I'm home and recuperating!

I am back home and resting after my lumpectomy and sentinel node biopsy & dissection, which was June 16 at 7:30am. I was very lucky to have my best friend, Candice, with me who kept me in great spirits. Here's a breakdown of what happened:

1) I arrived at 5:30am (!) to the hospital, and had to wait in the outer lobby because admitting wasn't open yet. 

2) At about 5:40am we were brought into admitting and my name was first to be called to check-in. It was the first of many times I would be asked what my name was, what my birthday was, and what I was there for. It was also the first of many times that people would have a difficult time pronouncing my last name. :)

3) Around 6:15am me and about 4 other patients and their families were taken up to the ambulatory surgery unit (fancy term for out-patient.) There was at least one other woman there for a breast cancer surgery, as well as a little girl and a middle aged man (I did not get to find out what they were there for.)

4) I am taken to changing rooms and given my costume for the day. I'm officially a fashion disaster. They give me a stylish* tote to put my belongs in. *not really.

5) They seat me in a comfy recliner to wait for someone to get me for pre-op. This is where we take this photo:

Before surgery:

Candice's caption: "Erin is considering her biggest problem of the day to be her non-matching outfit. The thumbs up is to spare the designer's feelings."

6) Candice keeps me laughing and laughing and we become "those people" you probably never want to have around you at the hospital. 

7) They finally get me to take me to pre-op where the IV will be inserted and I'll have to say goodbye to Candice. I'm delighted to find a heated blanket on the bed. 

8) While there I meet my anesthesiologist who is really kind and funny. I also get to see the anesthesiology resident who did my pre-op appointment the day before. I was overwhelmed by how good looking my team was. I reminded them that I was a singer so to please be gentle with the breathing tube they would be inserting during the surgery. The anesthesiologist said that he would give me meds soon that would make me want to sing for him. I told him I only sing when paid. (I'm cheeky even in a hospital!)

9) He gives me an option of having my IV put in now or to wait until I'm in the OR. He gives me this option because he knows I'm phobic of needles so he wants limit my discomfort. But since I had been cleared to take an emergency Xanax in the morning I was feeling brave so I said I would be fine to have the IV right away. He did the IV (and I didn't cry!) and then he said, "You know what? Why don't we give you the happy juice right here and now."

8) This is where things get a little fuzzy. The anesthesiologist says that once he gives me the "happy juice" (a muscle relaxer and an anti-anxiety drug) that I will probably not remember anything even though I won't have yet fallen asleep. This is true. He told me that he would ask me to count to 43 and by the time I got to 10 I would be singing for him. I remember getting to six and giggling the whole time. That's about all I remember. I vaguely remember saying goodbye to Candice, and I vaguely remember being wheeled away. 

After surgery selfie (I made sure to take the cap off first!)

I woke up around 11am, so I was out for about 3 hours. My brain woke up more easily than my body (I hear that's because the anesthesia includes something that paralyzes your muscles.) When I opened my eyes I was trying to get my body to move and wake up but it wouldn't really do it. I drifted in and out of sleep for about 15 minutes and tried waking up again. I asked for my glasses so I could see and asked if Candice could come back in to visit. I asked if she was ok while I was under, and they said she had found a chair to sleep in while in the waiting room. Candice came back in around 11:30, and I was having full conversations by 12. I drank apple juice, and then a little ginger ale and had a graham cracker. I was able to get up and dressed and discharged by 1pm. I was surprised how easy it was for me to get into my clothes I was expecting to have no mobility in my arm but I was able to use it. 

Candice and I caught a cab back to my place, popped by the pharmacy to fill my pain meds prescription, and headed home. We both slept the rest of the day, and now I am taking a second day to relax and heal. I haven't had much of an appetite but I am drinking water. I have about 80% mobility on my left side, which seems miraculous to me, and I'm still fairly numb at the site from my initial anesthesia. I wonder what it will feel like when I'm no longer numb. I'm pretty swollen so I have been using frozen peas to ice the area several times a day. 

Thank you for all of your well wishes. I will be blogging later today on my personal blog (www.erincronicals.com) with more personal stories, acknowledgements and updates. Please subscribe both here and there to get the latest - and please leave a comment/"post" to let me know that you stopped by!

Erin  :)