Grr...
My mother was hospitalized today for pneumonia. She was released from her surgeries on the 18th. Somewhere in the shuffle directly before her surgeries or while in the hospital after her surgeries, she contracted pneumonia.
It all started on the 22nd. She was getting toward the end of her supply of pain meds. She decided she wanted to ween herself off of them completely. She started taking one whenever she needed them instead of two every four hours on the nose. Next thing we knew, she kept saying she was freezing and she was shivering all over. I asked her to take her temperature. It was 99.7 or so. That wasn't strange considering since she'd started chemo, her temp has ran in the 99's on a regular basis.
An hour later she mentioned she was in pain so I told her to take some pain meds. She said she wanted to take her temperature again before she took her pain meds so she could get a more accurate reading. It was 100.6. She waited a while after that before taking her pain meds. She smoked a cigarette and we talked a while. She was starting to shiver. I told her to take her temperature again and it was 101.4. I asked her to take a pain med and I would go to pick up her antibiotic at the pharmacy. At this point she only had three pain meds left, but she did have another prescription for them as well.
I went to the pharmacy and took along the prescription for her other pain meds, just in case. When I talked to the pharmacist, he recommended she go ahead and have the new pain meds filled and have her take them because the Tylenol in them could keep her fever at bay and relieve the pain as well. Then, at around 6 pm today, stop taking them for a while and retake her temp. If she still had a fever, call the doctor. If she didn't, all was well and she could ween herself off the pain meds again. Her antibiotic I picked up was the wrong version of what she needed, so she didn't take it. She wanted to talk to her oncologist today.
Today, when we woke up, I emptied her drains and she said she was feeling worse. I told her we would talk to Doctor Mayer about it since we had to go there anyway. We had to leave in about half an hour for the appointment.
By the time we got to Doctor Mayer's office she was miserable. When we got to a room, she didn't feel good enough to even sit in a chair. She climbed up on the bed and laid down. When Doctor Mayer came into the room, I didn't even give her a chance to say hello or dote on Raigen like she always does. I said, "Oh thank God, there's something wrong with mom. She said she doesn't feel right and she had a fever of 101.4 last night...." I explained about what the pharmacist said, she took less than 5 minutes to overlook my mom and immediately said she wanted her checked into St. Francis Beech Grove for an overnight stay of observation.
My mom cried. And cried. And cried. I don't blame her. As if she hadn't had enough, what was going on now? She was trying to quit smoking and this wasn't making it any easier. She has been doing sooooo good though. She was smoking a pack and a half per day before her surgery and was down to 6 cigs a day since the surgery. The last two days had been on her own and not with me being a "cigarette Nazi" as she called me. I had hidden her cigs and she could only have one every 4 hours or so depending on if she wanted to wait until after she ate or not.
We got to the hospital and she said she was gonna pass out. I explained what was going on to the nurses at the nurse's station. They said they had no idea she was coming, but when I told them she felt like she was going to pass out. They jumped right on getting her to a room. From there we explained what had been going on. They tried and tried to get blood. My mom's whole body was on the fritz. They kept blowing veins, she was writhing in pain from the simplest touch, none of us had eaten, I hadn't seen mom drink a single drop of fluid since I had gotten up at 1pm, it was flat out terrible.
They got her to drink her least favorite flavor of Gatorade. The respiratory therapist came in and had her do a breathing treatment. He said at her age and what she's been through, 900 was great and she scored a 1500! He said he didn't hear any crackles or congestion in her lungs, nothing. They came for a chest x-ray, brought her back and finally got her port unclogged to get blood from it and start her IV fluids.
Next thing we knew, the coolest RN I've ever met came in and said, "well, you have pneumonia." We were in shock. We figured she had a bug, but pneumonia? After she did so well with her breathing treatment, pneumonia? Sorry...still in shock...
They said it wasn't a horrific case of it, but they're glad we came in when we did. They started her on her antibiotics. By the time we had to leave the hospital, she was definitely feeling better. She was sweating to death, but better. When I got home, I called her and she said they were trying to find someone to change her bedding and robe because she had sweat so much, everything was soaked. I told her they'd finally broken her fever for good. She said, "well that's great, but I want to go to sleep and I can't sleep in a bed full of cold water!" LMAO.
She's not necessarily being kept for 24 hours, but she wouldn't be released before 6 am either. I guess we will see.
OH! They also told us that just about everyone who'd had surgery last week was back in the hospital with pneumonia. That is why south campus was full and they were getting pretty close to being full as well.
I know everything gets worse before it gets better...maybe this was the final straw...maybe now she can truly work on getting better!
*2-24, 3:16p* They put her on oxygen last night after we left because her levels were too low. Today, Doctor Mayer visited and said things were looking up, but didn't leave discharge instructions. I haven't been up there today to know exactly what is going on. My dad stopped by there after work and once I get the food from my mom's AMAZING CO-WORKERS, I will be going up there to relieve my dad. Last I heard, she wasn't in the best of moods.
**2-24, 7:30p** Doctor Hughes was supposed to come by and look at her incisions. Doctor Mayer thinks she may have a skin infection on top of having the pneumonia. Doctor Hughes never made it by here to check her out. Now it's too late for her to be released tonight. They can get her fever broke, but they can't keep it broken. We're not entirely sure what is really going on. What I do know, is that the nurses aren't taking care of her drains correctly. Doctor Lee is a perfectionist. He gave me specific directions on how to clean them. The nurses aren't doing it even close to how he said to do it. UGH!
***2-26, 2p*** She was finally released! Even though the hospitals said they would call Doctor Lee and let him know she was in the hospital and wouldn't be able to make her appointment Thursday, they didn't. Go figure. Doctor Lee's office called yesterday, telling her she missed her appointment. My mom told them everything, even about how they told her Doctor Hughes would be coming by to look at her incisions. Doctor Lee came by the hospital and removed one of her drains. He wasn't happy that her drains had only been emptied once and I was the one to do it. He couldn't release her because he didn't admit her. He did let Doctor Mayer know he thought she was fine.
Why did it matter whether Doctor Lee thought she was fine, you ask? This is what not many people know. It took me calling Doctor Mayer's office ready to kill to get an answer because the hospital couldn't tell me anything. What the hospital did tell me is what they could assume. That didn't go over well with me. When I called Doctor Mayer's office, her nurse told me it was because they were afraid she'd start smoking again and she wouldn't be released until, the soonest, Friday, but most likely Saturday! Can you believe the NERVE????? I was pissed beyond all reason. They told my mom that it was because of her smoking that she had a pretty serious contusion on her breast. [*cough* BULLSHIT]
When Doctor Lee got there to check her out, he said the bruise still looked fine. Amazing. Abso-freaking-lutely amazing!
Point is, Doctor Mayer must have realized she couldn't keep my mom in the hospital any longer since Doctor Lee said everything was fine. I've been told I'm a "conspiracy theorist" several times in my life, but let me put my version of what I think happend into perspective:
Doctor Mayer disagreed with my mother's smoking so terribly she purposely sabotaged her release by lying about Doctor Hughes coming by to see her because of the bruise. She used Doctor Hughes' name instead of Doctor Lee's, even though she knew Doctor Lee was her actual doctor because it was in her chart and we'd talked about it several times before. This way, the hospital didn't call Doctor Lee's office. By the time she'd missed her appointment and Doctor Lee's office found out what was going on, it would be at least another day before she would be seen. Doctor Lee made it to see mom at the hospital a little ahead of schedule BECAUSE HE'S FREAKING AMAZING and one of the MOST BRILLIANT PEOPLE EVER! lol...where did I come up with this conspiracy? Between what Doctor Mayer's nurse told me and the fact that Doctor Mayer tried to get my mom to SWEAR ON A STACK OF TEN BIBLES THAT SHE WOULDN'T START SMOKING AGAIN!!! W...T...F... I'm pretty sure 2+2=4 and I went to Monrovia, hung out with people from Martinsville and work with people from Edinburgh (no offense to anyone, but we all know the jokes)...
No, my mom didn't swear on the Bibles...I would've chewed her ass if she had. She said nothing except that I had already gotten rid of everything - and I had. Doctor Mayer tried to put up an argument about how my mom could stop and get cigarettes herself, but my mom ignored her because she hasn't driven since she was diagnosed. And it's not that she's an atheist, because she's not, but that was pretty ignorant of Doctor Mayer to try to do something like that.
****3-1, 11:50p**** Good news! My mom started Chantix today. She took it at noon and says she can already feel the effects. She says she doesn't feel like she needs a cigarette most of the time. I think that may be psychological because it was only one half-dose, but I am glad she already feels that way. I am VERY happy for her. I feel this is a for-sure sign all this will be over with in the near future!
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Friday, February 19, 2010
My Mother's Journey Through Breast Cancer: Your Questions Answered
Here are the questions I have been asked recently. I answered them to the best of my ability. If you have any questions, any questions at all, that have NOT been answered here, please post your question(s) as a comment and I will get to it as soon as I can.
What size are my mom's implants starting out at?
My mother did NOT have her implants put in; only the "spacers". That is why it was only a partial reconstruction. She could not have her implants put in because she has to have radiation. The radiation can interfere with healing and even cause the implants to rupture - saline or silicone, either one. It also raises the percentage of implant rejection. With only the "spacers," my mother still has the "breast" shape, just no nipple. Including the swelling right now, she is a little over an A-cup; sort of the 'tween stage of an A-cup and B-cup. Once the swelling goes down, she will have an A-cup or possibly a little under, give or take a few millimeters. Dr. Lee told me that the "spacers" have a volume of 300 milliliters in each breast, giving her a total of 600 milliliters of "breast". The purpose of the "spacers" are to start making room for the actual implant. They included the "spacers" in this surgery to advance her as far as they could without letting the future radiation cause any damage.
Why does my mother have to have radiation?
Two reasons: My mom has Lobular Carcinoma - cancer of the "grapevine"-like lobes in a woman's breast. The lobes are responsible for creating the milk for babies versus Ductal Carcinoma, which is cancer of the milk-ducts. The milk-ducts carry the milk to the nipple for excretion. Lobular Carcinoma is a more rare form of breast cancer. The other reason my mom has to have radiation is because my mom's cancer was "satellited," meaning it was spread out into little sections all over her breast tissue. For example, when you look up into the clear night sky and see the stars spread throughout the sky, the sky is like my mom's breast tissue and the stars are like my mom's cancer cells. Plus, the cancer had spread to her right lymph nodes. When there is cancer in your lymph nodes, there is most likely cancer somewhere else in your body. This is why they did the chemo first - to concentrate on her body as a whole. Then, once they removed the breast tissue, they can use radiation on only the breasts to concentrate on whatever cancer could possibly be left over, be it in the chest wall or in the breast tissue that could've been left behind.
When WILL my mom have her implants put in?
Six to eight months after she is finished with radiation, pending all her doctors' permission, she will have a smaller, less invasive surgery to have her saline implants put in. They will not be the full size my mom has chosen. They will be around 40% of the size she wants. Every two weeks or so after the initial installation, she will return to Doctor Lee's office to have a little bit more saline injected into the implant until she reaches the size she has chosen. They will use a large needle to do this so it will be somewhat painful. However, Doctor Lee said most women have described the pain to be similar to pain they have during their nuclear biopsies (when they put needles in you and inject you with dye; for example, an MRI biopsy). This stage-like reconstruction keeps the healing time to a minimum. Many women will have the injections done during their lunch breaks from work and then return to work when they're finished, but that is per statistics. That does NOT mean every woman will be like that. Some may have more pain so if you are one of these women, or may be one in the future, do not feel weak or inadequate; every woman is different and it does not make you any less of a woman. Remember: "What doesn't kill you, only makes you stronger."
Truthfully, will they EVER look completely natural?
Once my mom reaches the size she wants and heals properly, etc., she can have nipple reconstruction surgery. After the nipple reconstruction surgery, most likely after she has healed (but I may be mistaken), they can tattoo some areola-color around her nipples to make them seem even more realistic. I believe this is optional or at least I would think so, considering the breasts will not have the sensation stimulation capabilities as they did before the mastectomies. Some women may think this is trivial and pointless. There is a chance they will do the nipple reconstruction during the implant installation. That has, yet, to be determined.
Why did my mom chose "saline" versus "silicone"?
My mother chose saline implants because they tend look and feel more natural (per Doctor Lee). If they rupture, the reaction is not NEAR as toxic. Most women after implant reconstruction surgery that look like they have "Barbie boobs" is because they have most likely had silicone implants (per googling 'silicone implants'). "Barbie boobs" are not bad things, it just depends on the person's preferences.
Would I recommend St. Francis as a hospital for someone else with breast cancer?
This is an EXTREMELY difficult question to answer. If the person who has cancer has hard-as-a-rock supporters, so that someone is with them for each and every appointment, then the answer to this question is YES. The reason someone "mentally tough" needs to be there is to act like a "emotional bodyguard" for the person who has cancer. Some of these people you come into contact with have never been in any of these situations. Because of this, they are arrogant, naive, and cold. Most of our issues were with the clerical/secretarial/administrative whatever-you-call-its, be it through insurance or the hospital. Once you get through the wall of annoying idiots, the doctor's were FAN-FLIPPING-TASTIC!!! I would recommend them without even thinking about it...well, other than the Radiologist Oncologist, but it was only his first impression that irritated us. He came VERY highly recommended by my mom's Chemotherapy Oncologist and we love her to death.
Who are her doctors and nurses?
What size are my mom's implants starting out at?
My mother did NOT have her implants put in; only the "spacers". That is why it was only a partial reconstruction. She could not have her implants put in because she has to have radiation. The radiation can interfere with healing and even cause the implants to rupture - saline or silicone, either one. It also raises the percentage of implant rejection. With only the "spacers," my mother still has the "breast" shape, just no nipple. Including the swelling right now, she is a little over an A-cup; sort of the 'tween stage of an A-cup and B-cup. Once the swelling goes down, she will have an A-cup or possibly a little under, give or take a few millimeters. Dr. Lee told me that the "spacers" have a volume of 300 milliliters in each breast, giving her a total of 600 milliliters of "breast". The purpose of the "spacers" are to start making room for the actual implant. They included the "spacers" in this surgery to advance her as far as they could without letting the future radiation cause any damage.
Why does my mother have to have radiation?
Two reasons: My mom has Lobular Carcinoma - cancer of the "grapevine"-like lobes in a woman's breast. The lobes are responsible for creating the milk for babies versus Ductal Carcinoma, which is cancer of the milk-ducts. The milk-ducts carry the milk to the nipple for excretion. Lobular Carcinoma is a more rare form of breast cancer. The other reason my mom has to have radiation is because my mom's cancer was "satellited," meaning it was spread out into little sections all over her breast tissue. For example, when you look up into the clear night sky and see the stars spread throughout the sky, the sky is like my mom's breast tissue and the stars are like my mom's cancer cells. Plus, the cancer had spread to her right lymph nodes. When there is cancer in your lymph nodes, there is most likely cancer somewhere else in your body. This is why they did the chemo first - to concentrate on her body as a whole. Then, once they removed the breast tissue, they can use radiation on only the breasts to concentrate on whatever cancer could possibly be left over, be it in the chest wall or in the breast tissue that could've been left behind.
When WILL my mom have her implants put in?
Six to eight months after she is finished with radiation, pending all her doctors' permission, she will have a smaller, less invasive surgery to have her saline implants put in. They will not be the full size my mom has chosen. They will be around 40% of the size she wants. Every two weeks or so after the initial installation, she will return to Doctor Lee's office to have a little bit more saline injected into the implant until she reaches the size she has chosen. They will use a large needle to do this so it will be somewhat painful. However, Doctor Lee said most women have described the pain to be similar to pain they have during their nuclear biopsies (when they put needles in you and inject you with dye; for example, an MRI biopsy). This stage-like reconstruction keeps the healing time to a minimum. Many women will have the injections done during their lunch breaks from work and then return to work when they're finished, but that is per statistics. That does NOT mean every woman will be like that. Some may have more pain so if you are one of these women, or may be one in the future, do not feel weak or inadequate; every woman is different and it does not make you any less of a woman. Remember: "What doesn't kill you, only makes you stronger."
Truthfully, will they EVER look completely natural?
Once my mom reaches the size she wants and heals properly, etc., she can have nipple reconstruction surgery. After the nipple reconstruction surgery, most likely after she has healed (but I may be mistaken), they can tattoo some areola-color around her nipples to make them seem even more realistic. I believe this is optional or at least I would think so, considering the breasts will not have the sensation stimulation capabilities as they did before the mastectomies. Some women may think this is trivial and pointless. There is a chance they will do the nipple reconstruction during the implant installation. That has, yet, to be determined.
Why did my mom chose "saline" versus "silicone"?
My mother chose saline implants because they tend look and feel more natural (per Doctor Lee). If they rupture, the reaction is not NEAR as toxic. Most women after implant reconstruction surgery that look like they have "Barbie boobs" is because they have most likely had silicone implants (per googling 'silicone implants'). "Barbie boobs" are not bad things, it just depends on the person's preferences.
Would I recommend St. Francis as a hospital for someone else with breast cancer?
This is an EXTREMELY difficult question to answer. If the person who has cancer has hard-as-a-rock supporters, so that someone is with them for each and every appointment, then the answer to this question is YES. The reason someone "mentally tough" needs to be there is to act like a "emotional bodyguard" for the person who has cancer. Some of these people you come into contact with have never been in any of these situations. Because of this, they are arrogant, naive, and cold. Most of our issues were with the clerical/secretarial/administrative whatever-you-call-its, be it through insurance or the hospital. Once you get through the wall of annoying idiots, the doctor's were FAN-FLIPPING-TASTIC!!! I would recommend them without even thinking about it...well, other than the Radiologist Oncologist, but it was only his first impression that irritated us. He came VERY highly recommended by my mom's Chemotherapy Oncologist and we love her to death.
Who are her doctors and nurses?
- Mammography Technologists: St. Francis Hospital & Health Center, South Campus, Breast Center - Cheryl, Theresa, Scott Brummett - Scott only does MRI mammography.
- Surgical Oncologist: Indy Southside Surgical - Doctor Donald G. King, M.D. Doctor King's leading office lady is Aaren and she was wonderful as well.
- Chemotherapy Oncologist: The Private Practice of Doctor Mary Lou Mayer, M.D. - Doctor Mary Lou Mayer, M.D. Her sister works in the office part of the practice and her leading lady is Hermione Relyea, aka Hum. Hum does the actual chemotherapy distribution. You can't miss her, she's got a thick British accent. Mary Lou and Hum are like the two cutest little things EVER!
- Plastic Surgeon: Charles E. Hughes, III, M.D., Incorporated - Doctor Wayne C. Lee, M.D.
- Radiation Oncologist: St. Francis Cancer Center - Doctor Peter G. Garrett, M.D.
- Registered Nurse: St. Francis Hospital Surgery Center - Chris. He's the only "Chris" that works over there. He has red-ish brown hair and a sarcastic and fun personality. My mom had him for her port surgery so she requested him for her mastectomy surgery because he's so awesome.
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
My Mother's Journey Through Breast Cancer: Post Bi-Lateral Mastectomies and Partial Reconstruction
First of all, thank you all for your prayers and comments on Facebook. Words cannot express how wonderful it feels to know my mom has so much support! For those who have been around throughout the years, we appreciate you keeping in touch. For those of you who have come out of the woodwork, it is wonderful to hear from you all again, especially in my mom's time of need. Everyone has been wonderful through this whole ordeal and we appreciate it more than you could know.
Now for the greasy, grimy details from the beginning of yesterday.
Yesterday, we arrived at about 5:40 am. Mom smoked her "last" cigarette even though St. Francis is a smoke-free campus. Don't judge her, she's using this ordeal to quit smoking so I think hospital security will get over it. As a matter of fact, she's gone over 36 hours without a cigarette and I've only heard her complain about it 5 times that I can remember. She stops complaining every time I tell her she's only allowed to have some of my spit-less tobacco pouches to take the edge off. She makes a nasty, scrunched up face and then I don't hear about it again for another couple hours.
Her surgery was supposed to be 6 to 7 hours - 4 to 4 1/2 hours to check the left sentinel lymph nodes and do the mastectomies and 2 to 2 1/2 hours for the partial reconstruction. Well, it took a lot longer for both. The mastectomies took longer because of waiting on pathology to let them know whether or not there was cancer in her left lymph nodes, which there was not. The reconstruction took longer because Dr. Lee is very, very, VERY meticulous. Since she has to have radiation, they couldn't do the whole reconstruction process. They only put what are called "spacers" in. My mom's BMI was not high enough for them to take parts of her skin from her back, thigh or butt so Doctor Lee used cadaver skin and yes that means they used a dead person's skin. It was taken from a deceased person who is a donor and sent to a lab to be processed. After it has been processed it can be used for things such as skin graphs and spacers for breast reconstruction. Once applied during an operation, over time, your body accepts it as its own. The cells will even multiply as if they were never dead! Gross at first, but I think it's really cool now. Altogether, the surgery took a little over 9 hours. Once the surgeries were over Dr. Lee told us that in about 45 minutes one of us would be allowed to go back and visit my mom. I left my Dad no choice and told him he was the "chosen one" which only made sense. He obviously agreed.
One hour later, a nurse came out and said it would only be a little longer until one of us could see her. I told her what Dr. Lee had said. She said the doctors have no idea what they're talking about and not to listen to them. Then she said in another half hour or so my dad could see her. Forty-five minutes later, another nurse said my dad could see her shortly. I explained how anxious and irritated we were with what everyone was telling us. She said not to listen to the doctors and to be patient (hmm, that's interesting...a NURSE was the last one to tell us a load of crap; NOT a doctor). Thirty minutes later I was pacing. I was pissed. Even my Dad was irritated. If you know my dad, you know he's like the most patient person in the world! After 15 more minutes passed my dad started pacing. He was watching the Operation Time-line screen like he would a pot of water he was trying to boil. If he could've made that screen catch on fire and explode he would've. He used the phone at the desk - I WAS SO PROUD!!! Normally he doesn't do stuff like that. Normally I am the outspoken, to the point, kind of person. I was running on two hours of sleep, so I wasn't up to par...I suppose.
Anyway, the nurse told him the same stupid shit. Even he rolled his eyes when he hung up the phone. What she did say that was different was the fact that they were actually getting ready to take her up to her room and they would just take us all with them. FINALLY!!!!!...sheesh...
She looked FANTASTIC!!!! I've been taking pictures and making notes throughout this whole kit-n-kaboodle for her Survivor Scrapbook we are going to make, so I took a picture while she was kind of out of it - to prevent an outburst even though I know she would thank me later - but she woke up to the sound of the camera shutter and said she wanted one of her smiling. When I took the picture of her smiling, I was in awe at how wonderful she looked and she didn't believe me when I told her that. I showed her and she immediately asked me to put it as her profile picture on Facebook. I'm still speechless about how wonderful she looks considering what she's been through.
Doctor Lee, Doctor King and Chris (a nurse my mom requested because he treated her so well when she had her portocath surgery and because we found out we are related) all said she could have soft foods when she could keep water, tea and Powerade down. When she got situated in her room, the nurses said "absolutely not." Well, that didn't go over so well. We were tired of hearing about how the doctors didn't know what they were talking about, but whatever. I was over arguing with these idiots.
Today has been a roller coaster. The nurses weren't coming in when they were supposed to. The anesthesia had worn off completely so the pain was worse. We found out the computers were down and that's why the nurses were having troubles and because they weren't coming around, my mom wasn't getting the pain meds she needed. They had brought her ice packs, but didn't put them on her and we didn't find them until it was too late. Finally, I pressed the little red button and let them know she needed pain meds. When the nurse gave her the pain meds she said she needed to empty my mom's drains.
Now these drains are not like a catheter and urine bag, not exactly anyway. These are four, skinny little tubes - two for each side of the chest - protruding from the lateral parts of her chest. Each tube has a bulb at the end of it that resembles a grenade. So the nurse showed me how to empty them into the little measuring cups, how to read the measuring cups (I was a little insulted by this considering my aunt was my science teacher and I have known how to read in milliliters since 6th grade, but not everyone is as smart as I am so I let it go...lmao) and she told me I will have to record the amount of blood in a little booklet they will give us when she checks out. This little booklet we're going to get must be kept and shown to Doctor Lee at her appointments until otherwise notified.
Two hours later my mom needed more pain meds. This time they could give her the pills because "they seemed to work better" even though the real reason was because it had been long enough since the last dose of pills (at 12:48 pm) that they could give them to her again (at 6:30 pm). Doctor Lee came in before the nurse gave her the pain killers. He said he wanted to empty her drains. I asked him if I could watch because I had heard he does it different than how the nurse had shown me. He was excited and BOY WAS IT DIFFERENT! I am so glad I can tell a load of bullshit from the truth. I also took advantage of the time with Doctor Lee to tell on the nurses and even went as far as telling him how they said not to listen to the doctors. (Yeah, I'm a tattletale. I will NOT have my family being mistreated.) He said, "oh really" and then said he was sorry they'd brought the ice packs, but hadn't given them to her. I told him that I liked his style and when I'm old enough for a lift, I'd be going to him. He laughed.
Doctor Lee helped out tremendously. He took care of my mom and made me feel better about the whole situation. Now the night nurses and doctors are on duty. The night nurses are great and hopefully we won't need a night shift doctor. My dad has decided to stay another night with my mom. I think that is a great idea. As much as I want to stay with her, I still think it's best my dad stays. He can lift her and move her up on the bed when she slides down too low and give her that extra push when she can't get up from bed to go to the bathroom or go on a walk. Although it's under these circumstances, at least they're getting to spend some time together and they don't get that much anymore.
Thanks again for everyone's thoughts and prayers! Although the bulk of this is over, she still has radiation, the rest of her reconstruction and growing her hair back. Speaking of growing her hair back - her new family nickname is "Peach."
Now for the greasy, grimy details from the beginning of yesterday.
Yesterday, we arrived at about 5:40 am. Mom smoked her "last" cigarette even though St. Francis is a smoke-free campus. Don't judge her, she's using this ordeal to quit smoking so I think hospital security will get over it. As a matter of fact, she's gone over 36 hours without a cigarette and I've only heard her complain about it 5 times that I can remember. She stops complaining every time I tell her she's only allowed to have some of my spit-less tobacco pouches to take the edge off. She makes a nasty, scrunched up face and then I don't hear about it again for another couple hours.
Her surgery was supposed to be 6 to 7 hours - 4 to 4 1/2 hours to check the left sentinel lymph nodes and do the mastectomies and 2 to 2 1/2 hours for the partial reconstruction. Well, it took a lot longer for both. The mastectomies took longer because of waiting on pathology to let them know whether or not there was cancer in her left lymph nodes, which there was not. The reconstruction took longer because Dr. Lee is very, very, VERY meticulous. Since she has to have radiation, they couldn't do the whole reconstruction process. They only put what are called "spacers" in. My mom's BMI was not high enough for them to take parts of her skin from her back, thigh or butt so Doctor Lee used cadaver skin and yes that means they used a dead person's skin. It was taken from a deceased person who is a donor and sent to a lab to be processed. After it has been processed it can be used for things such as skin graphs and spacers for breast reconstruction. Once applied during an operation, over time, your body accepts it as its own. The cells will even multiply as if they were never dead! Gross at first, but I think it's really cool now. Altogether, the surgery took a little over 9 hours. Once the surgeries were over Dr. Lee told us that in about 45 minutes one of us would be allowed to go back and visit my mom. I left my Dad no choice and told him he was the "chosen one" which only made sense. He obviously agreed.
One hour later, a nurse came out and said it would only be a little longer until one of us could see her. I told her what Dr. Lee had said. She said the doctors have no idea what they're talking about and not to listen to them. Then she said in another half hour or so my dad could see her. Forty-five minutes later, another nurse said my dad could see her shortly. I explained how anxious and irritated we were with what everyone was telling us. She said not to listen to the doctors and to be patient (hmm, that's interesting...a NURSE was the last one to tell us a load of crap; NOT a doctor). Thirty minutes later I was pacing. I was pissed. Even my Dad was irritated. If you know my dad, you know he's like the most patient person in the world! After 15 more minutes passed my dad started pacing. He was watching the Operation Time-line screen like he would a pot of water he was trying to boil. If he could've made that screen catch on fire and explode he would've. He used the phone at the desk - I WAS SO PROUD!!! Normally he doesn't do stuff like that. Normally I am the outspoken, to the point, kind of person. I was running on two hours of sleep, so I wasn't up to par...I suppose.
Anyway, the nurse told him the same stupid shit. Even he rolled his eyes when he hung up the phone. What she did say that was different was the fact that they were actually getting ready to take her up to her room and they would just take us all with them. FINALLY!!!!!...sheesh...
She looked FANTASTIC!!!! I've been taking pictures and making notes throughout this whole kit-n-kaboodle for her Survivor Scrapbook we are going to make, so I took a picture while she was kind of out of it - to prevent an outburst even though I know she would thank me later - but she woke up to the sound of the camera shutter and said she wanted one of her smiling. When I took the picture of her smiling, I was in awe at how wonderful she looked and she didn't believe me when I told her that. I showed her and she immediately asked me to put it as her profile picture on Facebook. I'm still speechless about how wonderful she looks considering what she's been through.
Doctor Lee, Doctor King and Chris (a nurse my mom requested because he treated her so well when she had her portocath surgery and because we found out we are related) all said she could have soft foods when she could keep water, tea and Powerade down. When she got situated in her room, the nurses said "absolutely not." Well, that didn't go over so well. We were tired of hearing about how the doctors didn't know what they were talking about, but whatever. I was over arguing with these idiots.
Today has been a roller coaster. The nurses weren't coming in when they were supposed to. The anesthesia had worn off completely so the pain was worse. We found out the computers were down and that's why the nurses were having troubles and because they weren't coming around, my mom wasn't getting the pain meds she needed. They had brought her ice packs, but didn't put them on her and we didn't find them until it was too late. Finally, I pressed the little red button and let them know she needed pain meds. When the nurse gave her the pain meds she said she needed to empty my mom's drains.
Now these drains are not like a catheter and urine bag, not exactly anyway. These are four, skinny little tubes - two for each side of the chest - protruding from the lateral parts of her chest. Each tube has a bulb at the end of it that resembles a grenade. So the nurse showed me how to empty them into the little measuring cups, how to read the measuring cups (I was a little insulted by this considering my aunt was my science teacher and I have known how to read in milliliters since 6th grade, but not everyone is as smart as I am so I let it go...lmao) and she told me I will have to record the amount of blood in a little booklet they will give us when she checks out. This little booklet we're going to get must be kept and shown to Doctor Lee at her appointments until otherwise notified.
Two hours later my mom needed more pain meds. This time they could give her the pills because "they seemed to work better" even though the real reason was because it had been long enough since the last dose of pills (at 12:48 pm) that they could give them to her again (at 6:30 pm). Doctor Lee came in before the nurse gave her the pain killers. He said he wanted to empty her drains. I asked him if I could watch because I had heard he does it different than how the nurse had shown me. He was excited and BOY WAS IT DIFFERENT! I am so glad I can tell a load of bullshit from the truth. I also took advantage of the time with Doctor Lee to tell on the nurses and even went as far as telling him how they said not to listen to the doctors. (Yeah, I'm a tattletale. I will NOT have my family being mistreated.) He said, "oh really" and then said he was sorry they'd brought the ice packs, but hadn't given them to her. I told him that I liked his style and when I'm old enough for a lift, I'd be going to him. He laughed.
Doctor Lee helped out tremendously. He took care of my mom and made me feel better about the whole situation. Now the night nurses and doctors are on duty. The night nurses are great and hopefully we won't need a night shift doctor. My dad has decided to stay another night with my mom. I think that is a great idea. As much as I want to stay with her, I still think it's best my dad stays. He can lift her and move her up on the bed when she slides down too low and give her that extra push when she can't get up from bed to go to the bathroom or go on a walk. Although it's under these circumstances, at least they're getting to spend some time together and they don't get that much anymore.
Thanks again for everyone's thoughts and prayers! Although the bulk of this is over, she still has radiation, the rest of her reconstruction and growing her hair back. Speaking of growing her hair back - her new family nickname is "Peach."
Monday, February 15, 2010
My Mother's Journey Through Breast Cancer
She's finally finished her chemotherapy! Now, it's the beginning of the end. She has her surgery February 16. She opted for them to test her left lymph nodes prior to surgery since for some reason they haven't done that already. She has to be at the hospital at 6 am. We will leave at 5 am. She cannot eat or drink anything after midnight tonight except a bit of water to take her meds. Once she arrives at the hospital, they will do all the pre-surgery stuff, like blood pressure, give her Valium, have the anesthesiologist talk to her, etc. Then she starts her 6 to 7 hour surgery. The left lymph node tests will determine if they take all her breast tissue on her left side or if they only do a partial. Either way, she's having a bi-lateral mastectomy.
Once the breast tissue is removed, the plastic surgeon will begin her partial reconstruction. He will insert cadaver "spacers". Eventually the processed cadaver tissue will be accepted as part of her own body. The plastic surgeon can only do partial reconstruction at this point because my mom will have to have radiation for 5-6 weeks after she heals from the mastectomies. When this surgery is over, she will have a drain protruding from each "breast". My mom will have to spend the night in the hospital, possibly two, depending on how quickly they get her pain under control. Then she will be bed-ridden for at least a week. That's pretty much it for right now. We will stay in contact with those who care as much as we can. We DO need your prayers because my mom is quitting smoking during this little process...God help us all! LMFAO!
Once the breast tissue is removed, the plastic surgeon will begin her partial reconstruction. He will insert cadaver "spacers". Eventually the processed cadaver tissue will be accepted as part of her own body. The plastic surgeon can only do partial reconstruction at this point because my mom will have to have radiation for 5-6 weeks after she heals from the mastectomies. When this surgery is over, she will have a drain protruding from each "breast". My mom will have to spend the night in the hospital, possibly two, depending on how quickly they get her pain under control. Then she will be bed-ridden for at least a week. That's pretty much it for right now. We will stay in contact with those who care as much as we can. We DO need your prayers because my mom is quitting smoking during this little process...God help us all! LMFAO!
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