Well, as you can tell by now, I made it through my surgery. Although there was of course a little excitement along the way that seems to be par for the course for me lately. My lymph nodes were removed as planned, and I am now at home on the mend after a night's stay in the hospital. The day started as planned on Tuesday morning as I drove myself to the hospital at around 5 a.m. with the plan for Andrea picking me up later after she got Isabella off to day care. It was my hope to be home later that day. Everything was on schedule, as I was in surgery by 8 a.m. as planned and finished up about 2 hours later. I spent about another 2 hours in recovery and was finally rolled up to a room for further observation around 12:30 ish. I was awake when they arrived at my room and saw Andrea standing there waiting for me. Looking back now and trying to remember some things that occurred on the way up to room, I remember feeling where the incision was and it felt like it had begun to swell up a little bit more then normal. I also noticed, that I was beginning to break out into a cold sweat at the same time. The nurses moving me up to the room also began to comment on the swelling that they had not noticed in the recovery room. On arrival to my room, the room nurse was also concerned and they decided to call my doctor back up, who was at lunch downstairs at the time. They kept asking me if I was having any difficulty in breathing. Andrea knew something was not right because of the sweating I was doing. By this time, there were about six nurses in my room and some of them had panicked looks on their faces. The doctor finally came in and asked for a kit to with tools to open the incision back up. He seemed pretty calm as he began to do this and relived some of the pressure on it. Apparently a clamp on one ofmy blood vessels that were cut to access the nodes had come lose and instead of draining into my drainage tube as planned, a blood vessel was draining into the incision area. This was bad news for me, as I was soon to find out, because it now meant a trip back to the O.R. to find the lose clamp and clean the area out. The nurses were relived he had arrived and put away their tracheotomy kit they had retrieved in case my breathing would have become compromised. Andrea seemed pretty calm as she witnessed all this happen right in front of her and she also seemed in good spirits as I was wheeled out of the room. I later found out she lost it while talking to her mom on the phone while I was in for my second surgery of the day, but her mom as usual said all the right things to her. her mom is a cancer survivor and has been through more things then I have.The second surgery lasted about an hour I was told and I was again pushed into the recovery room for the second time in one day. I was finally moved up to my room around 3 p.m. and was told I was definitely going to be spending the night after what I had just been through. It all seemed sort of surreal for me at the time, for I was on some type of drug the whole time. I never felt like I was in any serious danger or any thing. It was all mostly frustrating, because I felt like I was well enough after the first surgery and was going to be going home and spending a long night in the hospital. Little did I know that the hospital was running a special that day. Two surgeries for the price of one. My brother George helped keep me company after Andrea left to pick up Isabella from some great friends who had picked her up and watched her for us. Well, after a long sleepless night I was finally cleared to go home Wednesday morning. The swelling is still there, as well as a drain tube. The incision is bigger then I thought it would be. It's about six inches instead of the three or four I was told. It does not really bother me though, because it will not be visible in the years to come. After it was all said and done, I am glad the ordeal of dealing with these types of incidences is hopefully finally over for us. Even though this was a rough experience, the fact that the cancer is gone, makes everything else now still seem so inconsequential. I now have a couple of weeks of no lifting and straining and that is tough when Isabella is asking me to play with her every day. I am truly looking forward of being done with everything involved with this cancer. It has been a six month strain on every aspect of our lives. With this last hurdle cleared, we are hoping for smooth sailing ahead. But I also am prepared because of great wife and support from friends and family, that we will be able to weather all the storms heading our way.
Thursday, June 4, 2009
Two for Tuesday.
Well, as you can tell by now, I made it through my surgery. Although there was of course a little excitement along the way that seems to be par for the course for me lately. My lymph nodes were removed as planned, and I am now at home on the mend after a night's stay in the hospital. The day started as planned on Tuesday morning as I drove myself to the hospital at around 5 a.m. with the plan for Andrea picking me up later after she got Isabella off to day care. It was my hope to be home later that day. Everything was on schedule, as I was in surgery by 8 a.m. as planned and finished up about 2 hours later. I spent about another 2 hours in recovery and was finally rolled up to a room for further observation around 12:30 ish. I was awake when they arrived at my room and saw Andrea standing there waiting for me. Looking back now and trying to remember some things that occurred on the way up to room, I remember feeling where the incision was and it felt like it had begun to swell up a little bit more then normal. I also noticed, that I was beginning to break out into a cold sweat at the same time. The nurses moving me up to the room also began to comment on the swelling that they had not noticed in the recovery room. On arrival to my room, the room nurse was also concerned and they decided to call my doctor back up, who was at lunch downstairs at the time. They kept asking me if I was having any difficulty in breathing. Andrea knew something was not right because of the sweating I was doing. By this time, there were about six nurses in my room and some of them had panicked looks on their faces. The doctor finally came in and asked for a kit to with tools to open the incision back up. He seemed pretty calm as he began to do this and relived some of the pressure on it. Apparently a clamp on one ofmy blood vessels that were cut to access the nodes had come lose and instead of draining into my drainage tube as planned, a blood vessel was draining into the incision area. This was bad news for me, as I was soon to find out, because it now meant a trip back to the O.R. to find the lose clamp and clean the area out. The nurses were relived he had arrived and put away their tracheotomy kit they had retrieved in case my breathing would have become compromised. Andrea seemed pretty calm as she witnessed all this happen right in front of her and she also seemed in good spirits as I was wheeled out of the room. I later found out she lost it while talking to her mom on the phone while I was in for my second surgery of the day, but her mom as usual said all the right things to her. her mom is a cancer survivor and has been through more things then I have.The second surgery lasted about an hour I was told and I was again pushed into the recovery room for the second time in one day. I was finally moved up to my room around 3 p.m. and was told I was definitely going to be spending the night after what I had just been through. It all seemed sort of surreal for me at the time, for I was on some type of drug the whole time. I never felt like I was in any serious danger or any thing. It was all mostly frustrating, because I felt like I was well enough after the first surgery and was going to be going home and spending a long night in the hospital. Little did I know that the hospital was running a special that day. Two surgeries for the price of one. My brother George helped keep me company after Andrea left to pick up Isabella from some great friends who had picked her up and watched her for us. Well, after a long sleepless night I was finally cleared to go home Wednesday morning. The swelling is still there, as well as a drain tube. The incision is bigger then I thought it would be. It's about six inches instead of the three or four I was told. It does not really bother me though, because it will not be visible in the years to come. After it was all said and done, I am glad the ordeal of dealing with these types of incidences is hopefully finally over for us. Even though this was a rough experience, the fact that the cancer is gone, makes everything else now still seem so inconsequential. I now have a couple of weeks of no lifting and straining and that is tough when Isabella is asking me to play with her every day. I am truly looking forward of being done with everything involved with this cancer. It has been a six month strain on every aspect of our lives. With this last hurdle cleared, we are hoping for smooth sailing ahead. But I also am prepared because of great wife and support from friends and family, that we will be able to weather all the storms heading our way.
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No more storms for you! Just blue skies and sunshine. Glad you're home and don't worry about Bella Rose..she won't really remember these times in the year ahead. Hugs and kisses to all! Have a happy and healthy summer.
ReplyDeleteLove you,
Kitty