Surgery

Linds and I were up early for. 7:30 check-in time. I was probably the most nervous this morning. Things were getting real.

We arrived at an admissions desk and checked in. Mayo has a slick intake system – they sent us up to the fifth floor and I already had a room assigned. We arrived in the room, which split with another patient, but we didn’t see them (they had it timed where our surgeries were opposite). The nurse asked about medications and all that good stuff. At this point, things are a little blurry. They put me in a purple gown (my favorite color!) and I got my IV in (the side of my wrist! wtf). Another nurse went over the drainage tubes – how to care for them and record the output. Linds took notes, none of it stuck with me.

The one strange thing was that they gave me a “tailbone patch.” The nurse said it was to protect my tailbone, but we were confused.

Once all that was done we waited for the call from the OR to head to a pre-op room, which didn’t take very long. That’s where I had to leave Lindsay. I transferred to another hospital bed and wheeled to a pre-op bay. One nurse hooked me to an air machine that pumped in cool or hot air. The pre-op nurse went over a few more questions and then I was just waiting! While waiting, the anesthesiologist came in to ask my about my sedation history. I’ve never had any issues with anesthesia but my bro has. The doc assumed I’d do well so no extra meds were given. The anesthesiologist was really nice and energetic with a sense of humor. 🙂

Then my doc came in to sign both breasts (just to make sure they got the right ones ????). She went over the procedure (just a list of “a double mastectomy, sentinel lymph node biopsy, etc.”) and reassured me it’ll just be a long nap. Before she left, she squeezed my hand. A little thing but I was able to go into the operating room with a smile.

Not long after, I was wheeled into the OR. I was greeted by a least 5 docs/nurses. They helped me transfer to a very narrow bed. Before laying me down, they stuck a patch – like the one on my tailbone – on my back. We were joking around about something, nothing that I can remember now. A nice nurse put her hand on my arm while they gave me oxygen and the anesthesiologist was telling me I’m about to go to sleep…

I came-to in the original hospital room. I was pretty groggy – I don’t remember being in the post-op recovery room at all. I took a little nap and then was “up.” My surgeon popped by to tell me that they found NO LIVING CANCER. She told me they unrolled me from the lymphedema study because they had only taken four total lymph nodes via node biopsy. This is probably the best possible outcome. There’s still the final pathology report, but the surgeon was very positive about getting it all. She told us that there was a 7cm cavity the tumor left! Yikes.

Chemo definitely did its job.

After surgery, I was left in a ace bandage wrap with two drains, one coming out of each side. There are these plastic, clear bulbs on the end where the fluid is suctioned out. These are what we empty and them measure output. Usually it takes about a week for the drains to do its job, sometimes more or less. Lindsay is a pro at emptying them; you can’t do them yourself.

I’ve already managed to take a shower. Things look different, definitely. We removed the ace bandage and replaced it with a fancier wrap. A fancier wrap that is very itchy. Everything feels itchy. My chest does feel like it got hit with a truck. I’ve got oxycodone, Tylenol, and Advil for the pain. It’s manageable. Just trying to take it easy.

In a week, we’ll be back for follow-up appointments. Fingers crossed everything keeps going well!