LND

LND - Lymph Node Dissection Surgery

So on Tues. October 2nd I went into the hospital at 6am for my surgery. We got there early, and no one was even in the department we were supposed to be in. We were waiting outside the door, and someone came by and told us to go somewhere else. So we did that, and there was a whole room of nurses ready to help care for those of us who had to go in for surgery. They did the standard thing - which is ask a ton of questions and hook me up to an IV. Then shortly after, Dr. Kutner came in and drew a line on my leg to where she would be cutting, and then the anestesiologist came by also. Not too long after, they brought me to the fridge, I mean surgery room. Of course, after a few shots, that hurt like HELL, I was under. No, not in hell.... After surgery, I was in a recovery room for a bit, and they would not let my family in there. But once they brought me up to the hospital, my family was allowed to visit. My mom & Sab were there waiting for me, with some flowers, etc. Later on Sab brought in Paige & Reanna, and then my Aunt Regina came also. It was nice to have people visiting. I felt so awful though. I was throwing up everything. The nurse was so nice. She gave me some anti-nausea medicine, and it really helped. About 9 - 10pm, everyone went home. It was ok with me, because I was so tired, I slept 1/2 the day anyway. A big mistake was talking to the lady in the room next to me. OMG, after I said a few words to her ("Sorry for calling the nurse every 5 minutes and keeping her up") she would not shut up! I just wanted to sleep! Anyway, after a while, I fell asleep on her! I know, because she told me the next morning... lol... So when Dr. Kutner stopped by the next morning, I was still sick, and still throwing up. So they did not release me :( I had to stay another night. In a way I was glad, because I was not ready to go home physically, but sad because I really did want to be in my own home. Luckily the lady next to me got released, so I had the room to myself. Sebastian & Reanna visited again, as well as my mom & Patricia. Then later Kimberly came by and visited for a few hours. Sebastian was going to come back when Kimberly left, but I told him I was tired, not to bother because I was only going to sleep. Which I did. The next morning, Dr. Kutner came by again, this time I was released! She removed all of the bandages, and everything looked great. The nurse came by and bandaged me all up again. She was so nice to me. She even went down to the pharmacy and got my prescriptions for me, so Sebastian & I just had to go home. Two days later, but I was sooo glad to go home. I was still in pain, but it wasn't as bad. Over the next few days, I just stayed home and recovered. On Sunday, Sebastian & I went to Oakridge and walked around for about 30 minutes. That was plenty for me. It was just nice to get out of the house. The next few days I just stayed home. My dad & Barbara came over on Tuesday night, because Sab had to go back to work on Wednesday, after being home with me for a whole week. My dad & Barbara took Reanna to school & picked her up for me, as I was still on pain meds. The first day Barbara took Reanna, and the second my dad. Of course I was sleeping, so I didn't think anything. But when I got up, Barbara was worried because my dad was still not there, and it was 30 minutes later! Since I'm so sore, I can't go back and change, brush hair, wash face, or anything. Luckily I stuck my robe on when I got out of bed. So here I am, sore & tired, driving around town looking for my dad! He has a navigator, but he did not have my address. Cell phone - sitting on the kitchen table! 30 minutes later, I almost give up and I'm in my neighborhood. One more drive around the area. Then I get a call from Barbara - my dad found his way to Lunardi's, and I'm 1 block from there anyway. So I go there and he follows me home. He feels so bad, making me drive all around town looking for him. Come to find out, he was spelling my street name wrong on his navigator. He added my address in so it doesn't happen again!

So on Wednesday, we go to see Dr. Kutner. She removes all my bandages, everything looks great. Out of the 13 lymph nodes removed, 3 had cancer. Good news. Now I do not have to do Radiation. Relief. I was not looking forward to that. All I have to do is the Inteferon treatment. Not that that will be easy, but one less thing is better.

I think I over did it on Wednesday, because Thursday & Friday I was way too sore. How I did that, I do not know. I had not taken the Percocet in a few days, Advil & Tylenol only. Now here I am, more than a week later, needing the Percocet again. I just stayed in bed the next few days, because I was too sore to do anything else.

So today is Sunday. My dad & Barbara left this morning. I will really miss them. They really did help me a lot. They cleaned my house, made dinners, was Reanna's taxi, and gave me all of the support I needed. My dad will come back if I need him too, but I'm hoping that in the next few days I'll be feeling better. It's close to 2 weeks after surgery, and my leg is still feeling so bruised, and it takes me a while to walk. Not to mention my knee still doesn't bend well from my first surgery. At least I'm able to get online for a bit, I couldn't even do that for a while. Today, my Uncle Ralph called me. My dad didn't tell him at first about the cancer, but I don't know what made him change his mind. So he called me and gave me well wishes. It was nice to hear his voice.