Surgery Update

The only reason you are reading this now is that my brother-in-law the internet genius figured out how to get me online at the hospital (thanks a bunch TAG!). At this moment, I am very medicated so I am putting a disclaimer on this post (not responsible for misspelled words, grammatical errors or false information).

My husband and I arrived at the new surgical center around 9 am yesterday. The people at the orientation desk didn't even have my name on the list for surgery, I guess that's how last minute this whole thing was. We were put in a room to wait, of course. It's always hurry up and wait these days. The building was so new that the chairs were still hard and not broken in.
It wasn't too long before the iv was put in and we were well on our way to surgery. I remember talking with the anesethiologist and the nurses and then being moved into the surgery room. The next thing I knew I was waking up in recovery and my left shoulder was throbbing. I was a little short of breath and disoriented. But IT WAS OVER! I went in at about 12:30 and I came to about 3:20. The nurses were very good and helped me get over my pain and discomfort and in no time I got to see my husband and got into a large room, employee perks are so worth it. My husband told me that they took out a wedge of my lower left lobe and they took a big chunk out of the enlarged lymph node (tumor). Everything went really well and now we are on the road to recovery.

I was sitting up in a chair by 9:30 and got to slurp down some chicken broth. It tasted like a steak dinner. I was ravenous. The night was long, but my pain was minimal due to the epidural that I got immediately after surgery.

This morning I met with my surgeon and he took the chest drainage tube out before 12:00. I went for three walks today and have had tons of visitors (Thanks!).

The pathology report will (hopefully) be back tomorrow and we will find out for sure, but the surgeon is pretty positive that it is Hodgkins lymphoma. All the pieces that were removed looked similar, so that is good news, too (no fungus). It is one and the same, so we are dealing with only a single problem. It will more than likely be treated by radiation and chemotherapy in a few weeks.

The incision itself is almost 10 inches long and wraps around my side about 3 inches underneath my shoulder blade. There is a small hole about half way under the line that the chest tube was in.

My beautiful children are here now and it is quite hectic, so I think I will sign off and try to write again tomorrow. Things are moving along slowly but everything is going well and I am fine. Thanks again for all your prayers and support.