Friday, October 15, 2010

Yesterday and Today

Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.  Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and YOU WILL FIND REST FOR YOUR SOULS.  For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.  ~Matthew 11:28-30

Yesterday’s surgery went very well.  I apologize for not getting the blog updated sooner, but we are all pretty exhausted! 
We needed to be at the hospital at 8:00 that morning and we made it there a few minutes early!  We had been there less than an hour before Shannon and I were “shushed” by a nurse.  They just don’t understand the fun the three of us carry around with us!  The first thing scheduled for Mom were the contrast injections so they could take pictures for her Sentinel Node Biopsy.  Since she is allergic to Lidocaine, they were unable to deaden the area before the injections.  She was pretty nervous about that, but the Dr. said she was very brave and did a great job.  She threatened to do some yelling, but was too much of a lady to actually do it.  In all, they had to do four injections and she handled them all with grace. The dye didn’t spread through her lymph nodes as well as they had hoped, it seemed to go to the tumor and stop, but they were able to see what they needed.
She spent a while in Pre –Op, getting all her vitals checked and getting all set up for surgery.  While the doctors and nurses were out of the room for a few minutes, Shannon and I quickly snuck in and applied a temporary tattoo to her right breast so the Doctor wouldn’t get confused.  We chose a skull and cross bones.  We couldn’t stop snickering!  They are never going to let the two of us back in that hospital!
Shannon and I were kept company throughout the day by my aunt and uncle, my mom’s pastor and my mother-in-law (who also had breast cancer and will be in her 20th year of remission this May).  My husband, Jeff stopped by for a little while between jobs.  When we went down to the cafeteria, we got to experience a fire drill.  How thrilling! 
My mom’s pastor was able to pray with her before they wheeled her off to surgery.  She was in surgery for a little over 2 hours and then her doctor came out to let us know how things had gone.  The mass he removed was about 6 cm plus another centimeter of good tissue.  He also removed one lymph node that he said looked cancer free.  Praise God!  Both the tumor and the lymph node were sent off to pathology and we should have those results in about 5 days.  He said there were no complications and things looked great for her.
Once Shannon and I were able to go back and see her in recovery she had been out of surgery for a little over an hour.  She didn’t have any nausea from the anesthetic and that was a big praise.  She was still pretty groggy and we weren’t able to take her home until almost 5:00 that evening.  She did have enough pain that she decided to take a few pain pills before we headed out.  She has a drain that needs to be emptied a few times a day and two incisions; one above the tumor and one under her arm where they removed the lymph node.
Scott’s wife Jennifer, made dinner for everyone and it was not only delicious, but a huge blessing!  Mom pretty much came home and went right to bed.  Shannon is sleeping at Mom’s, and was able to wake her up every 4 hours to take her medicine and help her to the bathroom.  
Today, they are both pretty tired.  When Mom woke up, Shannon told her “Happy Birthday!” and Mom quickly remembered that her friend had given her a present to open.  So she started out her day with a smile.
She is having a mild reaction to the places where the nurses attached the pads for the EKG.  Each spot is now a large itchy welt.  The incision is tender, but the pain is not out of control.  She is able to control it with one pain pill instead of two and she’s still pretty sleepy.  Her throat is pretty sore now and we are trying to control it with throat numbing spray.  We gave her a sponge bath and changed her clothes and she is feeling a little more like herself.
Christine, Mom, Marsha
Her dear friends, Christine and Marsha brought by a wonderful lasagna dinner tonight, complete with homemade rolls and buckeyes.  After we filled our bellies with that, we had a little birthday celebration.  She opened a few gifts and enjoyed a sliver of cake.  As I sit at her house typing this, she is resting on the couch while we are serenaded by Uncle Jim and Aunt Connie and their beautiful music.
She returns to the doctor on Tuesday to see how things are healing and possibly have her drain removed.  Her Radiation Therapy won't start for aother 4-5 weeks.  We are, as always, so very grateful for your continued prayers and encouragement.  We cannot begin to express the ways you all have touched us.
God is good, He is faithful and He has blessed us with so much more than we deserve.  Praise His holy name!


Standing on the promises of God, Dori

2 comments:

  1. Happy Birthday Anita. How great and good our God is! His love endures forever and so does our love for you. So glad everything went so well.
    Love & prayers,
    Kay

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  2. I'm so glad to hear this wonderful news! Happy birthday to your mom. :)

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