Well, we are two days post surgery on the lumpectomy. Honestly, I feel good. My mom and sister came down to be there for the surgery and mom stayed to help out a few days. Knowing I couldn’t do too much in the way of lifting and hard work, such as being in the garden, I got up early and transplanted my basil, rosemary, and parsley to planters to bring indoors for the winter. Ran to Sprouts to get our “dinner” before I went in, since surgery wasn’t until noon.
This was outpatient surgery. I was slated to arrive at 1030, in the OR by noon. Two and a half hours for the surgery, plus 2 hours for recovery. Typical intake and my nurse had me cracking up a little, along with a fellow patient a few stations over. I’m well moisturized for the most part and when my nurse, Candice, checked my legs, “nice and shiny” she remarked. She gave me my premeds, a Gabapentin to combat pain ahead of time, a Celebrex to prevent the inflammation, and Tylenol. A few minutes later, we hear a doctor come in to speak to her elderly patient. She announces herself and is going over her plan with him. There was a pause and we hear him ask “are you real?” My nurse and I look at each other and mouth “are you real” and start cracking up, and laughed a little harder when the doctor replied, “I sure hope so.”
That was good because, this was about the time I got into my head a little. The anesthesiologist came in to do his spiel and have me sign my consent. I wasn’t all that happy with him. It was like he wasn’t listening to my answers because he ended up asking me a second time all the questions I had answered less than a minute before. Dr. Staradub made her way in next and reminded me of the plan and reassured me, it was an easy lift and not to stress it. I was waiting for Dr. Rhemtulla to come in and mark me for surgery. We are talking measurements and sharpie on the skin. Johnny, his awesome Surgical Nurse, came in to handle it for Dr. Rhemtulla. Let me say, I trust Johnny implicitly, as much as I trust Dr. Rhemtulla. I guess I was too quiet, because Johnny paused and checked in a little more thoroughly. “What’s up? You aren’t your normal self.” I shrugged. “We got you. Don’t worry about this.” He provided Dr. Staradub with the exact lines of where to cut, gave me a reassuring pat and assured me “I’ll see you in there.”
I met the anesthesiology nurse, Ron next. First time working with him and next to Candice, I was most comfortable with him. Turns out, he is 7 days older than me. We discussed our milestone birthday trips. He went to Ireland, I went to Switzerland, Italy and Austria. He walked me through the process. He’d attach my IV and give me two shots to relax and then the rest of the anesthesia would be applied. Well, I can say felt shot one and two go in, I saw the mask come down, breathed deep twice per his instruction and I was out.
I guess the biggest fear is that you won’t wake up from the anesthesia. I’ve never had a problem, but always a concern, right? But I woke up easy. This time, Ron did a great job, because my throat was not sore from the tube they put in. Last surgery before this, I woke up with my throat raw. Dr. Staradub didn’t use every line Johnny provided just the small lines around the nipple. Orders upon going home, no lifting, no reaching high over my head and rest.
You would have thought I would go straight to bed when I got home. Nope. I turned on the oven because, I hadn’t eaten and everyone else only had snacks while I was in surgery, so Sprouts meal in the oven it was. I got changed into lounge wear and sat in the living room with everyone. I didn’t head toward bed until after my sister left at 830 that night. I didn’t get my meds filled until the next day because the nerve block was still doing its job and there was no need for the meds. I don’t think I got to sleep until close to 11.
Unbelievably, I have pretty good energy post-surgery. Mom drove me around to do a couple of errands yesterday. Apparently having surgery makes me spend money. I seem to want to shop after, usually something for the house, a little personal care as well. I was able to drive later in the afternoon, which was a big relief considering after my mastectomy, it was two weeks of me not being able to drive.
I took two additional days off post-surgery, so it’s back to work tomorrow. I’m feeling ready for work, and it actually works out well, I will have a full day and a half a day on Friday due to the holiday weekend. All in all, so far, so good.
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