It is another chilly morning here in the ATL. I would like to say that yesterday was a fluke and Poppy sailed down the coop with little effort but then I would be lying. The Boy even came out with me to watch her decent. Turbo came out first and was steady and determined on her journey down the plank. Poppy…well Poppy brought a smile to our face and the first giggle of the day.

I heard from Dr. Read late in the day yesterday. The little f-ing tumor was not dead. Well Shit. I have an appointment with a Dr. Higgins at Emory. She, yes She, is a Radiation Oncology, Assistant Professor and her focus is head and neck cancer and lung cancer. Now, I don’t have lung cancer but my tumor was in (and out) of my right lung, so she is a good fit. I am excited that she is a she. It will be interesting do see how she interacts with her patients. Is she like Dr. Read or Dr. Pickens?

I wasn’t thrilled to hear that I would be going through radiation. I would really like my cancer journey to be done but that is not the case. I called my friend Gerri, who has been my go to girl during since June. She told me that radiation will be the easiest thing I have had to do since I was diagnosed. It is just a bit of a pain in the ass. She had to go in for treatment every day, five days a week, for 30 days. And the actual treatment lasts for like five minutes. She said she got to know the valet guys and they stopped parking her car. They would just pull it over to the side since she would be back in less than ten minutes.

Now, there are many different types of radiation therapy and who knows what kind I will have. My case is different from Gerri’s. She had a tumor they were focusing on and shrinking before her surgery. I don’t have a tumor anymore. Just a general area where a tumor once was, so I don’t know what my treatment will entail.

We are entering a very busy time of the year. We are going out-of-town for Thanksgiving and then again for a small trip to Barnsley Gardens the second week of December. And then there is Christmas. So, like I said before, having radiation right now is going to be a pain in the ass. But that is ok. I trust Dr. Read and he is doing his best to make sure that this is the last time I and my family have to go through this.

And to end on a happy note, I present you with Tired Puppy.

Emory Midtown

Wednesday started off very early for My Man and I. We were at the hospital by 6am to check in for my surgery. I was told that I would be Dr. P’s first surgery of the day. Well, that wasn’t the case. I was brought into the pre-op room where I took off all my clothes and got dressed in one of those lovely hospital gowns. They also gave me a hat that looked like the top of a blown up container of Jiffy Pop. Once my IV was in they let My Man come back to hang out with me. Then the wait begun. Turns out, I wasn’t the first surgery. I watched the two men who came back with me get taken away for their surgery’s. Finally we were told that it would be at least another hour and a half. I told My Man to go get some breakfast. I watched the busy room and took a nap. I woke up and my Mom and Dad were there. The RN brought over some chairs and the four of us waited. My Man and Dad had their laptops and my mom on her Kindle. I messed around on my phone and ipad.They finally came and got me at 11:30am. They had taken my glasses and put on the Jiffy Pop hat on me and to tell you the truth, I can’t remember much else. I do remember that the surgery room was freezing!

Checked in and now waiting

The next thing I knew I was in recovery. The RN’s who took care of me were great. I was in there for an hour or two (not sure) before a room became available. I had no idea what time it was. I had yet to see My Man. I was told that he couldn’t come back to see me. By the time I got to my room and saw him it was after 6pm. He had been in that waiting room for 12 hours! He said they called him three times and told him that I was asleep/awake and that someone would bring him back. They never came. He told me he was beginning to get worried. My poor guy. He hadn’t eaten anything all day. He didn’t want to leave the waiting room. He said he was the last person in there. I felt so bad for him. 

After I got settled in my room he went out, ate dinner and had some beers. We texted back and forth to each other while he ate. He was telling me about the restaurant and all the people who were in there. Apparently there is a musical based off the movie Ghost and it was playing across the street at the Fox Theater. The bartender had tickets to it and offered them to My Man. By the time he walked back to the hospital and got to my room, he was buzzed and I was high as a kite on pain killers. I am sure the RN’s thought we were crazy. We were on the first floor this time, no Theo this time. My Man did not like the first floor as much as the 7th. I was happy with the RN’s, they weren’t Theo or Tiffany. I didn’t really sleep that night. I laid there zoning in an out of it, pressing my pain medication button.

Dr. P told My Man that the tumor was actually in my right lung and had grown out of it. That is a good thing because it shows that the cancer did not spread outside the lung like we first thought but a bad thing cause it grew out a bit. He was able to get all of the tumor out and took some of the area around it. So the surgery was a success.

We had been told there was a chance I would be able to go home on Thursday but I wasn’t going to get my hopes up. I have learned my lesson. They took my pain med’s button away and due to my low blood pressure I wasn’t allowed any pain killers for about 2 hours. Not pleasant. I have had this issue before so I wasn’t surprised but I did my best not to move around. I was still pretty out of it. Later I got my pills and they took the catheter out. My RN got me up and we went for a walk around the floor. It wore me out. Afterwards I  got comfortable in my chair and tried to stay awake while I watched Boardwalk Empire.

Walked the hall once and now chilling in the chair watching Boardwalk Empire.

Dr. P’s PA, Robert, came in and took my chest tube out. It burned when it came out but it wasn’t too bad. Next came another chest X-ray and it looked good. I was released around 6pm. It was so nice to get home and see The Boy. He has had to go through a lot and I just wanted to be home with him. He gave me a big gentil hug. Love those hugs!

How am I feeling? Well, I am tired. My right side is very sore. I feel a pressure on my chest. I have breathing exercises I have to do to every hour to make sure I don’t get pneumonia and they make me cough (which I am supposed to do) but it hurts! Right now I am sitting up in our chaise lounge since laying down and getting up is very painful. I can’t lift anything more than 5 pounds and they don’t want me driving for two weeks. At this point, I couldn’t drive if I wanted to but I am not sure about two weeks! I have a life!

One of many bruises.

One of the 4 incisions. Chest tube incision is covered by the bandage.

I will go back to see Dr. P in the next two weeks to get my stitches out. Right now we are waiting for the tests to show if the tumor is “dead” or not. Once we know that, then we will go from there. In a perfect world, it is dead and I am done! Thank you all for your prayers and kind words. They really mean a lot me.

I think he is happy I am home.

Reader’s!

How are you this Tuesday? Is it raining or is the sun out shinning like it is here in the ATL. My day started as is always does by getting up and getting The Boy reading for school and Timber, Panny and Simon fed. I was in a hurry today since I had a 9am appointment at the hospital for my pre-op. My Mom and Dad came into town yesterday for my surgery. Mom came with me to the hospital and my Dad stayed at Hotel Yorba and did work, went for a run and played ball with Timber.

Mom hanging out in one of the waiting rooms.

Mom and I first went up to Dr. P.’s office and talked to his secretary, Cindy (who is super nice) before heading down the Pre-Op area. I signed in at the main desk and they then sent me to another desk. Before I got the main pre-op area, I had been to four desks to “check in”. Everyone in that hospital had to know I was there.

Ready to squeeze

Ouch

I was weighted, blood pressure and heart rate was taken. I was then sent back out to wait. They had HGTV on the TV so it wasn’t so bad waiting. Soon I was called back in. I had two RN’s taking care of me. One went through my health history, medications and the “to do” and “not do” before surgery. The other took four vials of my blood, had me go pee in a cup and preformed my EKG.

EKG

After having to take off everything from the waist up, it took the RN about 2 minutes to place the ten sticker things and hooked me up to ten wires of the EKG machine. She the turned around to the machine. I was still answering health questions, when she turned right back around and started taking the wires and stickers off. I thought that maybe something had gone wrong. I asked “Was that it?” thinking she was going to start over. But it was! All she had to do was push one button and that was it! It took twice as long to get me ready than to take the test. Crazy!

After that we went down to radiology and checked in (again!) for my chest x-ray. I waited for about 5 minutes and was called back to one of the coldest rooms I have ever been in. Again, I had to take off my top and bra and put on a gown. Chilly!!! They took and x-ray of my front and one of my left side. We then headed back up to Dr. P.’s office. We had a very short wait and then saw his PA, Robert. To be honest, I really don’t know why I met with him. I didn’t have to sign anything, he didn’t tell me anything new and I had no questions. Ok. Overall, Mom and I got out of there under three hours. Not too bad!.

My Man and I will be at the hospital at 6am tomorrow and my surgery should start around 7:30am. I am the first surgery of the day! Dr. P. said the surgery should last 1-2 hours. I will have a drainage tube put in on my right side. Depending on how it drains (gross I know), I could be released sometime Thursday.  I will also have a morphine drip with a button I will get to push. Fun!!  I don’t think I will have my computer with me, so it maybe a few days before I post again.

I want to thank everyone for their love and prayers. They mean so much to me and my family. I believe that even though not very talkative, social or punctual, Dr. P. is a very good surgeon and I am in good hands.

Talk to you soon!