I had no idea how big this surgery would be. Soon after I was awake, I was rolled into my room where I was greeted with my mom, dad and Bob! It was good to see them, even if I felt like I had been run over by a truck!!
The next day I was able to see my kids and my dad before he had to head home. I was sad to see him go but so glad he had been there. Every day I saw Bob and the kids. My mom and Mary headed home the day after my dad. Again I was sad to see her go, but so so thankful she came down and that Mary had brought her.
A couple of days after surgery I started getting very high fevers of 102-103. They gave me antibiotics while I was there and 6 days after surgery I went home. I was still having fevers but the dr. thought I would do better at home. I questioned him but he thought this was best.
A few days went by and I continued to have the fevers. I called the dr. a couple of times and after a week home, I was readmitted to the hospital. They did blood work and other tests to figure out where the infection was coming from. At that point I was put on IV antibiotics and kept in the hospital for another 4 days.
After all the testing they never did figure out where the infection was coming from. I went home with IV antibiotics for 10 more days. It was really neat, I learned how to flush, hook up and unhook the IV ball to myself. As the antibiotic did it's job I felt better but my wounds got bigger. I was in a lot of pain too. I had a nurse coming every other day or so to redress my wounds.
Finally my wounds were clean and free of infection, but it had taken it's toll on my body. I had very large open wounds in 3 areas. I was then hooked up to the wound vac. It started on my tummy first and then gradually moved up to both sides. After 2 weeks on the vac there are HUGE improvements in the depth and size of my wounds. Things are healing very well. In less than 2 weeks one side should be totally closed up!! The bad part is I will probably have the vac into mid July or later. Not how I want to spend my summer but "It is what it is" and I know that God is going to get me through this part too.
My surgeon said that he will have to even out things with another surgery and put on the finishing touches, so to speak. He said in 6 months and I told him "No!" There is no way I am going back into surgery in 6 months. We will see how I feel about things next year!!
"Love the Lord thy God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all thy might." Deut 6:5
"In all thy ways acknowledge Him and He will direct your paths." Prov. 3:6
Spring 2012
This spring has been full of challenges.
At the end of January we changed insurance companies, due to my husband's job change. Because of this, the new insurance wouldn't cover my MUGA scans for my heart. Now I could only have an ECHO. Well we have no baseline for the ECHO so if they see ANYTHING irregular they have to do more testing to make sure that everything is really ok with my heart. Don't you know they found an irregularity!! Surprised right??!! No. So I got to experience a nuclear stress test. This is like a regular stress test except they use a medication to raise your heart rate. This is NOT a fun test at all!!! I thought I was going to pass out from the medication but thankfully it was only for 30 seconds. For that reason the cardiologist has to be in the room when the test is done.
That test was done. Now I hoped to start back on herceptin, they can't give it to you if there is a question about your heart. Nope, I was to have a CT scan of my heart now because they couldn't see the whole heart. Doesn't sound too bad. But oh it is not fun either!! They have to get a good vein and force they dye thru your vein very very quickly to get the pictures of your heart. The first vein, yes I said the first vein, blew on the trial where they just used saline. Thankfully the 2nd vein didn't blow until the end of the test and they were able to get the pictures that they needed. After all the testing they found that my heart was fine and I was able to start back on the herceptin.
In March, I was diagnosed with a case of the shingles!! It was just one thing after another after another!! I just kept praying it would go away and I would stay healthy for surgery!! Thankfully the weeks and days leading up to surgery were healthy and busy with appointments but pretty uneventful.
April 14th my baby Elijah turned 5!! I can't believe how fast it has gone. We had a great party on his birthday and the next day my dad headed down to CT!! My mom and her friend Mary arrived on Monday. It was so much fun having both my mom and dad with me for the next surgery. We even got a bunch of family pictures done.
The next morning at the wee hours of the morning, my mom, dad and Bob took me to the hospital. After I was prepped, everyone came in with me and we waited until it was time for the surgery.
At the end of January we changed insurance companies, due to my husband's job change. Because of this, the new insurance wouldn't cover my MUGA scans for my heart. Now I could only have an ECHO. Well we have no baseline for the ECHO so if they see ANYTHING irregular they have to do more testing to make sure that everything is really ok with my heart. Don't you know they found an irregularity!! Surprised right??!! No. So I got to experience a nuclear stress test. This is like a regular stress test except they use a medication to raise your heart rate. This is NOT a fun test at all!!! I thought I was going to pass out from the medication but thankfully it was only for 30 seconds. For that reason the cardiologist has to be in the room when the test is done.
That test was done. Now I hoped to start back on herceptin, they can't give it to you if there is a question about your heart. Nope, I was to have a CT scan of my heart now because they couldn't see the whole heart. Doesn't sound too bad. But oh it is not fun either!! They have to get a good vein and force they dye thru your vein very very quickly to get the pictures of your heart. The first vein, yes I said the first vein, blew on the trial where they just used saline. Thankfully the 2nd vein didn't blow until the end of the test and they were able to get the pictures that they needed. After all the testing they found that my heart was fine and I was able to start back on the herceptin.
In March, I was diagnosed with a case of the shingles!! It was just one thing after another after another!! I just kept praying it would go away and I would stay healthy for surgery!! Thankfully the weeks and days leading up to surgery were healthy and busy with appointments but pretty uneventful.
April 14th my baby Elijah turned 5!! I can't believe how fast it has gone. We had a great party on his birthday and the next day my dad headed down to CT!! My mom and her friend Mary arrived on Monday. It was so much fun having both my mom and dad with me for the next surgery. We even got a bunch of family pictures done.
The next morning at the wee hours of the morning, my mom, dad and Bob took me to the hospital. After I was prepped, everyone came in with me and we waited until it was time for the surgery.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)