Thursday, June 19, 2014
Sometimes
...others find the words you want to say. I found this today while looking through Pinterest and thought...yup...that sums it up
Friday, June 13, 2014
Fun Times
What happened at 2am?
My mother decided to stretch her legs, slip on my floor and go ahaha...!
By the time I got up out of bed to see what was going on she was already back in bed. Yup, I come by it honestly. Apparently my floors are too slippery and my bed is too high. At least she didn't fall out of bed as that would have really hurt.
The healing process has begun and each day I can see and feel the improvement. I racked up the visitors and enjoyed having my mom and dad around. It is strange having someone else do things for you when you are use to doing them. After a couple of days I started moving more. I pulled off the bandages to see what was created and yes...there it was...I once again had a lady lump. Big Grin!
My back look like it was massacred from the donor site and my other breast looked like a staple gun had been used. I didn't care though as it was the first time in two years I had seen a lump where concave had been. It might be small, bruised and numb...but I will take it any day over the alternative.
It is amazing what a small mound of flesh does for your mental state. I was proud of it and would show anyone who was interested in seeing it or touching it. But dressing it was a whole other story. Wearing a bra was painful as the back strap went across my back incision and the cups kept the breast from moving (which felt good) but the pressure got tiring. I decided bra commando was the way to go. Plus I was still dealing with two drains with very long tubes.
My follow up appointment was only a week after my release. In we all went, I did the automatic register and then one by one we watched the waiting room clear out and fill again; without my name being called. I had been here a couple other times and things always seem to be running on time. I checked with the volunteer who saw my name on the list so I sat and waited...and waited...and waited. After an hour, I thought enough of this and went to the reception desk who told me there was an error with my registration. Grrr could no one have come and found me? I literally got back to the waiting room and was called.
I was lead down to another waiting room where....I waited and waited. I could hear a conversation in the hallway:
Person A: Just go in and ask her questions
Person B: What questions should I ask
Person A: Go through her chart
In walks Person A who introduces Person B and then Person A leaves. I realize poor Person B was just thrown into a situation and it was either sink or swim. Since he apologized and told me it was his first day in plastics, I decided to tell him it was OK and give him some floaters to help him swim. I went through my procedure and told him that today was the day my drains needed to come out. I had three put in after the surgery and one came out before I left the hospital and now it was time for the other two to leave my body for good.
He did his best to scribble notes and left the room....where I waited....and waited....before finally having Dr. L come in. He was persistent that the drains should remain, I was adamant that they were coming out. I am sure you know who was going to win this argument. So out they came. He warned me that if fluid built up I would have to come back and all I said was "I will be all good, been here before". Yes, I'm a saucy annoying patient but I was determined to get them out.
I was informed that my next appointment would be in two weeks when my first pump up would begin. He left the room saying that he would get a nurse to come in and replace my steri strips, but all looked great. So I sat there and waited...and waited...and waited. After 20 minutes I got dressed, walked down the hall and got someone to GIVE me steri strips. I would put new ones on myself. GET ME OUT OF HERE. After 2.5 hours of waiting around I was done.
All I could think of was the pump up appointment and what that would entail, but the song of pump up the jam, would not leave my head. I am such and 80's child.
My mother decided to stretch her legs, slip on my floor and go ahaha...!
By the time I got up out of bed to see what was going on she was already back in bed. Yup, I come by it honestly. Apparently my floors are too slippery and my bed is too high. At least she didn't fall out of bed as that would have really hurt.
The healing process has begun and each day I can see and feel the improvement. I racked up the visitors and enjoyed having my mom and dad around. It is strange having someone else do things for you when you are use to doing them. After a couple of days I started moving more. I pulled off the bandages to see what was created and yes...there it was...I once again had a lady lump. Big Grin!
My back look like it was massacred from the donor site and my other breast looked like a staple gun had been used. I didn't care though as it was the first time in two years I had seen a lump where concave had been. It might be small, bruised and numb...but I will take it any day over the alternative.
It is amazing what a small mound of flesh does for your mental state. I was proud of it and would show anyone who was interested in seeing it or touching it. But dressing it was a whole other story. Wearing a bra was painful as the back strap went across my back incision and the cups kept the breast from moving (which felt good) but the pressure got tiring. I decided bra commando was the way to go. Plus I was still dealing with two drains with very long tubes.
My follow up appointment was only a week after my release. In we all went, I did the automatic register and then one by one we watched the waiting room clear out and fill again; without my name being called. I had been here a couple other times and things always seem to be running on time. I checked with the volunteer who saw my name on the list so I sat and waited...and waited...and waited. After an hour, I thought enough of this and went to the reception desk who told me there was an error with my registration. Grrr could no one have come and found me? I literally got back to the waiting room and was called.
I was lead down to another waiting room where....I waited and waited. I could hear a conversation in the hallway:
Person A: Just go in and ask her questions
Person B: What questions should I ask
Person A: Go through her chart
In walks Person A who introduces Person B and then Person A leaves. I realize poor Person B was just thrown into a situation and it was either sink or swim. Since he apologized and told me it was his first day in plastics, I decided to tell him it was OK and give him some floaters to help him swim. I went through my procedure and told him that today was the day my drains needed to come out. I had three put in after the surgery and one came out before I left the hospital and now it was time for the other two to leave my body for good.
He did his best to scribble notes and left the room....where I waited....and waited....before finally having Dr. L come in. He was persistent that the drains should remain, I was adamant that they were coming out. I am sure you know who was going to win this argument. So out they came. He warned me that if fluid built up I would have to come back and all I said was "I will be all good, been here before". Yes, I'm a saucy annoying patient but I was determined to get them out.
I was informed that my next appointment would be in two weeks when my first pump up would begin. He left the room saying that he would get a nurse to come in and replace my steri strips, but all looked great. So I sat there and waited...and waited...and waited. After 20 minutes I got dressed, walked down the hall and got someone to GIVE me steri strips. I would put new ones on myself. GET ME OUT OF HERE. After 2.5 hours of waiting around I was done.
All I could think of was the pump up appointment and what that would entail, but the song of pump up the jam, would not leave my head. I am such and 80's child.
Thursday, June 12, 2014
The Morning After
Or should I say the continuation. I woke up from surgery around dinner time but the last thing on my mind was food. It was nice to look down and see two lumps, even if they were under bandages. You would think that in a hospital doped up, you would have a nice snooze, but not the case in my situation. Between the lady next to me and myself as well as the party nurse station outside our door, sleep was sporadic to say the least. Someone was either giving me drugs, checking my vitals, looking at my bandages, checking my catheter or doing the same to my roomie.
By morning I had drunk about 2 litres of water and was craving tea and an orange, and low and behold my poppa shows up with just that. Ahh where is mom? She had a slip and fall but is ok and resting. Great. two of us down. I was never so thankful to see an orange in my life, the juice wet my mouth and I was in a happy place. They brought me breakfast but I couldn't eat anything on the tray as I mentioned no dairy when I first checked in...and what did I have. Milk, tea, yogurt and oatmeal. A lot of beige and dairy!
During the day it was a lot of the same as the night before except for a bright spot. Student nurses! I had a great little one who I felt bad for being a model patient as she wanted so much to help. She got me water and ice, fluffed my pillows, and got me drugs! I'm sure if I wanted her to take notes or make phone calls she would have. My roomies student was not as keen so mine took over helping her too!
I had more visitors than I anticipated and when you are in the hospital, people on the outside bring you things...AWESOME things. I had magazines, wet wipes, snacks galore and even got jewelry! My friends rock. My roomie and I shared our treats back and forth but I was the rebel out of the two of us. Mind you, she had the belly surgery so her mobility was up to mine. By the end of day two I had had enough of the compression stockings and those suckers were gone. I was willing to take my chances. I found my leg warmers made my momma and I was good to go. Warm feet and legs and freedom from those awful stockings.
The next morning I did get tisk tisk looks from the doctors but also lots of compliments on my leg warmers, in my world it all evens out. With the getting better also comes them taking out my IV..yeah and catheter. Now you would think I would be excited by the latter, but truth been known I enjoyed not having to get up but yet drink lots of water. Now that lots of water meant attempting to get out of bed and make it to the washroom. It was only 10 steps away but those 10 steps took 20 minutes, so decreasing the liquid consumption began. Had it not been for my external snacks I would have starved as the food that came my way was blech. Until day 3, as I was being released, did the lactose free food start arriving. When you have to ask what the food is...that is a bad sign. I am thankful I was not all that hungry.
The end of day two they decided it was time for me to go for a walk. My student helped me up and we started slowly down the hall. I got to the nurses station and felt like passing out was in my near future so back to bed I went. Not one to give up, later on that evening as my roomies family came to visit, I got myself up and shuffled down to the lounge area. Sat down, called a friend, and shuffled back.
By the next morning the doctors and I agreed I was good to be released! In on Wednesday out on Friday, all good in my world. get me out. Throw my stuff in a suitcase (which my student did) and let's go. I asked for a porter who i know but instead I got Mario Andriette who weaved me through the back alleys of the hospital and I felt like I was going to hit desks and chairs along the way. I already had enough scars and bruises I didnt need any more. Plus I was still on morphine and things coming at you feel like a lot faster than I am sure they are.
Mom and Dad hadn't even had a chance to get the car out of the garage yet and I was at the front being dumped off. One thing I wasn't thinking about was the fact that my parents had brought their very large, very high truck down. The large part was great, but trying to get up and in the vehicle in my delicate state was not the easiest. I felt like I had run a marathon by the time I got in. Thankfully I do not live too far away and bed was my friend once I got home and settled.
My parents were going to stay with me for a bit as well as I was unable to take care of a lot of tasks by myself. So dreamland was only an eyelid shut away....until about 2am.
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