And the beat goes on....

On Monday I had the pleasure of seeing Dr K for a quick check on how the tamoxifen was going.  The conversation went something like this:

Me:  So I ended up in the hospital Labor Day Weekend.

Dr K—giving me this what in the world have you done now look: For what?

Me:  Somehow I managed to get a staph infection where the radiation took place.  (I then explained it all to him).

Dr K—shaking his head: How long where you there?

Me: 3 nights, I got a fever and you know how that is. 

Dr K:  figures.

Me:  Dr Lynn was off the first time I went down.  She came in to drain me as I was special.

Dr K:  Yes, definitely special—how much did she drain?

Me: Over 100 ccs.  It deflated like a bicycle tire.

Dr K—he just laughed. Poor guy still can’t figure out my sense of humor.

 

            It was good to see him and even better as he recapped my journey and said how happy he was and look how far we had come and aside from the daily pill, it was over.  Funny strange in that although my treatment ended August 10,  I was waiting for him, Dr K, my oncologist, the one who kept me safe and the one who I trusted without question, to tell me it was over and I was done.  And when he said it, I knew it was so and I could not stop smiling.  I smiled all through the instructions on what I was to do with my meds for the cruise and kept smiling when he said see you in 6 months.  The best part—he was smiling too. 

            My week continued and I got to see Dr Lynn for a follow up on Tuesday.  She was so proud of Mom and her packing.  Not to mention it is healing well.  She then proceeded to tell me the staph infection I had was not normal (yes, she was smirking) but although it is rare, it does occur in people with compromised immune areas and systems.  So Pia fit the profile.  (Of course she did….)

            Fast forward to this morning—Thursday—around 5:00am.  I woke up for some reason—I will blame Phil as he usually goes to work at that time and my windows were open—and I went to check on Pia and the wound.  Uh oh, I checked and I could not for the life of me find the end of the gauze strip which Mom leaves (for obvious reasons).  I got out the small mirror and a flashlight to see what I could see.  I have to be honest here; it was rather fascinating as it looked to be relatively clean while also being open.  (Yes, it was the first time I had bothered to look and it was not as bad as I would have thought).  However, I have told people this… okay, more like I have showed them, so start using your imagination and you might get it.  You know those blank faces with the 0 for the mouth… that is my wound.   And for those with no imagination....

 

 

 

 

 

         

    So back to the where in the world is the damn gauze.  I figured it had to be in there somewhere so I went back to bed thinking Mom could fish it out later.  Well later was 8:00am and I told Mom.  She came up to help and let’s just say she said it has to be stuck in there and it is breaking apart so I needed to call Dr Lynn.  I call, leave a message and then call Billy—he really has come through with this doctor thing.  Still, I do wish he had been a plastic surgeon.  Anyway, he said it would be fine so I was okay.  Mom was not.  I did not know how bad it was until we were on the way down and she said it was like a weight had been lifted when the office finally called.  Speaking of the office, I called and left a message with Lynette and finally Alicia called back and told me to get down there—and then asked me why I did not push the emergency button.  I told her I did not think it was an emergency.  She told me move it.  So we did. 

            We get to the office and Michelle goes with me—with Dr Lynn mouthing what a pain I was and she would be in shortly.  Michelle gets out the flashlight—and the two of us are jabbering away and she says “there is nothing in there.”  I tell her to keep looking as I had not seen it anywhere on the floor or on the bandage so it had to be in there.  She says no, but let’s see what Dr Lynn says.  At this point I am like oh crap, I can hear it now.  Dr Lynn comes in and pokes around—and for those of you wondering—it did not hurt at all—and says “the only thing in there is these fat things that look like broken gauze.”   I am telling her it has to be in there and my mind starts to go back and think.  And there is nothing that hits me.  Surely I would have known it was coming out.  Well, apparently not.  We all got a good laugh out of it and they did agree better safe than sorry.  Lynette was upset I drove all that way for nothing.  I told her not to worry; it was Chocolate Peanut Butter Cupcake day at Coastal Cupcakes so I was good.

             Mom, on the other hand, is in denial.  She swears it is still in there. I keep telling her Dr Lynn understood what she saw and she knew why she would think the gauze was in there and disintegrated.  We have looked and looked for the offending piece of gauze and it is nowhere to be found.  It is a mystery, but I am not complaining.  I got a Chocolate Peanut Butter Cupcake and the knowledge that even if I didn’t have a problem, Dr Lynn and her team has my back.  Again, I am blessed.