For those of you not
familiar with the true definition of Pia --it means pain in the ass. So from now on, my right boob will be known
as Pia, which I deem very appropriate given everything it has done to me this
year. Think about this. Pia sent me into
surgery back on January 6 because of some pesky little tumor, which turned out
not to be so little which then decided to share the joy with the lymph
nodes. From there I did 6 rounds of chemo,
lost my hair, ended up in the hospital 4 out of 6 times, led me to visit the ER
twice, gave me all sorts of side effects, gave me Portia, rejected Portia, made
me settle for Pedro, sent me to be cremated for 33 treatments, and is now
sending me back to the OR in the morning due to some silly infection. Definitely a Pia.
Dr Lynn knew when
she came into the room this morning how it was going to shake out. It must have been the fever—it had been 100.8
when Patty took it and well, even she knew it was not a good thing. I knew before she even looked at Pia I was
doomed. So I asked her what she wanted
to do. She explained 2 options and I said again, what you want to do. She said I want to operate tomorrow and pack
it. I said okay and then maybe you
should explain this a tad bit more.
Dr Lynn: I will filet it
Me (interrupting her):
Crap, (not what I said but Mae Ling told me to watch it) I wanted a steak
tonight but you just ruined that.
Dr Lynn: Get over it. Again, I will filet it and will pack it with
(can’t remember what she said but I think it was gauze).
Me (interrupting again): Does
it stay in there?
Dr Lynn: No, you will have to change it.
Me: Lovely.
Dr Lynn: Here is the deal—by packing it, it will heal
and the infection will go away. The
cavity, where the fluid and infection are at will start to heal from the inside
outward. However, since it is a radiated
area, this could take 6-8 weeks. I will
do this tomorrow and I will keep you overnight for Wound Care. You will be on the surgical floor with the
surgical nurses who will show you what to do. (This was actually a longer
conversation as I asked about my nurses on the 10th floor—she said
she would prefer to have the surgical nurses show me. I caved as I would be closer to the chocolate
chip cookies.)
Me: This sucks.
Dr Lynn: Yes, see you at 11:00am.
It is now almost 9:00pm and I am packing a bag for yet
another surgery and another stay at New Hanover. A smaller bag this time as I know I will only
be there one night. I really don’t know what to expect as far as pain or as far
as recovery and what will be expected of me.
Dr Lynn did say I could go back to work next week and I will. I am getting weary of these strange
complications I seem to attract. At
least my hair is coming back nicely. And
yes, as it has been pointed out to me many, many times these past months, everyday
is a good day, some are just better than others.
James 1:17
Liza, I've always liked you a lot and appreciated the patience you've shown me and the help you and your colleagues have given me. I imagine when I was not there, or when I came in, you'd mutter under your breath: "Oh, Crap! Here come PIA.
ReplyDeleteNow that has been elevated and my admiration of you, your courage, your faith, your sassy sense of humor. You've taken that up several notches. Linda has asked her "Prayer Warriors" at Faith Harbor to keep your name in their prayers. Take care. don