Well, it got a little rough yesterday afternoon, evening and night, but Michelle powered through it with a smile. I’ll go into some detail below, but if you’re the type of person who is prone to a sympathetic response when reading descriptions of body function, then you probably won’t want to read beyond this paragraph. What matters is that Michelle was able to eat a good breakfast, take some oral pain medications instead of intravenously, and is now sleeping quietly beside me. The doctor stopped by this morning to examine Michelle and told us that everything looks great! She remarked on Michelle’s color and alertness. It looks like we’ve turned a corner and should be going home today. There is a one-year-old, a kitten, family, friends and some sunshine waiting anxiously for her return.
Brian
—- QUEASY PEOPLE STOP READING HERE —-
For those who want more detail, read on. Let’s hope she doesn’t get mad at me for sharing too much, but a lot of her friends want to know what she’s going through, so…
She had some trouble keeping things down–probably due to the pain meds. Michelle didn’t give up. She just kept trying to eat saltine crackers and drink water. It came back up, but she just ate more. The medical staff switched some things up and she hasn’t had any issues since about 4:00 a.m. She ate and drank this morning without difficulty (other than the fact that it’s hospital food). And, she has now taken oral medication. That’s a big step toward being able to leave.
Michelle also wasn’t able to urinate on her own, which we were told is a common side effect of the anesthesia. She had a lot of discomfort and it was terribly frustrating. The staff performed a bladder scan and started to become concerned that too much fluid was being preserved, so they put an in-and-out catheter in her to relieve things. Apparently and much to everyone’s surprise, I slept through the entire process. I feel a bit guilty for not participating, but I have some kind of condition/gift/problem that allows me to sleep through everything from a crying baby next to my ear to a Love Battery concert (no, I’m not kidding). The cath helped relieve the situation, and then at about 7:00 a.m. she was able to take care of business on her own. She has done so several times since. That was another big step toward being able to leave.
Our surgeon examined her “work” this morning and removed the wrapping from Michelle’s abdomen. That brought much relief to Michelle, who’d complained of the tightness it caused to her chest. The surgeon said the operation went really well. She had to remove a some skin, but not a lot, where the tumor was too close to the surface. She removed the one lymph node that we knew was a problem as well as a couple others that seemed suspicious. She was able to put the portacath in on Michelle’s left side below her collar bone–ideal placement to reduce the annoyance of having something embedded in your skin. The surgeon said we can expect to see a lot of bruising to come to the surface, so we’re prepared for that. Otherwise, the general maintenance involves managing the fluid drainage for the next week or so.
Brian
