The end of January was not pleasant. Georgie and I had picked up the wandering crud. Both of us had terrible coughs with fever and I had a sinus thing going on as well. The Doctors wanted to do surgery on January 31 to excise more tissue from the tumor sight and remove my ovaries, but I didn't feel like it was a good idea to do surgery when I felt so terrible. I called to cancel the surgery and then received a call from my surgeon. He didn't want to wait on the surgery. He felt that the urgency to get that extra skin and tissue removed was more serious than the possibility of pneumonia. So we went ahead with the surgery as planned.
The surgery was suppose to be about two hours but turned in to six. When he removed my left ovary and tube the side of my uterus took exception and began to bleed. He had to get in there with stitches to get it stopped. So because I had lost so much blood they made me stay in the hospital over night. They felt that I was doing pretty well by that evening and sent me home.
We came back to Vernal rather than me staying with my family. My mom is sick with a terrible cold and everyone else works so there wouldn't be anyone to help take care of me and George anyway so we came home. Geo had to work the next day so my daughter Miquel took George and I slept the day away in my chair.
The next morning about 3:00 am I started having a terrible pain when I breathed deeply. So I stopped breathing deeply but then I was not getting enough oxygen. I was getting worse by the hour. Geo got up about 8:00 am and checked on me. He was freaked out. I didn't think it was anything but a bubble from the ooferectomy(they fill the abdominal cavity with air so they can see what they are doing) but he was insistent that we go to a doctor. I called the surgeons office to see what they thought and the nurse said "YOU GO TO THE ER" So we got a sitter for George and went to Roosevelt ER.
After many tests and several tries to get an IV going they told us they thought I had a pulmonary embolism (blood clot in the lung). They wanted to get me going on blood thinners and possibly a transfusion, because my hermaticrit was at 24, normal is 36. No wonder they couldn't get an IV going I didn't have enough blood in my veins to even find them. Plus every time someone came into the room they were taking more blood (or so it seemed).
I was admitted to the hospital about 5:00 pm. The med/surg doc came to see me after he had studied all the tests and talked with a few of my doctors. He said that he had looked at the films of my lungs and while there were areas of collapsed lung he didn't feel that it was a PE. But he was really concerned that I hadn't had a bowel movement since before surgery, so four days. So he had the nurse do whatever it took to get me going in three hours and changed my diet to clear liquids. It didn't take that long only about 30 min. and I never stopped going for the duration of my stay there.
By the next day I still didn't feel any different than when they had admitted me. I was still in pain and couldn't breathe and was incredibly weak. They came in and gave me a transfusion at about 1:00 pm and when they were done I felt much better. Still in pain and breathless but not so weak. But the pain was only if I moved and the doc felt that it was post op pain rather than the PE. Especially since the pain was on the opposite side of the questionable PE.
We had another CT scan of my lungs a week after all of this. The doc called this morning and said that he didn't see any clots but there is still spots of collapsed lung or not aerating lung and fluid around my lungs. He wants me to have another x-ray in two weeks to make sure it is not getting worse. We also went to a post op visit with my surgeon the same day. He said the tests had all come back negative for cancer and so they feel pretty confident that they got what they needed.
I am feeling much better everyday. At times I still feel short of breathe but for the most part I am not in pain. Haven't taken a pain pill in more than a week. I am getting my hair back, even my eye lashes are coming in thick. I wish that the hair on my legs and pits where not growing again but alas I think they grow faster than any other hair on my body.
We have been really blessed in that when we have needed something there has been someone to help. It is amazing to me that the Lord is so mindful of our every need and provides the needed help exactly when it is needed. Thank you to all you angels out there that do the Lords work lovingly and quietly.
Friday, February 11, 2011
Friday, January 21, 2011
Bi-Lateral Mastectomy
On January 4, 2011, I went to surgery for a bi-lateral mastectomy with sentinel node dissection and reconstruction. The surgery took seven or eight hours, I don't remember which. I was suppose to stay over night and then go home the next day, but the doctors decided that I should stay another day. I actually stayed two more days for a total of four days in the hospital. Most of my stay I was in a drug induced sleep.
My family talked me into staying at my brothers while Geo worked for a week. That way they could take care of Georgie and I could rest. The first day home was a Saturday, so Leonard was with me most of the day. He made sure I ate a couple of times that day but I was asleep for the better part of the day. That night I tried to sleep in the bed but repeatedly awoke with a head ache, racing heart and heaving breathing. I realized that I was going so sound to sleep that I would stop breathing. So I went down to the easy chair.
By Sunday I was ready to get up and fix my own meals. Mom had taken Georgie to church and a family get together, so I didn't have to worry about him. That night I tried to sleep in the bed with Georgie again but this time I had the weirdest dream. At first I just saw really bright rays of light, then there was a lady that I recognized but didn't not call by name, she was really beautiful and kind of a golden color. I asked her what was going on and she said its OK but its nothing like what you have been told your whole life. Then I was in a truck and was watching the clean up of a horrible accident where a horse trailer had been mangled. They were using a back hoe to pull a horse out of a ditch. I awoke standing next to the bed, with a terrible headache, racing pulse and breathing heavily. I am not sure what got me out of bed but it probably saved my life. I didn't try to sleep in the bed again.
On Monday I was suppose to call the plastic surgeon, I wasn't sure why, he had just left instructions for me to call. The receptionist told me that I was to or have someone with me remove the pain pump from my chest. Since no one was home, I got to pull two tubes 18" in length from my chest. They wound around where each breasts had been. It hurt a little doing it but the rest of the day was intense pain and I am so very grateful for modern drugs.
I went to see the surgeon on Wednesday. He had gotten the pathology report back. He spent several minutes explaining to me that they had a hard time finding where the tumor had been and how they had to get radiology to find where the markers where so they could then dissect that section to see if they could find any cancer cells. At this point I could tell that he was trying to tell me something but wasn't sure why he was so upset. Then he said that they found scattered cells on the anterior margin. He was going to present it to the tumor board and he wanted me to see the radiologist and the plastic surgeon before the tumor board the following Wednesday.
I went to see the radiologist, who said that radiation would only kill microscopic cells and that these cells were too large to be effected by the radiation. He suggested that they remove the skin. The plastic surgeon felt that I am so "redundant" that there would be no need for skin grafts. I am guessing that redundant means that I was huge and have plenty of skin. So I go back to surgery at the end of the month to have 5 cm up my chest removed.
I came home after my meeting with the plastic surgeon on Tuesday, January 18,. I am getting around really well. I can even drive. I rarely take the pain meds now. If I do it is at night when I have less energy to fight the pain and Georgie. I have several exercises to do everyday to get the mobility back in my arms. I still have drains in each breast area. I think they are planning on leaving them til the next surgery and then they will remove the right one and reset the left one, which is not draining very well. I do not miss those huge boobs, but I am really tired of been in pain. For the most part, I think things are going great.
My family talked me into staying at my brothers while Geo worked for a week. That way they could take care of Georgie and I could rest. The first day home was a Saturday, so Leonard was with me most of the day. He made sure I ate a couple of times that day but I was asleep for the better part of the day. That night I tried to sleep in the bed but repeatedly awoke with a head ache, racing heart and heaving breathing. I realized that I was going so sound to sleep that I would stop breathing. So I went down to the easy chair.
By Sunday I was ready to get up and fix my own meals. Mom had taken Georgie to church and a family get together, so I didn't have to worry about him. That night I tried to sleep in the bed with Georgie again but this time I had the weirdest dream. At first I just saw really bright rays of light, then there was a lady that I recognized but didn't not call by name, she was really beautiful and kind of a golden color. I asked her what was going on and she said its OK but its nothing like what you have been told your whole life. Then I was in a truck and was watching the clean up of a horrible accident where a horse trailer had been mangled. They were using a back hoe to pull a horse out of a ditch. I awoke standing next to the bed, with a terrible headache, racing pulse and breathing heavily. I am not sure what got me out of bed but it probably saved my life. I didn't try to sleep in the bed again.
On Monday I was suppose to call the plastic surgeon, I wasn't sure why, he had just left instructions for me to call. The receptionist told me that I was to or have someone with me remove the pain pump from my chest. Since no one was home, I got to pull two tubes 18" in length from my chest. They wound around where each breasts had been. It hurt a little doing it but the rest of the day was intense pain and I am so very grateful for modern drugs.
I went to see the surgeon on Wednesday. He had gotten the pathology report back. He spent several minutes explaining to me that they had a hard time finding where the tumor had been and how they had to get radiology to find where the markers where so they could then dissect that section to see if they could find any cancer cells. At this point I could tell that he was trying to tell me something but wasn't sure why he was so upset. Then he said that they found scattered cells on the anterior margin. He was going to present it to the tumor board and he wanted me to see the radiologist and the plastic surgeon before the tumor board the following Wednesday.
I went to see the radiologist, who said that radiation would only kill microscopic cells and that these cells were too large to be effected by the radiation. He suggested that they remove the skin. The plastic surgeon felt that I am so "redundant" that there would be no need for skin grafts. I am guessing that redundant means that I was huge and have plenty of skin. So I go back to surgery at the end of the month to have 5 cm up my chest removed.
I came home after my meeting with the plastic surgeon on Tuesday, January 18,. I am getting around really well. I can even drive. I rarely take the pain meds now. If I do it is at night when I have less energy to fight the pain and Georgie. I have several exercises to do everyday to get the mobility back in my arms. I still have drains in each breast area. I think they are planning on leaving them til the next surgery and then they will remove the right one and reset the left one, which is not draining very well. I do not miss those huge boobs, but I am really tired of been in pain. For the most part, I think things are going great.
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