It’s day 1 of fully enjoying the freedom & relief of having my drains out!! For anyone that’s had them they know what I’m talking about! My wonderful mama came with me to my first follow up appt with my plastic surgeon last Wednesday where he checked the wounds, drains & blood flow to the skin after everything had been scooped out from the inside (it’s weird to feel the “drop-off” on both sides of my sternum as the breast tissue they removed went all the way up to my clavicle🥺). Not too much to report until the next appt when the drains come out! (except that I knew I liked this doc when my mom mentioned me being an endurance/marathon runner, he said “oh absolutely, sign up for a race so you can have something on the calendar as a goal!) He did remove the tegaderm (clean plastic dressing) from over where the drain entrance sites as they were getting itchy & peeling off. He put a little 4x4 gauze with paper tape over the site & said they’d be fine since they were stitched into the skin to secure them in place...maybe fine practically but not fine personally! These long tubes are dangling out of me with what essentially looks like a clear plastic grenade at the end, squeezed to create suction to pull out all the serosanguinous fluid created by the body in response to the knife attack & intrusion of foreign objects in their place. Well they’re uncomfortable enough but when the tape securing them is removed & they can move freely from the hole where they’re stitched into my body, let’s just say it doesn’t feel so good. My dear parents left the next morning (after being a HUGE blessing to us all!) to drive up the coastline for a week before headed home. My dad just loves road trips, scenic beauty & those twisty roads!
Since I didn’t have my nurse mom to call on anymore, I called on the expert services of my dear trauma nurse friend, Amy! She “911’d” some supplies over as soon as I cried for help! But there wasn’t time for her to put her masterful skills to work in applying the dressing & I couldn’t move enough to reach with my T-Rex arms (as my arm motion is basically limited to keeping my elbows at my sides). So...I thought for a hot second my sweet son, Brody, could lovingly help his mama! “Are those going IN you?!” he horrifyingly asked as I remembered that this is the kid that fainted last year on our medical missions to Guatemala when he held the flashlight for a bloody extraction. I quickly told him never mind. We headed over to Awesome Nurse Amy’s house that night to get the job done. I gotta say, I had a little “FirstAid kit” envy- its impressive all she has in there! She fixed me right up! She also made our family a delicious enchiladas dinner. Since we were already there, we ate & enjoyed it together with her family, making it even better!!
I was trying to balance good rest & activity for maximum healing (probably always erring on the side of activity🤓) but by the end of the week, the tension of my neck had been building & had gotten so bad, causing a terrible headache & nausea, I was miserable!! No amount of pain meds, massaging or hear was going to touch it! I texted my dear friend, Mr. Amazing Nick Sopha, the chiropractor, in desperation!! He said if I could lay flat on my back he could help me. Yay!! We jumped in the car & Dave drove me over ASAP! He said it was totally tweaked as he moved & cranked things back in their right place! Ahh, yes!! Sweet relief!! I’m eternally grateful for how God provided with the generous help of equipped friends sharing their time & talents! Now I could just deal with the normal surgical pain & lack of appetite (fine by me😄).
Fast forward to the next Tuesday. I had a follow up appt with my oncologist. He basically said “bummer the cancer was positive in so many of the lymph nodes still & that the 5-mo of chemo didn’t kill it off. But it was still worth it in the hopes that the systemic approach did attack & kill any rogue metastatic cells roaming around your body before they found a place to settle in & grow!” Amen to that! Yes, bummer to have gone through all that & still need 6-7 weeks of radiation, but I’m grateful there’s a treatment option!
Now Wednesday- back again at my plastic surgeon (for someone who never went to the doctor it’s crazy to have a whole team of docs caring for me- oncologist, radiation oncologist, surgeon, plastic surgeon...). After 2 1/2 weeks, the day had finally come m-Drain removal!! I hoped! Following the example of Christ, the Author & Perfecter of my faith, “For the joy set before (me), I endured the” drains (Hebrews 12:2) I was a little concerned as the amount of drainage that was coming out was more than he wanted to see at this point. (I told my hubby he should be thankful he married a nurse who could take care of her own drains, etc as he’s not much better than my boys with medical stuff!) but he proceeded with the removal! He snipped the stitches & in one felt swoop yanked those puppies out! Then they plugged up the “bullet holes,” as he called them.
Then for the spacers- he used a magnet to find the port to access & stuck a needle in. He asked if I wanted to watch but I politely declined. This is when I was thankful they’re totally numb so I didn’t feel it. Ignorant bliss! He sucked out all the air, placed post-op bc its lighter & put minimal pressure on the scar tissue. He replaced it with saline, injecting til I cried “Uncle” basically bc this part of the process needs to be done as quickly as possible so I can be ready for radiation. It was weird how uncomfortable it was with all the pressure even though I was mostly numb. I can’t imagine what it would’ve felt like if i wasn’t! PTL! Ignorant bliss!
“Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.” Hebrews 12:1-2
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