November 28, 2010

OK, OK, so I'm starting to get hate-mail so I figured it's time to add a new post. Don't you people know that it's really hard to type one-handed?!  Feel sorry for me yet?  Hee, hee...

So the surgery went well, and I can say that now that it's over. It started out a little rough...apparently they somehow ripped out my IV during the surgery and either forgot or didn't realize they did it, because I woke up without one...which also means I woke up without any pain medicine. I spent about an hour and a half hyperventilating, crying and thinking of the most masochistic ways possible to kill the nurses who kept telling me "it will be OK, we are going to get your pain under control". Once they finally did that (about 6 doses of morphine later) I was pretty loopy. I thought I was doing great, but apparently I really looked terrible because the next day everyone kept telling me how good I looked "compared to before"...it was a little embarrassing! Apparently me and drugs don't mix.

I only spent one night in the hospital and then I headed home! It really hasn't been too terrible, minus the stupid balls that hang out of my side! Yes, you heard me right, I have plastic grenade-looking balls hanging from tubes out of my side. They collect the fluid and blood that would normally accumulate in your body and allow it to drain out so you don't get an infection. And they SUCK! It's been 11 days and I am ready to get them out! I will call in my numbers tomorrow and hopefully they will let me come in and get them out. Although, pulling 4 feet of tubing out of my body doesn't really sound like a walk in the park but I guess in the long run it will be better. Ugh.

The scar across my chest really has been the least troublesome out of everything. It seems to be healing well and it only hurts when Alex digs his head into my chest while cuddling. My arm is still numb and tingly and I don't have a lot of strength in it, but it seems to get better every day. They took out the first two "groups" of lymph nodes under my right arm but said there was no sign of cancer in them at all...which means the chemo is working very well!

I will start chemo again in a few weeks...December 14th will be my first of 4 more dose-dense sessions and then after that I will do 33 radiation treatments (every day for 6 weeks). After that, they will give my body 6 months to recuperate and heal and then I will have the mastectomy done on the left side and the reconstruction on both.

Keep all the prayers coming and I promise I'll try not to wait another month to update! :o)