Most of the people reading this blog live in the Tri-State area of IN-OH-MI. So if you remember back to the weather we had the night before my surgery, you'll remember that Feb. 15th & 16th involved the worst winter weather we've had in a couple years. It was expected that we would be getting about a foot of snow throughout the day Monday and into the night. The weekend leading to my surgery, I had mentioned to Brad the idea of going to Ft. Wayne Monday night and getting a hotel room so that we didn't have to worry about travelling in drifting snow. The response I got was totally predictable. It was along the lines of, "I'm not worried. I know we can get there. I have an all wheel drive truck." You know, that typical "guy" response. I let him know that hotel rooms were less than $100, and his decision was fine with me.
As I've mentioned before, I'm a planner. So it's no surprise that I had 2 bags packed to take to the hospital. The first bag was stuff Brad or I needed before or after surgery (cell phone, tablet chargers, mastectomy pillows, etc.) The second bag was a few necessities in the unlikely event I was admitted overnight. While Brad was at work Monday, and I'm watching weather updates, I started thinking about the items I would need in case he decided to head to Ft. Wayne that night. I even had supper ready to pull out of the oven when he got home. Internally, I laughed when he walked in the door Monday at 4:30 and said, "We need to make a decision." He had decided the drive home wasn't exactly pleasant, and what would it look like tomorrow morning since this snow storm was just getting started? Did he really want the stress and worry about getting to the hospital in time? We ate quickly, threw a few essentials in a bag, including snacks, my surgical drink and the Hibiclens soap I needed to use before surgery. I reserved a hotel room for $70 from Brad's phone on our way (they had an awesome President's Day Special). We had gotten the last room at Comfort Suites, and they had to keep telling people they were booked. While at the hotel we watched out the window as things went from non stop drive-thru traffic at Culver's, to closed down and empty by 8pm. I wasn't really concerned about surgery being delayed. I've worked in healthcare enough to know that surgeries like this being cancelled for weather is not common. Surgeons will make it in. Period.
In the morning, Brad ventured out in the morning to find breakfast. He wasn't successful finding food, but he helped half a dozen people who were stuck. After his little adventure, we drove the half mile to the hospital. The lady who registered me for surgery told me that she lived 4 minutes away and got stuck in her driveway. She had to call her son to bring her to work. They took really good care of me at the hospital, despite the cranky guy next door in pre-op who apparently didn't realize that he needed someone to drive him home after surgery. He eventually settled down once he was finally able to get someone to agree to pick him up afterwards. I kinda wonder if his friends were avoiding him. He certainly wasn't pleasant. Imagine my surprise when I met two additional doctors that would be part of my surgery. I'd have 4 doctors in there. The anesthesiologist was a doctor, then there was my plastic surgeon, the breast surgeon, and a second breast surgeon that assists to speed up the process. With that many talented people, I figured I was in good hands. They gave me 5 pills to take, and gave me something in my IV that the nurse said is comparable to 2 Long Island Iced Teas. Well, combine that with the pills, and don't remember even getting close to the surgery room.
While I was in surgery, Brad did find some food. He tells me that the hospital cafeteria had amazing lobster rolls. I'll take his word for it. All I know is pretty soon the post-op nurse wanted me to wake up, and all I wanted to do was curl up and sleep. I would have no such luck though. She was insistent. They got me dressed and had me use the bathroom, and we were on our way home before dark (which was the nurse's goal). I have about 5 minutes worth of memory of being in post-op before I was out the door. I took over Brad's recliner, as I wasn't to sleep on my side. Plus getting up out of a recliner is easier than getting up out of a bed. It is the weirdest sensation, knowing what all has been done to you, thinking you should be hurting, but not feeling the pain. They gave me some pain pills, but I didn't feel the need to take them. The only time I hurt was when I would first stand up, but the pain wasn't horrible, and it would go away pretty quick. I did decide to take one on Thursday, just to see if getting up would be easier, but honestly, I couldn't tell a difference. Basically the nerve block the breast surgeon gave me was amazing, and it's only just beginning to wear off 2 weeks later. 😁
Brad was home with me to help me the first week. My mom was with me the second week. Each day I was a little more independent. Brad would see me putting my socks on and say, "I'm right here." Have you ever had someone put your socks on for you? Half the time, there is something wrong with how they did it. It's twisted, pulled too far, pants got tucked in, something. Plus, I wasn't about to let people keep doing things for me. I'm not going to get better just sitting and not moving and stretching. Which is what brought about my 3D puzzle project that Brad picked up at Costco back in January. Way cheaper than Legos, but it's the same concept. It was perfect at getting my arms stretching and moving. I worked on moving my arms, but I wasn't allowed to lift my elbow above my shoulder, not that I would have been able to. Try moving around for the day without using your arms to reposition yourself, lift yourself up, or raising your arms. It's annoying. It's been getting better, slowly.
They put in 2 drains to help drain fluid after surgery. That's just weird, to have these tubes coming out your sides, draining into these little bulbs that we have to empty and measure 2x a day. I am very glad I bought the mastectomy shirt on Amazon that had pockets and straps inside for drains. It made life much more pleasant. The drains came out 1 week after surgery. The drains coming out was probably the most pain I've had during this whole process. But the pain only lasted 5-10 seconds per side, and it was done.
Pathology
March 1st I had 4 appointments. They started at 10am and went until 4:00. All agreed that I could return to work, as long as I was careful and not picking up any 3rd graders (not likely😂). Plastics said the fluid retention on my right side will go away, and gave me some more antibiotics as a preventive measure. Physical Therapy said they are happy with everything so far, and gave me new exercises. Breast surgery and oncology said that everything is healing nicely. A total of 6 lymph nodes were taken out, and all of those were clear. There was also at least 4mm of clear surgical margins where the tumor was removed. My Radiation Oncologist does not recommend radiation.🎉 The tumor shrank from 22mm to 9mm. Because it didn't completely melt, it puts me at higher risk of recurrence. To try to decrease the chance of recurrence, I will be taking Xeloda for 4-5 months. It's a chemotherapy pill that has been shown to help Triple Negative patients. I'll probably start that in late March, or whenever Plastics gives the all clear. Xeloda does not have all the short or long term side effects that AC-T does. The biggest side effect with this one is Hand Foot Syndrome. It's essentially the chemo leaching out onto the palms and feet, which causes all sorts of discomfort, sores, and pain. That can be a point of prayer, as well not having a recurrence, and getting full flexibility back in my arms, especially the left arm where lymph nodes were removed.
I also want to make this point, do your self breast examinations and get your mammogram.. A regular, plain M&M is about 10mm wide. The residual tumor they took out was just barely smaller than this. My oncologist, breast surgeon, and myself couldn't feel it, and we all knew where to search for it. I may have been able to get this whole thing rolling a little sooner by doing self checks. It may have only been a couple months, but a couple months can matter. It can be the difference between it making it to your lymph nodes or not. Who knows. For women 40 and up, you can get a mammogram, which will pick up the stuff you can't feel. It just so happened that I had just turned 40 last year, but I honestly wasn't planning on a mammogram. If I had made the appointment for a physical and mammogram when I turned 40, it probably would have been caught 4 months earlier, and at an earlier stage. The earlier it's caught the better, especially for something like TNBC. So check yourselves, and get a mammogram.
Here's some pictures of the 3D puzzle I was putting together.
