Post-op Day 5& I’m finally getting an update out! Between feeling too groggy, too sore & too tired to gather my thoughts and having too much I wanted to write about, I haven’t sat down to to do it until now. I think I’m going to start doing little video clips on Instagram or TikTok so I don’t miss share all the little things God is showing and teaching me along the way through this process! So much cool stuff He’s doing and so many amazing lessons He’s continually teaching me! I don’t want to miss recording them even for me to be able to look back on and marvel at the goodness of our great God, His grace, mercy and patience in me in my knowledge of abs likeness to Him through this journey! The opportunities for growth are immeasurable as is His grace & faithfulness! New every morning!! Lamentations 3:22-26
Monday morning I get up early to have enough time to spend with the Lord first & foremost by myself in prayer with my Heavenly Father, with dear friends who so graciously wanted to go together before His throne on my behalf, and then with my sweet boys (my man & our hijos🥰) to ask the Great Physician for His mighty hand of protection, guidance, peace & comfort! They sweetly got up early even though they didn’t have school & could’ve slept in). And finally I took a quick walk with Rifle while i listened to DBR (daily bible reading) before Dave & I headed off to Hoag for the drop off. I’d asked the surgery coordinator the week before as I wanted to clarify their COVID protocol if Dave would be able to come in/be with me at all before or after surgery. “No. I’m so sorry. He just has to drop you off Monday morning at the entrance to the hospital & then you’ll be wheeled down for him to pick you up Tuesday when you’re ready to come home.” Well I decided to follow the old mantra my mom always taught me & that was “it never hurts to ask.” So I did. When I was checking in I asked to lady at the desk if my husband was able to come wait with me until I got called back. To my (pleasant!) surprise, she said yes! That he actually stay with me til they rolled me back to the OR! That it was the FIRST day that they were allowing that!...but just before surgery. Ok I’ll take it I thought and called Dave right away to let him know. He immediately turned around and was soon at my side!! How “God makes all things beautiful in Hus time!!” Ecclesiastes 3:11 Amen! It was such a blessing having him in there with me while they got me registered, took vital signs, started my IV, radiology gave me the “lymph-mapping” dye injections, the surgeon, anesthesiologist & even OR nurse came in to go over everything, introduce themselves, sign consents, etc. Of course he made the whole process a whole lot more fun for us all with his humor and spunk! It was a busy, bustling and joy-filled pre-op cubicle!
Then it was time for my kiss goodbye (or “see ya on the other side”) as they were all present, prompt & ready to start early! We chatted away as they wheeled me into OR suite...which I’ve never seen the inside of as a patient. They’ve always given me Versed (a quick-acting sedative with retrograde amnesia effects so you don’t remember anything once they give it to you even if you appear conscious) before wheeling me in but they didn’t this time. I’m not sure if this was intentional or they thought it’d been given bc the surgeon told me I probably wouldn’t remember any of it. Funny sidebar- as they had me shift over onto the OR table, I grimaced anticipating the pain of my injured tailbone on the hard fist surface. When they asked me what was wrong, I responded “I fell” “how’d you fall?” “Well actually I jumped off. 40ft cliff at Havasu this wkend & landed wrong”🤓
The anesthesiologist puts the mask on me & tells me to breath deep...which I do but in between breaths I tell them that they’re all being bathed in prayer by some amazing pester warriors! She then apologizes & tells me that the medicine she’s going to inject in my IV is going to burn. My sweet surgeon is sitting next to me rubbing my hand to abate the burning. I thought “I can handle this. I’ve experienced this before”...until the intense burning continued through my hand, up my arm and into my chest...at which point I could not only not breath (felt like a tons of bricks was dropped on my chest!) like she kept telling me to but I couldn’t talk either as the paralytic agent (which I realized later) did its job! Yikes! I kinda freaked out for minute there! But thankful that’s all it took for the “sleepy” meds to kick in too. PTL!!
Surgery lasted 4+ hours with the surgeons doubling up, working on different sides at the same time. And for as much as I remember pre-op, I don’t remember post-op recovery room at all. The next time I remembered anything was in my bed on the floor. They said my hubby had been called and was on his way!! Yay! Another awesome God surprise!! Unlike we were originally told, that was the first day they were allowing surgery patients one visitor after surgery too! Thank You, Lord, for your sweet goodness!! I was such a treat having him there but unfortunately I was sleeping most of the time...still a blessing! And of course right after visiting hours are over and he leaves, they bring my dinner tray in & make me get up to pee! NOOO!! I felt like a T-Rex with little arms I couldn’t move from my side to reach or do anything ...or breath...or move at all in bed much less get up out of bed to the bathroom! The idea of moving a muscles (especially those in my upper bottom) sounded like torture! And pain meds weren’t the answer for as soon as she infused it through the IV (even diluted & slowly) I’d promptly throw up! Ugh! That’s not what you wanna do when they’ve just cut, stretched & jammed stuff under your chest muscles! Getting up to the bathroom had the same effect (I couldn’t blame the nurses as they were just doing their job as I would have to) so when I couldn’t reach my food tray & didn’t have Dave there to help me I wasn’t too worried. Pray & Stay still was my mantra.I put myself in an imaginary straight-jacket & tried to relax to make it tolerable. And I have to say when I was at least able to peak at my texts and all the love, encouragement, prayer, care & support through your words & His Word, what comfort it brought!! As friends reminded me even though I didn’t have my family there the whole time I was NEVER alone or forsaken!! Amen!!
More in the next post but quick update on surgery. They said it all went well with the overall surgery. Unfortunately the sentinel node and first cluster of lymph nodes came back + so they had to remove more. A lymph node they biopsied initially was + but they were hoping it would’ve been killed with all the chemo, especially since they had a hard time visualizing it on subsequent ultrasounds, hoping it’d shrink/disappeared. I have my post-op appt with her Tuesday & will go over the full pathology report and what that all means.
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