I MADE IT THRU TO THE OTHER SIDE...
Let me tell you....it was not as easy as it sounded!!! I have acquired a few more HUGE scars and I am VERY sore and really quite limited in my movements. I guess I forgot from the first time just how debilitating this can be for a while....but in truth...when I did the first side, I still had full use of the other arm with no restrictions. This time they took off the left over boob but they also opened up the old side to remove scar tissue and add some fat to where the skin was stuck to the chest wall (ribs) as a result of radiation. You really are mostly helpless when neither arm can do too much & bending down or reaching up are mostly impossible. I have been VERY blessed this time by having VoR in my life supporting everything I do and is the first to jump in to help me if I need anything & dear friends who have dropped everything to comejumped in and "babysat" me while VoR had some work commitments he couldn't get out of....they are my angels for sure...THANKS A MILLION!!! 💗
Now for the rest of the story....cause you know my 2% curse is gonna cause something whacky....this time was no different. I had an amazing surgical team who have phoned and checked up on me for the first few days....above and beyond (you ROCK Dr. K). My surgery itself went without a hitch...for the most part...but Dr K did inform me 3 days post off that I was VERY difficult to intubate"!!!...which means, they tried 3 times and then finally had to go fibre optic with the glide scope. He suggested that I note that on my medical history and in my allergy list so IF I ever have to do something again in the future they will be aware of it. Now this little nugget of info would have been good to have remembered before I coughed up blood on Sat and freaked out the Home Care Nurse...& ended up in emergency. It was because of my super irritated throat, which had not been helped by my 36hrs of deep coughing, which I had been instructed to do post op. You see....I am naturally a shallow breather and so when I came out of surgery and my O2 saturation levels were 88-93% (ideal is between 98-100%)... they weren't very happy & Dr K. (with a wicked sense of humour that I loved) informed me that "it would just suck if after all this for you to fall asleep and drop dead cause you forgot to breath" I had to agree with him. When they got to 94% they decided not to keep me overnight to monitor things IF I promise to sleep in a chair, get up every hour and walk, cough & deep breathe for 10 minutes till at least the next morning. Ya....that was a ton of fun. Poor VoR....he was just exhausted but got me up like clockwork all night long... I on the other hand wasn't sleeping anyway...I read an entire book that night. He has had to step in and do everything thru this process cause if it isn't at eye level...I can't reach up or down to get it. I have run him ragged with all the things I have needed....never a word of complaint...helping me in and out of chairs, filling my water bottle and even bathroom runs at 3am. VoR....you are AMAZING!!! 💖
They had done a nerve block on my back again so I stayed frozen for just over 72 hrs. I was feeling great...even managed to get 6000 steps in (thanks to those hourly strolls) my first 18hrs at home. Then the block wore off....SIGH!!! Up to this point I was only taking regular Tylenol but when that freezing came out....WOWZER!!! I kept having to remind myself that I had wanted this for 5 yrs & it would be over soon!!! We hit the good stuff and continue to do so but at longer intervals...so we moving forward. Now..the majority of my pain, especially in the beginning wasn't my incision at all but from all my huge mess of broken down skin from the "girdle" compression wrap they put on you. It just dug in left my skin rubbed raw and blistered. But being the good patient I stuck with it because according to the surgical residents discharge paper form the hospital, this binding had to stay on for 21 day....I almost lost my mind!!...but I can handle pain really well so I was sure I could just struggle thru it like I do with other pain...WRONG!!! By Friday (9 days post-op) my body hit that wall where the pain is just too great to cope with it....for me to get to that "hot mess" point you know it was HORRID!!! I just began to shake and sob about midnight and couldn't stop. VoR was so supportive....gently hugging me as I sobbed and then he noticed that the home care nurse, after checking my dressings, had actually put it on over an inch tighter then it had been before. So we readjusted it and agreed to call the surgeon's office in the morning....I knew I couldn't do 1 more day of this. She wasn't in so they had me go see her partner at the clinic. As I was leaving the house her nurse called back and said she had felt too bad she had called my surgeon directly to let her know. The surgeon was shocked because I was only supposed to have worn it for 48 HOURS post-op!!! "RIP THAT SUCKER OFF"!!! UMMMMM....WHAT?!?!?!?! I was too beyond mad at that resident who wrote the instructions wrong to even see straight....can you imagine if I hadn't hit that wall!!!!! 😡. As much as I would have rather not hit it....it's good thing I did....or I would still be wearing that awful torture wrap!! Tender mercies are sometimes really well disguised & come in all different way...but they do still come!!
They had done a nerve block on my back again so I stayed frozen for just over 72 hrs. I was feeling great...even managed to get 6000 steps in (thanks to those hourly strolls) my first 18hrs at home. Then the block wore off....SIGH!!! Up to this point I was only taking regular Tylenol but when that freezing came out....WOWZER!!! I kept having to remind myself that I had wanted this for 5 yrs & it would be over soon!!! We hit the good stuff and continue to do so but at longer intervals...so we moving forward. Now..the majority of my pain, especially in the beginning wasn't my incision at all but from all my huge mess of broken down skin from the "girdle" compression wrap they put on you. It just dug in left my skin rubbed raw and blistered. But being the good patient I stuck with it because according to the surgical residents discharge paper form the hospital, this binding had to stay on for 21 day....I almost lost my mind!!...but I can handle pain really well so I was sure I could just struggle thru it like I do with other pain...WRONG!!! By Friday (9 days post-op) my body hit that wall where the pain is just too great to cope with it....for me to get to that "hot mess" point you know it was HORRID!!! I just began to shake and sob about midnight and couldn't stop. VoR was so supportive....gently hugging me as I sobbed and then he noticed that the home care nurse, after checking my dressings, had actually put it on over an inch tighter then it had been before. So we readjusted it and agreed to call the surgeon's office in the morning....I knew I couldn't do 1 more day of this. She wasn't in so they had me go see her partner at the clinic. As I was leaving the house her nurse called back and said she had felt too bad she had called my surgeon directly to let her know. The surgeon was shocked because I was only supposed to have worn it for 48 HOURS post-op!!! "RIP THAT SUCKER OFF"!!! UMMMMM....WHAT?!?!?!?! I was too beyond mad at that resident who wrote the instructions wrong to even see straight....can you imagine if I hadn't hit that wall!!!!! 😡. As much as I would have rather not hit it....it's good thing I did....or I would still be wearing that awful torture wrap!! Tender mercies are sometimes really well disguised & come in all different way...but they do still come!!
TO BE CONTINUED...
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