No Paparazzi!
Modest expectations this time, Ladies and Gentlemen of the blog. With or without ruby slippers we are asking for "no complications" and "fewer than four lymph nodes involved". Got that? Repeat after me: "No Complications" "Fewer than Four Lymph Nodes Involved." Well done.
HUGE surprise, my Mom and Dad called me this AM from Gainesville, Florida. They live in Atlanta. So shortly after I got home after picking my sister Donna up from MCO they arrived on my doorstep to share in the pre-operative revelry.
All of your suggestions for what to take to the hospital are being packed in an overnight bag. Well, almost all of your suggestions. Some of your suggestions, and you know who you are, were just a little too...shall we say unique?
Blog you later!
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
Sunday, June 27, 2010
In part of my conversation with Dr. Korey on Friday he was telling me about the challenge of placing my incision:
Dr K: ...in a spot that will be close enough to where your tumor is.
Me: "Was".
Dr. K: "What?"
Me: "WAS. Where my tumor Was. I don't have a tumor any more. Now all I MAY have is microscopic tiny little bits of cells of tumor floating around in there."
Dr. K: Right. Where your tumor was.
Dr K: ...in a spot that will be close enough to where your tumor is.
Me: "Was".
Dr. K: "What?"
Me: "WAS. Where my tumor Was. I don't have a tumor any more. Now all I MAY have is microscopic tiny little bits of cells of tumor floating around in there."
Dr. K: Right. Where your tumor was.
Friday, June 25, 2010
Can you read the writing on the cake? (for those of you who missed the picture, the icing on the cake says "Kickin' Effin' Cancer's Ass"). My Crewe at work put this together for me yesterday, my last day on the job until August. Love it. Thank you!
Pre-op at CCH this past Monday. They asked me all the same questions they asked me two months ago, and took more blood, and said Oh we need a chest X-ray and an EKG. And I said Yeah, and I need to be at work in 40 minutes so can we do this another time?
Pre-op with Dr. Bashore this past Wednesday, fairly cursory. An explanation of Drain Management Technique. Then a lovely pre-op Q and A session this AM with Dr. Korey. He gave me a copy of my report from MD Anderson, explained in detail the surgery he will be doing. He said chances are good I can go home the day after surgery. He says I'll need about a month to heal before starting chemo. Dr. Levine had told me two to four weeks post-op. Hey, I'm just rollin' with it.
And of course I got the EKG and the chest Xray done, in my spare time. I'm assuming there is nothing of note there. Aside from this little cancer thing I'm healthy as a horse. I also filled pain prescrips from Dr. B that would make a junkie envious.
No more MD appts until surgery. I have to be at the hospital at 6A June 30 for surgery at 7:30, subject to change. The surgery will take about four hours. Bjorn and Donna will be hanging out at the hospital with me throughout. I am in good hands, and in good spirits.
Loved the various suggestions I got from all ya'll about what to bring to the hospital, what to read, what movies to see. Keep 'em coming!
Pre-op at CCH this past Monday. They asked me all the same questions they asked me two months ago, and took more blood, and said Oh we need a chest X-ray and an EKG. And I said Yeah, and I need to be at work in 40 minutes so can we do this another time?
Pre-op with Dr. Bashore this past Wednesday, fairly cursory. An explanation of Drain Management Technique. Then a lovely pre-op Q and A session this AM with Dr. Korey. He gave me a copy of my report from MD Anderson, explained in detail the surgery he will be doing. He said chances are good I can go home the day after surgery. He says I'll need about a month to heal before starting chemo. Dr. Levine had told me two to four weeks post-op. Hey, I'm just rollin' with it.
And of course I got the EKG and the chest Xray done, in my spare time. I'm assuming there is nothing of note there. Aside from this little cancer thing I'm healthy as a horse. I also filled pain prescrips from Dr. B that would make a junkie envious.
No more MD appts until surgery. I have to be at the hospital at 6A June 30 for surgery at 7:30, subject to change. The surgery will take about four hours. Bjorn and Donna will be hanging out at the hospital with me throughout. I am in good hands, and in good spirits.
Loved the various suggestions I got from all ya'll about what to bring to the hospital, what to read, what movies to see. Keep 'em coming!
Monday, June 14, 2010
Yes, surgery is approaching. I've been doing a few things to get ready.
I haven't spent the night in the hospital since I was born. What does one bring for a sleepover there? My favorite pillow? Laptop? Bjorn? A fine Chassagne-Montrachet? Bathrobe? Suggestions (serious or humorous) welcome.
My sister Donna is flying down for a week, arriving the day before surgery. A day or two after she leaves my sister Judy will fly in to spend some time here. My parents will also be down in July. Some very kind neighbors have offered me a spare condo in my complex in case we need some extra space.
In preparation for surgery I have pre-op appts lined up. I ordered a velcro belt that has four pockets for my drains. On the message boards women refer to the drains as "grenades" but I am choosing to think of them as "Christmas ornaments". Got a few oversized button-down-the front shirts. Got four brand new books from some of my favorite authors. This is a big deal to me because I never buy new hardback books; that is why God made libraries.
I got a little info from a nurse at the plastic surgeon Bashore's office. She says some women spend one night in the hospital, some spend two. Dr. Korey will be the one to decide when I get discharged, and will be the one to give his approval that I am healing well enough to begin chemo. Before I leave the hospital I will have a post-op appt lined up with the plastic surgeon for the following week, I will see him frequently because he will be the one to decide when my drains can come out.
The oncologist Levine's nurse says I have an appt with him July 12 and that I will probably start chemo within the following week or two if I am cleared by Dr. K.
In preparation for chemo, from ACS I got a wig, a quilt to stay warm with during chemo, a head scarf, the not-so-coveted "survivor" t-shirt in Classic Pink, (pink IS the new black) and tons of good literature, especially the pamphlet on exercise after breast surgery. I ordered a turban for lounging around the house when the time comes (and the hair goes). I'm going for 1950s glam. Think Ava Gardner in her well appointed dressing room, maybe I should get one of those long cigarette holders to complete the look....
What you can do to help me prepare is tell me the best book you read in the last year and I will add it to my stack. Ditto with movie suggestions, I can add them to my Netflix queue. Thanx!
I haven't spent the night in the hospital since I was born. What does one bring for a sleepover there? My favorite pillow? Laptop? Bjorn? A fine Chassagne-Montrachet? Bathrobe? Suggestions (serious or humorous) welcome.
My sister Donna is flying down for a week, arriving the day before surgery. A day or two after she leaves my sister Judy will fly in to spend some time here. My parents will also be down in July. Some very kind neighbors have offered me a spare condo in my complex in case we need some extra space.
In preparation for surgery I have pre-op appts lined up. I ordered a velcro belt that has four pockets for my drains. On the message boards women refer to the drains as "grenades" but I am choosing to think of them as "Christmas ornaments". Got a few oversized button-down-the front shirts. Got four brand new books from some of my favorite authors. This is a big deal to me because I never buy new hardback books; that is why God made libraries.
I got a little info from a nurse at the plastic surgeon Bashore's office. She says some women spend one night in the hospital, some spend two. Dr. Korey will be the one to decide when I get discharged, and will be the one to give his approval that I am healing well enough to begin chemo. Before I leave the hospital I will have a post-op appt lined up with the plastic surgeon for the following week, I will see him frequently because he will be the one to decide when my drains can come out.
The oncologist Levine's nurse says I have an appt with him July 12 and that I will probably start chemo within the following week or two if I am cleared by Dr. K.
In preparation for chemo, from ACS I got a wig, a quilt to stay warm with during chemo, a head scarf, the not-so-coveted "survivor" t-shirt in Classic Pink, (pink IS the new black) and tons of good literature, especially the pamphlet on exercise after breast surgery. I ordered a turban for lounging around the house when the time comes (and the hair goes). I'm going for 1950s glam. Think Ava Gardner in her well appointed dressing room, maybe I should get one of those long cigarette holders to complete the look....
What you can do to help me prepare is tell me the best book you read in the last year and I will add it to my stack. Ditto with movie suggestions, I can add them to my Netflix queue. Thanx!
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