Surgery day retrospective

There was a lot going on yesterday. 

5 am wake up, packed bag with button up top PJ's

5:30 am showered with Hibiclens, a 24h long lasting antiseptic, from neck to waist, as I did the night before.  No deodorant or lotion allowed.

6 am departed for hospital

7 am check in on ground floor of Sibley in surgical suite, gave insurance cards and id's, signed multiple forms, given a patient number so my waiting family could check my progress on the big screen without my name up there for privacy reasons.  Was led back to change into a gown, robe, and socks. Nothing else permitted. No jewelry or underwear.  Urine sample taken, vitals taken, 123/75 BP and 69 HR if I remember right.  Then I was led to a draped area, room 1, and my family could come back, no more than 2 at a time. Various nurses and a PA stopped in. Wendy? Linda?  All lovely. One got my IV started, another got me a metallic cap to keep the heat in on my fuzzy head.

8 am Lymphatic mapping. The nurse came first and did a great job explaining the procedure Dr. Alan Crohnwall would do. The syringes came in a little kit with such little radiation (1 mercurie?) that no lead was required.  The needles were tiny at 27 gauge, even smaller than the ones I used to inject my lower abdomen during the oncofertility process.  They told me that people react differently and that the 4 injections do not always feel the same. The injections are made peri-auricular (?), meaning in and around the nipple at 3, 6, 9, and 12 o'clock.  Injection number 2 at 6 o'clock hurt like a bee sting, but the rest were OK! Apparently this is one type of needle stick that doctors do not practice on themselves/each other.  Ha! In any event, it was not nearly as bad as I imagined.  No one told me I would pee blue for 24h though.  My surgeon Dr. Magnant stopped by and said hello, cheerful as ever and brimming with energy.

9 am a nurse came to get me up to walk me over for the wire localization procedure. I walked across the surgical suite lobby to a room with imaging equipment.  The nurse Cynthia was awesome. Very thorough and precise with the utmost compassion at the same time.  Dr. Schlessinger was just the same. They double checked everything and took a time out to triple check me, my birthday and the procedure before initialling my right (correct)  breast.  Then we took a mammogram and compared it to the one from June.  The mammogram has a grid they use to determine needle placement. I lined up at 9&3/4 and H.  Next, they injected me superficially with a numbing agent, then deeply with lidocaine.  Then they placed the needle.  It is essentially a needle within a needle. The outside one is larger at maybe a 20 gauge, but definitely smaller than the biopsy tool.  The inner needle remains in place and is about the size of an acupuncture needle, although much longer. It has a thicker section, which optimally will be placed in the tumor. Dr. Schlessinger moved the needle a little bit to get it lined up perfectly,  in his words, "textbook."  He was just adorable.  Nurse Cynthia rubbed my back during the procedure like a baby, and at first I was embarrassed but I actually was completely grateful for it.  We took two more shots vertically and horizontally to make sure it was spot on, then the big needle was removed and the inner wire was taped down. About 6" was still hanging outside my body before they taped it, so I did my best not to wiggle around or move it. Yeah, I looked. It was a little surreal to see it hanging out there from my breast, but I was glad it was set.

9:30 am The anesthesiologist and nurse stopped by.  Apparently the tube doesn't go all the way down your throat, but the gas can be irritating. I had no other questions. 

9:52 am I said goodbye to my sister and dad so my husband could come in.

9:59 am They started wheeling me into surgery and I shed big alligator tears as I said goodbye.  In a minute, I was out. Probably because I was crying, they thought it would help me. I was just sad about saying goodbye abruptly. 

11:15 am I woke up with the nurses in recovery. First,  dilaudid in my IV to take the pain down from a 6/10 to a 4/10. Two blood pressure readings,  two ginger ales and about 6 Graham crackers later, I got my clothes back and a nurse helped me put my clothes on from the underwear on up.  An ace bandage in lieu of bra.  I got two tabs of oral Percoset and was instructed to wait til 5pm to take another.  

12:15 pm my family came in to see me. They told me my surgeon had said she took two lymph nodes and they both looked clear.  No word on the exact size of tissue removed from the tumor area though.  Josh filled my prescription for oxycodone /Tylenol and brought the car around.

12:30 pm my nurse wheeled me out, handed me a heart shaped pillow for comfort, and we headed home! Percoset knocked me out, so I had a bit of soup and then went straight to bed.

5 pm dinner, but skipped drugs, just ice

8 pm bed, ice and drugs

2:45 am got up for ice, skipped drugs

6 am ice and Starbucks with my sister, rest of the day in bed resting and occassional snacking. No drugs. Still changing ice, which helps the pain.

I am not quite ready to take off the bandage, but that is coming tonight/tomorrow morning.  I am just so glad I do not feel as bad as I thought I would and nothing went wrong this time.  Overall, I am so relieved to be through this. I was carrying so much stress in my body. I am almost in less pain as my muscles and joints have relaxed from relief of the stress of anticipation.  I am also so glad to have another positive indicator that my lymph nodes are clear.  Overall, I feel like someone took a baseball bat to my right breast. Occasionally I feel the stabbiness of pulling on stitches, so I have tried to keep my right arm range of motion limited to less than 45 degrees and very little weight. I realized that closing my own passenger side door on the Tahoe was probably too much weight for that side.  When I walk, I also try to keep an even gait to avoid any unnecessary bouncing or jostling. 

My game plan is to continue taking it easy and get myself healed ASAP! I have leave through Thanksgiving and Black Friday.  If there is a major event on Black Friday, I will go into work, but that's it.  My follow up is Monday, November 24, and I should get the results of my pathology then.  Before then, I go in for a Herceptin only infusion, round 1/12, on Friday.  Blargh.  I can't wait for it to be over. I am already thinking about having my port taken out early so I can be done with surgery.  Just so glad to be through this huge milestone though. Theoretically, I am now cancer free.  A little more treatment(30 rounds of radiation, 12 rounds of Herceptin, 10 years of tamoxifen/aromatasse inhibitors to go), but the worst of it is over!

THE WORST OF IT IS OVER!

Thank you for praying for me. Thank you for sending good thoughts my way.  Thank you for reaching out and for your kindness in every way.  It helps, it is working, and I so appreciate it.  THANK YOU.