Note: Written by Jack for Pat. --------------------------------------------- All, For those of you who don’t want to wade through the details below, bottom line up front is that Pat is home, is very comfortable, and looks and acts her old self except for not yet having full use of her left arm and having to take a few pills. Otherwise it’s the same old Pat. She went into surgery Wednesday just before noon and came out at 4:30. The surgeons removed the tumor from her left breast, removed the lymph nodes in her left armpit, and did two bone marrow biopsies (large gauge needles into her left and right hip bones). Her body was pretty well beat up. The oncology surgeon in whom we have a lot of confidence said all procedures went as planned, that there were no surprises, and that she had plenty of positive margins around the tumor. She said that they removed around 25-30 cubic centimeters (about 1.5 cubic inches) from her breast, that she made the incision and sutured it such that it would be hard to notice unless you were looking for it (leaves you guys out!), and that the volume removed would eventually fill in with fluid and return to approximately its previous size. They also installed a drain from the breast which will stay in place for two weeks. I got trained by the nurses as to how to strip the drain line of blood and fluids, empty the collection bag, measure it, record it, reinstall it and reestablish the vacuum. (Never hurts to learn another skill.) I met her in the recovery room at 5:00 and she was just barely awake (does not remember it at this time). She was never nauseated as the anesthesiologist located the surgical report from four years ago, analyzed it for potential problems in light of the severe nausea she had at that time (required three days hospitalization) and adjusted the anesthesia. They also injected her with an anti-nausea drug cocktail and pain medication before leaving the OR. In the recovery room she experienced some limited pain which went to moderate twice, for which the nurse immediately injected her IV with a potent pain killer that gave her almost immediate relief with very few side effects. We had originally been told that she would be hospitalized at Loma Linda, however in the recovery room the nurse notified me that she was to be transported by ambulance to another hospital about two miles east of Loma Linda. The nurse said that the surgeon came out of surgery , got on the phone and lined her up with a private room at a facility that can only be classified (by normal hospital standards) as palatial. Very large room, tastefully decorated, cabinetry, large private bath with double walk-in shower, flat screen TV with all TV channels and movies on demand, sueded leather recliner for spouse which reclines to an absolutely flat, comfortable bed complete with extra pillows and blankets, chef in kitchen with waiter coming by the room to take your order for any one of a dozen entrees including grilled salmon (with a light citrus vinaigrette sauce!), roast turkey, Santa Barbara Fettuccine, etc., etc. Breakfast and lunch were correspondingly over the top. And to top it all off, there were sliding glass doors to her private patio --- that’s right private patio to soak up the sun (and provide the spouse with a place to have a nice cigar and brandy after dinner.) And if that’s not enough, a professional masseuse appeared at 10:00 a.m. to offer Pat a shoulder massage, foot massage, arm massage and hand massage. The bad news is that they discharged her and she is now home eating my cooking. We left the hospital at about 11:30 and spent 20-30 minutes getting a prescription filled. Pat wanted an In-and-Out burger so we stopped and got one. We also grocery shopped on the way home and she walked all the store aisles looking for goodies. We got home at 4:30 yesterday afternoon. She is glad to be home and restied very comfortably after a (Jack-made) dinner of fresh green salad and homemade cream of tomato soup with basil. Unfortunately no wine for Pat as she is on Vicodin, but using it at only half the dose that the doctor prescribed. I’ve injected a little humor here, because she is displaying a great sense of humor about all that is going on. She knows this is a long haul and it’s hard to get through it without a sense of humor. Her next appointment is on September 17, so we may not have much else to report until that time. She enjoys and appreciates your emails and text messages. She believes she will be able to enjoy visitors beginning Saturday, and go back to work Tuesday. (For Mick: You were right --- she’s worked my ass off today. She’s all yours Tuesday!) John Orozco
Posted on: Fri, 06 Sep 2013 15:10:58 +0000
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