Tuesday, March 13, 2007

surgery.


surgery was this morning. i'm home now, convalescing in style, eating vicodin and sporting my stitches, trendy hospital bracelet and iv bruise. breast surgery is such a surreal experience. i've had several in my short life. and they have all been equally odd. today's began with a needle localization procedure to mark the site of the mass since it was not palpable. i was carted away in my wheel-chair carriage, through the lobby, down dark corridors, and into a room with a very complicated mammography machine. my nurse wheeled me up to machine/monster and pictures were taken (i'm so sure these are all over internet by now). i had to stay in compression for about ten minutes while more pictures were taken and a needle was driven into my breast, then tied off with wire. when i was done, i felt like a christmas ornament. and i kept thinking, these people (the doctors and nurses) do this all day long. what a weird job.

my carriage returned me to pre-op where my bed and heated blankets awaited. soon after the nurse gave me my anesthesia and the rest is a blur. i woke up. felt fine but couldn't stop shaking. nurse slipped something into iv to take care of that. i ate some pretzels, drank some water, and was on my way.

surgeon said cysts appeared to be benign. but they will be sent to lab for further investigation and to examine the calcifications. i should have an answer by thursday. i am feeling pretty good, thanks to my wonderful husband, my fabulous surgeon, and vicodin.

so what do i do now to pass the time? well, the hospital sent me home with goodies. they handed jason a pink bag we left. i didn't think anything of it at the time because i was still pretty out of it, and i was starving! so after i ate, came home, and took a nap, curiosity got the best of me. what's in the bag???? all my films from the past five years. all of them. even the bad ones. hey kids, wanna see slides from my cancer vacation? the films from 2002 were crazy. my breast was lit up like a christmas tree or an independence day sky. its funny how something so deadly can be so beautiful.

the waiting continues, but it's getting better all the time.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Larissa, I have a good feeling since they said it looked benign.
I hope you will be ok while waiting for the actual results.
snuggle up with all your pets ..and of course Jason!
Love Kristi