June 15, 2011

Wednesday 6/15/11

Today we began the day slightly more optimistic about my discharge.  I was on oral pills to manage pain.  I saw both surgeons this morning and felt lots better about my surgery after speaking with both of them.  I am very happy with the results of this first surgery and while I am still in a lot of pain / discomfort I am optimistic about the results of my surgery.  

With the drains my clothes do not fit - restricted arm movement is also very limiting.  A couple of years ago Matt and I had a bowling night with friends and we purchased 2 Service Solutions "Doug" Shirts from the local goodwill.  While these are great bowling shirts they are even better post-op shirts.  I will continuously rotate them ... thanks Doug with Service Solutions ... or wherever you are these days.  :)

Matt and I left the hospital about 12:00 and arrived home at about 1 pm with my medications in hand.  Much to our surprise we were met by several gifts.  One gift from my co-workers that included freshly cut flowers and boxed meals.  

Me and my welcome home meal
(Thank you Implementation Team!)

One potted plant from our neighbor and after we arrived home we also received a vase with fresh flowers from Matt's brothers' family (Brett, Maia and Calla).  Lastly a chocolate cake from my in-laws (Larry and Cindy).  Chocolate cake is my favorite dessert and the cake is almost too pretty to eat.  It is pretty obvious that Decapo’s Bakery put a lot of LOVE when making this cake.  It is beautiful and I am sure equally delicious.    

http://www.dacapospastrycafe.com/Dacapos_Site/HOME.html

SuperMonkey Chocolate Cake

Me with the SuperMonkey cake and Flowers

I am happy that I have completed this milestone and am one step closer to kicking cancer’s butt.  I am still in a lot of pain and while it doesn’t look like that will go away anytime soon I am still one step closer to putting all of this behind me.  

Tuesday 6/14/11

I was expecting discharge on Tuesday 6/14/11 by 11 am, but this did not happen.  I learned that it is important to “micro-manage” the nursing staff and surgeon staff to ensure that intent is communicated clearly.  A communication breakdown today lead to inappropriate pain management.  Getting everyone on the same page was actually our responsibility (but we didn’t go into this with that knowledge).  Because everyone does their rounds in the morning and the breakdown occurred then - this made for a long and confusing day.  By the afternoon / early evening we were all on the same page and the morphine drip was removed.  We transitioned to pain management via oral pills only.   The nursing staff worked hard to keep me comfortable (managing pain and nausea).

The good news is that I was on a regular diet and the food at Methodist is actually not bad.  

Matt learned how to manage my drains (including measuring output and keeping them clean).  It makes a big difference that Matt is accustom to wound care from his experience as a U.S. Marine.  

Monday 6/13/11

The day began early.  I had to check in for surgery at 6 am and since this is a military household we were there pretty close to 05:00 hours (that’s 5 am for civilians).  Almost everyday until now friends and family alike have been asking me if I am ready for surgery.  And my feelings of preparedness and anxiety have fluctuated quite a bit.  Today I had a lot of anxiety.  

Storm and I saying our Good-Byes

Checking into the Hospital

"Here we go"

I checked in and was met with many different professionals:  Surgeon, plastic surgeon, anesthesiologist and several nurses.  Surgery was scheduled to start at 7:30 am and by 7:45 am the team was directing Matt to the appropriate waiting room.  The anesthesiologist gave me a shot of medicine to help "relax me".  I remember being wheeled out of the room and down the hall.  We got onto an elevator and I remember the elevator door closing.  The next thing I remember was waking up in the recovery room.  This room was a holding room for all post-op patients.  I woke up feeling slight pain and serious nausea.  The nurse in charge of my care was quick to treat my nausea with some medication.  She said the best way to manage my nausea was by breathing deeply, while I am all for taking care of things the old natural way - I still think medicine makes a big difference.  Matt was escorted into this room at about 3 pm and we spoke briefly.  The nurse asked him to wait for me in my hospital room and I met him there about 30 minutes later.  

Therapy Dogs at Methodist Hospital

Another Working Therapy Dogs

Probably the cutest of the Therapy Dogs

Me Post-Op
(feeling pretty bad)

I felt groggy all afternoon and the pain was pretty bad but I was on a morphine drip and that helped.  I didn't speak to either surgeon this afternoon / evening.  

I have 5 drains (2 from the base of each breast and one under my arm).  The drains are actually very uncomfortable and will not be removed until approved by the plastic surgeon depending on the output.  The drains have very specific care instructions and do place me at higher risk of infection.  It is important to keep them as clean as possible and make sure my hands are always clean when handling the drains.  It is very strange to have tubes coming out of my body and I feel and look like “robot chicken” meets “the predator”.  Although SuperMonkey is more bad ass then “the predator” and probably as cool as “robot chicken”.  

For those of you who don't know "robot chicken"

http://video.adultswim.com/robot-chicken/index.html

Robot Chicken

Predator

Stay tuned for more SuperMonkey Adventures,

Nancy

Aka:  SuperMonkey

"Win, Lose or Draw, Race like a champion"

 - Rick Sanders