared to get 1/2 way down the hall & not be able to make it back to my room! With tears I was given pain pills on top of the pain pump [which to me doesn't work anyway].
Needless to say, I spent lots of time in bed watching TV.

Mom had sent two beautiful cards she'd made that week & called a few times but I couldn't tell you when... Kev visited twice a day since his g.f.'s place was just 3 blks away which was nice! :-) Each time I'd have him 'go-fer' this or that & on one occasion he'd brought some delicious grapes... MMMmmm! The food was eatable [enough said about that].

Sunday afternoon I was discharged. Stopped at Mom's to pick up a handrail that she had bought awhile ago & came home. Kev made me steak & augratin potatos for supper & I was sound asleep by 8 or so.

Yesterday Mom stopped over with a w/c & NEW mattress pad & pillow along with some food which was NICE. They changed my bed too! :-)

Today, Wednesday, I'm to call the Surgeon with the JP counts and find out when the tubes will be taken out. Unfortunately, I have to drive to Duluth just for this but it'll be nice to have em' out!!!

I'd have no problem posting photos here but others would get sick seeing them so I choose not to. LOL
IF you are a Breast Cancer Woman who is thinking about having this type of procedure [TRAM flap], I'd be happy to email you. It's one procedure that I don't recommend unless you have LOTS of TIME to Relax to Recover & can handle tons of pain! I'm not certain how long I'll be needing the w/c for any length of distance but living where I'm at my car is quite far from my apt door. And a shower chair is a must as standing that long is impossible only because the back pain will take you down literally IF it's anything like mine.

So... there you have it, good luck with your breast cancer journey & may you also be Cancer-Free soon!