warning! this is all written very terribly because I have very little use of my right arm, and I am heavily medicated haha!
well surgery went very well when she took out a lymph node she did find 2mm of cancer there, so she had to take out a few more and a chunk out of my armpit basically. all of the nurses and everyone at the hospital were wonderful and the night of surgery I felt pretty good. pain felt relatively well controlled. I sent jim home because I wanted him to get a good nights rest so that he would be able to deal with me the next day. by about midnight the morphine stopped providing relief and I was in increasing amount of pain. I was also on pain pills but they only helped for 2 hours; they were supposed to help for 4 to 6hrs. I remained awake most of the night because of the incredible pain I was in. the night nurse was wonderful, she really try to keep my pain under control as best she could until doctor Chow come in in the morning and increase my dosage. She informed me that if I was not able to get my pain under control I would have to remain in the hospital another night which I really did not want. My back hurt so bad from laying in that hospital bed finally I asked the nurse to help me setup. at that point I just broke down and started crying it hurts so bad. thankfully the increased dosage of my pain pills helped immensely. I got a few hours of sleep in the morning after my meds took effect. because of the lymph nodes they took out of my armpit I have very little ability to use my right arm. between the arm pain and the chest muscles being in excruciating pain it is very difficult to stand up or sit down. if I would not have had reconstruction the pain would not be as bad because they wouldn't have done as much to the muscles in my chest wall. the nurses kept coming in and insisting that I go walking in the hall as it would make me feel better but I refuse until they removed my catheter which they couldn't do into the plastic surgeon came in to see me and he didn't come until the afternoon. by the time he came I was doing well enough that he said if I felt like going home I could, thank goodness. he also informed me that he did not only place the empty tissue expanders inside during reconstruction he also filled them slightly which I'm sure has added to the pain that I'm feeling. I'm kind of annoyed that he did that, really.
after getting in and out of my bed a few times I knew for sure that I would not be able to get in or out of my bed at home. when jim showed up that morning I told him that before I could come home he needed to call rent a center and rent the recliner that had a remote control since I cannot use my arm. he was able to get 1 for that day and it even had a lift- sweet!
myrtle, a woman from our church came to visit me. She is a breast cancer survivor and has been very wonderful and supportive throughout this whole ordeal. it was very good to see her. then the breast health navigator came and brought me a camisole and lots of goodies like fake boobs to put in my mastectomy bra, she also gave me a massage and showed me shoulder exercises that I need to do everyday. she even showed Jim how to change out my drains and how to keep records of all the fluids that he takes out. Poor Jim, he really has to do a lot of gross things to take care of me and he is so wonderful he does not even complain about it. when they changed out my bandages jim got a glimpse of everything and said it really did not look too bad at all. I still have not looked. I close my eyes every time they come to check my dressings. I am just glad noone is forcing me to look; I guess they all know I need to wait and look when I am ready which is absolutely not now. they said I am allowed to shower as soon as I want hopefully I will get brave soon, before I start stinking too badly!
we finally got home about 4 pm, then my recliner was delivered and it is so wonderful. I slept in it last night and only woke when my alarm went off to remind me to take my pills. that was so nice!
today is Saturday and I am really feeling so much better. the only problem I'm having it itching, I think it is from my pain pills it happened right after I take them. there aren't any fights or anything just watching all over it drives me crazy, but I don't really care as long as I'm not in pain
well surgery went very well when she took out a lymph node she did find 2mm of cancer there, so she had to take out a few more and a chunk out of my armpit basically. all of the nurses and everyone at the hospital were wonderful and the night of surgery I felt pretty good. pain felt relatively well controlled. I sent jim home because I wanted him to get a good nights rest so that he would be able to deal with me the next day. by about midnight the morphine stopped providing relief and I was in increasing amount of pain. I was also on pain pills but they only helped for 2 hours; they were supposed to help for 4 to 6hrs. I remained awake most of the night because of the incredible pain I was in. the night nurse was wonderful, she really try to keep my pain under control as best she could until doctor Chow come in in the morning and increase my dosage. She informed me that if I was not able to get my pain under control I would have to remain in the hospital another night which I really did not want. My back hurt so bad from laying in that hospital bed finally I asked the nurse to help me setup. at that point I just broke down and started crying it hurts so bad. thankfully the increased dosage of my pain pills helped immensely. I got a few hours of sleep in the morning after my meds took effect. because of the lymph nodes they took out of my armpit I have very little ability to use my right arm. between the arm pain and the chest muscles being in excruciating pain it is very difficult to stand up or sit down. if I would not have had reconstruction the pain would not be as bad because they wouldn't have done as much to the muscles in my chest wall. the nurses kept coming in and insisting that I go walking in the hall as it would make me feel better but I refuse until they removed my catheter which they couldn't do into the plastic surgeon came in to see me and he didn't come until the afternoon. by the time he came I was doing well enough that he said if I felt like going home I could, thank goodness. he also informed me that he did not only place the empty tissue expanders inside during reconstruction he also filled them slightly which I'm sure has added to the pain that I'm feeling. I'm kind of annoyed that he did that, really.
after getting in and out of my bed a few times I knew for sure that I would not be able to get in or out of my bed at home. when jim showed up that morning I told him that before I could come home he needed to call rent a center and rent the recliner that had a remote control since I cannot use my arm. he was able to get 1 for that day and it even had a lift- sweet!
myrtle, a woman from our church came to visit me. She is a breast cancer survivor and has been very wonderful and supportive throughout this whole ordeal. it was very good to see her. then the breast health navigator came and brought me a camisole and lots of goodies like fake boobs to put in my mastectomy bra, she also gave me a massage and showed me shoulder exercises that I need to do everyday. she even showed Jim how to change out my drains and how to keep records of all the fluids that he takes out. Poor Jim, he really has to do a lot of gross things to take care of me and he is so wonderful he does not even complain about it. when they changed out my bandages jim got a glimpse of everything and said it really did not look too bad at all. I still have not looked. I close my eyes every time they come to check my dressings. I am just glad noone is forcing me to look; I guess they all know I need to wait and look when I am ready which is absolutely not now. they said I am allowed to shower as soon as I want hopefully I will get brave soon, before I start stinking too badly!
we finally got home about 4 pm, then my recliner was delivered and it is so wonderful. I slept in it last night and only woke when my alarm went off to remind me to take my pills. that was so nice!
today is Saturday and I am really feeling so much better. the only problem I'm having it itching, I think it is from my pain pills it happened right after I take them. there aren't any fights or anything just watching all over it drives me crazy, but I don't really care as long as I'm not in pain
Tara, thank you for sharing your blog with the world and posting for your many friends and fans on MBB. Keep us updated. I'm so glad your husband is one of the Good Guys, and that you have such wonderful IRL friends. Thinking good thoughts.
ReplyDeleteThinking about you Tara!
ReplyDeleteLove, Corbin (friend from MBB)
Yay!! I'm so glad you are back to wanting to express yourself.
ReplyDeleteYou are fighting that pain valiantly, Wonder Woman.
Hugs, Lois