It's been quite a while since I have updated my blog, sorry for that! It's been really crazy over here, and I am going to try to update now. I might have to do it in a few parts since I am really sore and I took my pain medication not too long ago, so I am a bit sleepy.
I will update on Elijah first. He's great! He's the best baby ever and I am really happy for that. He hardly cries, he's been talking a lot and starting to use his hands more. I have introduced a few small toys that he can hold onto and chew on. He especially likes this little owl chew blanket.
He's about 24" long and he is probably 15lbs. by now (he was 14lbs 8oz. a week ago).
In 8 days he will be 3 months old. It's insane how fast time flies by. Before I know it Elijah will be walking and talking! Hopefully not for a little bit, I have to get the house ready first, too much stuff to get into.
Now for the me update. I had a consultation appointment at MD Anderson Cancer Center. They suggested that I have surgery to remove the rest of the lymph nodes and fatty tissue in the area where the positive node was found. They do this as a precaution because if there is microscopic cancer it could grow and then in 2-3 years it would be billions of cells instead of say, 6 cells, which is what microscopic would consist of. The doctor told me that the probability of me having anymore cancer in my lymph nodes was small, but it's a precaution, and if there is any then they want to catch it.
The day of surgery was packed full of appointments. My first one was at 7:30am and it was an ultrasound of my armpit. They wanted to see the lymph nodes near the one that was removed. They removed another node from my armpit during the surgery, apparently it was one that should have been originally taken out the first time. I don't know why Dr. Fleming didn't. I am kind of skeptical about him now. The second appointment was an ultrasound of my neck. There was a lymph node on my right side that was irregular so they did a biopsy at that appointment. They numbed me with lidocaine and stuck a needle in my neck, twice. Totally creepy. It came back benign, so that's a relief. After that I had my anesthesia assessment, surgery check in, and then nuclear medicine to inject the isotope into my chest and get pictures so the surgeon would know the area of where he was taking things out. I was in nuclear medicine for 4 hours because the isotope wouldn't drain. We took pictures 3 times. In the last set of pictures it finally drained. I was glad because I had been laying on that hard c/t scan "bed" for hours and my back was killing me. I had a 30 min. c/t scan after that and then I was done and they wheeled me up to the surgery area. I got all checked in for surgery, undressed, and hooked up to my IV. They told me I would be awake when I got to the operating room, but I really don't remember anything. The last thing I remember is the nurse asking me questions like what procedure was I having done.
I don't remember anything that happened before about 10am on Saturday. Apparently I called my grandparents at 4am. Don't remember that at all. Jason told me they gave me dilaudid, and they gave me a lot of morphine. It's no wonder I don't remember anything! Jason even took some pictures on my camera and I had no idea!
I tried to eat breakfast on Saturday morning but as soon as I put a bite into my mouth I had to spit it out. I almost got sick, but I didn't. The nurse gave me some zofran for nausea and I ordered lunch and was able to eat it. Thank god! I hadn't eaten anything in about 36 hours.
I was finally released at around 6pm, we went and picked up Elijah and ate dinner and headed home. We got home at about 10:30pm. The car ride wasn't so bad, a bit uncomfortable. Everything is a bit uncomfortable though, they sliced my neck. It's hard to find a good laying down position for bed time, and I have a drainage tube in also. Nursing is pretty challenging but I am managing just fine, and Elijah is continuing to eat like a champ. I am super happy that he's such a great nurser. He just knew what to do from the very beginning. Good for me since I have so many stressors in my life as it is.
So now I am sitting here recovering. I am not supposed to lift anything for 5 days. So no lifting Elijah, that means I need help. I am going to my friend Nicole's house tomorrow while Jason is at work. I have a friend stopping by for some of the day on Tuesday, and another friend for some of the day on Wed.
These wonderful mamas re-opened my red tent. A red tent is a food tree, people sign up to bring you meals. It's an amazing help and I am so grateful for it. I can't wait until I am feeling better so I can help mamas who need it.
I am still going to have to do the interferon drug treatment for a year, but no more surgery. I am sure it's going to be hard, but I am strong and I will be able to handle it.
This whole experience is only going to make me a stronger person.
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