Today I'll do the cancer update.
I had surgery at MD Anderson on November 1st. So I missed my first Halloween in the Rio Grande Valley. Something to look forward to next year. My wonderful sister-in-law, Dorothy, came down and stayed for a week to help out.
The day before surgery had a lot of tests that were part of the close out for the clinical trial I participated in. The trial wasn't too bad. I'm pretty sure I had the real drug and not the placebo since I had most of the known side effects... diarrhea and breakouts... All that disappeared shortly after stopping the drugs.
Then there was a visit with the plastic surgeon who drew lots of lines on both boobies with a sharpie. Cute! Dorothy's job was to retrace the lines after I showered that night and in the morning.
We stayed at the Rotary House which I highly recommend if you ever have a need to visit MD Anderson. Rates are a little higher than a hotel further away, but comparable to all the close by hotels and parking is actually cheaper. The big advantage is they are physically connected to MD Anderson, so it is a walk through the halls to your appointments. And a wheel chair ride back to your hotel room after surgery. They also give you a printout of all your appointments when you check in. And they have a shuttle that will take you anywhere within 2 miles for free.
Surgery went very smoothly. I was offered a epidural, but after talking to the anesthesiologist I decided against it. I'm glad I skipped it because I honestly didn't have that much pain and in my case it wouldn't have been worth the risks. I left surgery with 1 drain that stayed in for a week. That was sort of a hassle, but thanks to my friend Cherie Matthews and her Heal in Comfort shirt it wasn't as bad as it could've been.
I was back at work within a week. My local OB-GYN removed the drain after a week. Everything healed up great. Then I got my 10 day pathology results... :-( Standards say you should have 2mm of clean margins all around. I only had 1 mm in 2 spots. So back to MD Anderson for follow up and figuring out a plan to deal with that. Options were to do more surgery or spot treat it with more intensive radiation. I would've chosen the radiation option, but that would've meant being in Houston for about 4 weeks for daily treatments. That just isn't possible when you have a job in Mission, TX so a redo on surgery is in order.
I'm scheduled to have touch up surgery on December 31st. What a way to celebrate New Years Eve. I told them I'm wearing a party hat! lol While others are having champagne I will be having the other drugs... I wish we could've done the surgery earlier, but that was the first day both the surgeons were available. So now everything is all nice and healed up and starting to feel normal just in time to cut it all open again... Oh well. At least I know what to expect this time.
My room is booked at the Rotary House and I'll be back in Mission on January 1st if all goes as well as last time. Since I know what to expect they are good with me leaving the day after surgery unless I see something different than last time.
I'm doing good. One boobie is now a cup size smaller than the other, but Dr. Garvey, the plastic surgeon, did a great job and I expect he will again. By this time next year everything will be evened out and back to normal. Something to look forward to!
There have been a couple of really good things that have come from this experience:
- I got to spend one on one time with Dorothy and that was great. I think it made us closer and I treasure that relationship.
- I've been reminded what wonderful friends I have. Even though they are miles away they always check on me and that feels great.
- I found out just what a great bunch of folks live at Retama Village. I'm still eating food they left in my freezer!
- When it is all said and done I will have higher and perkier boobies. Who can complain about that at 52. lol
Next: updates on the job and lovelife...
