Promise to Update!

I'm sorry, I know I didn't post since surgery.  I'm working on that story & will post hopefully later tonight.


In the meantime, I attended a seminar given by the Cancer Society today.  It was for women, & our instructors taught us how to tackle (& hide) some of the problems chemo & radiation will cause.  I met some lovely ladies there - HI, pretty ladies!!  The women who worked it were volunteers, & they all had really neat tips. But mostly, bless their hearts for their time. 


Also, did you know that the Cancer Society will buy one wig per patient?  We're provided a list of participating salons, then make an appointment, & a certified cosmetician will help choose a wig for our face shape.  AMAZING!  They also provide breast prostheses.  Plus, they have volunteers in our areas that will take us to get our treatment!!  I'll get as much information about all that up this week for you.   I'm also going to try to get a widget that will let folks donate to the Cancer Society.  Who knew they did so many wonderful things for those of us dealing with this horrible disease?


The other thing that I learned, though, is that some women don't know about places to get eyebrows, cheapest places to buy wigs, etc.  I know I've written about it in this blog, but it's been a while.  I've also found inexpensive cashmere scarves, mastectomy bras & prostheses.  So, look for a change soon.  I'm going to try to have the links showing where to find them on the first page of the blog.  This way, you won't have to scroll through the blog to find the links.  Give me a little time to get that up, though!


OK, look for my post about the surgery later tonight!

Surgery tomorrow

Yup, my surgery is still on for tomorrow at 3:30 pm.  Right smack dab in the middle of this snow storm that's expected to dump 2 feet of snow.  Dr. Morrissey is leaving for vacation on Thursday, so Wednesday is it.  In his defense, he was sooo cute.  He told Matt that he'd walk to the hospital to be sure that I get the surgery.  It's nerve wracking, though, since it takes 45 minutes to get to Bethlehem on a good day!  Yikes!


But, on the bright side, I'm having my surgery in Bethlehem - the town of miracles.

Set backs o' Plenty!

I’ve had another set back, which, of course, sucks.  But, it’s been my experience that life is chock full of them (& nuts, apparently).  Last Sunday, as I’d written, my incision began to swell.  I couldn’t have chemo due to the infection, & Dr. Morrissey operated on me Thursday night. 

As he said he thought he’d do, Dr. Morrissey left the wound open & has packed it.  Gotta tell you, though, the first time he unpacked it to re-do the whole thing (in the hospital), I saw stars!  He was really sweet about it, though; as usual.  I ended up staying in the hospital (St. Luke’s Quakertown) until Sunday morning.  The doctor was waiting for the results of cultures he sent to the lab, as he’d like to get to the bottom of what’s going on with me & infections.  Apparently, whatever it is isn’t horrible.  Pesky, annoying, & really, really inconvenient, yes, but deadly/horrible, not so much.

It was a pain (figuratively & literally), since we were having a nice snow storm that I’d been looking forward to spending with my family in front of our fireplace.  We’d even made sure we had hot chocolate, marshmallows, popcorn, & brownies at the ready.  Everyone knows that nothing celebrates a snow storm like massive quantities of sugar that includes, but is not limited to, several varieties of chocolate, saturated fats, & abundant sources of tasty, tasty salt.  But, instead of watching the snow from my sunroom, I watched it from my hospital room.  That kind of tanked, but, I managed to get a private room – it could have been worse.  Let’s just say Texas toast & sausage, then leave it at that (newbies, go back through my blog to my last hospital visit – if you dare)!

Now I have to have the wound re-sutured, &, of course, we’re having our second major snow storm in a week, & we’re talking 2 feet here people.  I’ll be spending that either driving through it to get to surgery, or dealing with it on the way home.  Hopefully, it’ll be ambulatory, which will mean I’ll still be able to enjoy the storm.  Of course, a lot of that will be thanks to heavy duty pharmaceuticals.  Just saying.  To top it off, I’ll be sent home with my ever present drain tube.  Man, just when you think you no longer need those cute drain bulb bags.  But, at least I’m used to them, & know how to take care of them.  So there’s that.

Right now, I’m waiting for a new surgery day/time.  All reports are that this is going to be a big, big storm.  Dr. Morrissey is leaving on vacation Thursday, so we have a very brief window of time to deal with.  Additionally, I’ve got to get back on track with my chemo.  

FYI – men in general have long held the belief that doing something, anything is better than nothing.  The word “diligence” is something they may have read a long, long time ago, but its meaning escapes them.  Matt, on the other hand, has heard of the word “patience”, but continues to labour under the belief that its sole definition is people in a hospital or under a doctor’s care.  Thus, waiting with Matt for a new surgery day & time has been about as pleasant as having a root canal without benefit of anesthesia; as he waits patiently – giggle!

Before I forget, remember that I cut my hair really, really short in anticipation of losing it during chemo?  I wasn’t losing it, though & was beginning to think I’d be the one girl in a million whose hair doesn’t fall out.  In the hospital, however, my dark hair decided to begin it exodus from my head & onto my bleached white sterile hospital linens.  I shed like a Golden Retriever in spring.  I’d wake up, & my pillow looked like it was made of hair & when I’d comb through it, I ended up with a large hair ball reminiscent of a chinchilla!  I was SOOO embarrassed. 

But, it held while I was in, so I was grateful for that.  It was, however, time to shave my head.  And I mean shave; my head is now bald. 

That was a weird, surreal experience.  I’ve spent months preparing for it, purchased four wigs to deal with it, & talked myself into actually thinking it would be fun not to have a river of hair to tame every morning.  And, frankly, it was pretty funny, but at the same time, it brought the fact that I’m facing cancer front & center.

I’ve bloviated long enough, & it was time to translate those action verbs into reality.  It’s tangible proof, looking in the mirror now.  There’s no putting the thought on the back burner of my mind any more.  Emotions & the human psyche take time to adjust.

The really lousy thing about it is that my children have to wrap their brains around this “new” mom.  Boy is having a very hard time dealing with it, although he tries to hide it.  In fact, this morning, he came into my room & watched me as I slept.  He was trying to get the visual to stick in his brain.  He’s used to his mommy always having big, Southern, in your face hair & make up, & he doesn’t know this bald GI Jane type that he’s looking at.  At least he & the girls are trying, & we're making jokes out of it.  Still, the reality is there, & staring at them in their adorable faces.  But, they're my kids & as such, have had to endure living with the Brunette Lucy.  This, hopefully, will be one more story to tell their kids about their crazy grandmother & all her silliness.

On the bright side, I do have several wigs to play with.  I need to get a little better at making them more, well, me.  You just can’t buy big Southern wigs these days unless your last name is Parton.  And until I get that “old mom smell” into my wigs, I’m going to have to try, try again.  It’s going to take a lot of money to look as cheap as I did.  But I’m confident I have the ability to git her done!  Lord knows, I have the reasons.

Back to the operating room I go!

Well, this sucks big time.  Dr. Morrissey saw me today, & said that there's no way to get the infection out other than through surgery.  Plus, he wants to re-submit tissue to determine what type of infection this is that keeps coming back.  This time, he said, I have to stay for at least 2 - 3 days.  Ugh.  That's because he may not suture the wound, but leave it open & pack it.  Then, I'll have to go back in to have it closed.  As for chemo, he told us that they won't give me chemo until this is treated.  That's why he's operating on me tonight - to get me up & walking around again so I can have the treatment.


The doctor was in surgery all morning, had afternoon office hours, then had a procedure in Bethlehem.  He'll be turning back around & coming to Quakertown to do my surgery @ 7:00 pm.  Gotta feel blessed to have such a good guy taking care of you!  It would be better not to have this happen again, though.  


Keep you posted!!

A little nervous

Well, I'm a little nervous today.  The incision site is swelling.  Dr. Morrissey told me to call him if that happened, but, only his answering machine is on.  I can't get a hold of his service to have him paged.


Whatever happens, surgery is NOT an option right now.  It'll hold up my chemo, & we'd already put it off close to the safety cut off point.  That was because we were trying to qualify me for an experimental drug.  Of course, the family is all nervous.  I wish I'd kept this to myself until after I'd spoken to Dr. Morrissey.  Boogers.


On the bright side, maybe a new boob is springing up!

And, to be fair . . . .

Here it is, folks, before it falls out completely.  Remember, Elyse & I just hacked at it in the bathroom.  I figured, who cares?

Whoopsie Daisy!

Sorry, folks, I forgot to add Dr. Seisholtz' picture!!  Here he is - the evil oncologist.  Nah, just kidding, he's a nice guy.  As far as you know.

Hi, Dr. Seisholtz!  Please don't kill me.