Hi,
These last few days have been busy and I will fill everybody in about the minor stuff but wanted to get the update information about the doctors. My sister in law has been here all week helping with the kids, cooking, and assisting me so that has been helpful. My mom has been doing some of my errands for me so the week and has been great. The week has been going by fast.
The genetic test did come back and for the most part 98.5 its negative for the gene mutation for ovarian cancer but there is a small percentage that I am going to explain in a later blog. This is in a good positive direction.
I went to the doctor yesterday 1/15/09 and this is the latest new:
I will be honest with you these last two days have been hectic and yesterday was hard to hear the news at the doctor's. I was okay at the office and last evening it made me upset. I am updating my blog so I don't have to talk much about it.
I did get two of my drains out today which was great and my lymph nodes final test is negative for cancer. That was the best news! My left breast was also negative for cancer. I did have a very small 4ml invasive cancer in my lower right breast but its removed and no other sign of invasive cancer is in my body since I have chosen to remove it. This is a cleared situation. At this point that is not the doctors main concern. At the top of your breast which leads up to your upper chest area the doctor took off a hug amount of breast cells under the skin to be tested. This test has came back as cancer level 1 on my right breast which is called the margin. Its not skin cancer but still part of breast cancer. I still have a very thin layer of breast cells under my skin that will need to be removed. Its a vary large amount 2-3 inches. At this time we don't know if I will have radiation or remove the entire skin area which will be back into surgery. My case is going to go to the medical dispensary review board on Wednesday which includes several doctors in several areas of medical fields and they will discuss which will be my best care to handle this situation. I will go back to the doctors on Thursday 1/22 to review what decision I will be doing. I don't need to have all my scars/stitches healed for surgery and this will be done within a month. Its a lot to absorb and other issues will be discussed later as far as reconstruction because now the left and right side will be different sizes and we will have to decide how we will handle the implants. At this time the doctor wants to focus on the breast cell cancer and how to take care of it. At this time this is in a local area and has not spread but we want to react before this is an issue.
I appreciate that everybody has supported my family and me during these hectic times and I will get through this but some times I am strong and other times I have some lows. This has been a lot to absorb for all of us. I will update more as soon as I can. Take Care!
Friday, January 16, 2009
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Going home from the hospital
Friday January 9, 2009
As usual I was woken up early for my morning medications around 5:30am. I was assuming that my cancer and plastic doctor were in surgery all day so I did not know when I would be discharged. I ate my breakfast and was watching some TV. I guess the medications made me sleepy and I dosed off. I was woken up at 9:00am with both of my doctors to examine me and said I was recovering well and can go home. They informed all of the nurses to get all the paperwork ready for my discharged. I called Gene and he was surprised my doctors already seen me. Emily wanted her dad to get her on the bus for her kindergarten since he is normally at work and I was okay with that. This allowed me to slowly get my things together and have some lunch before I leave. The nurses and doctors were all great during my stay. They attended to all my needs and even gave me some extras as well to take home.
I came home and was tired so I decided to take nap before the kids get off the bus. The kids were excited to see me when they got home. My mom stopped by and gave me some supplies I needed and then my sister in law arrived early evening. It was a nice night and I slept in our new chairs. I slept much better in my own surroundings rather then the hospital.
Saturday January 10, 2009
I woke up not feeling so good. Gene had taken my temperature and I was 101.3, We placed a call to my cancer doctor and said she would like us to speak with the plastic surgeon for some possibilities I am having a reaction to the implants. I didn't have any other signs of a sore throat, redness in my chest area, swelling of the legs, just a bad headache. The only medication I could take was Tylenol. She told me to rest and to call her if the fever gets higher because I might have to go back into the hospital tomorrow to run some testes. I felt better during the day and the fever did go away. I did sleep with an electric blanket on me the previous night so maybe that was a contributing factor. Both of my doctors called to check up on me later in the day to make sure I was feeling okay. The rest of the day and night was okay.
As usual I was woken up early for my morning medications around 5:30am. I was assuming that my cancer and plastic doctor were in surgery all day so I did not know when I would be discharged. I ate my breakfast and was watching some TV. I guess the medications made me sleepy and I dosed off. I was woken up at 9:00am with both of my doctors to examine me and said I was recovering well and can go home. They informed all of the nurses to get all the paperwork ready for my discharged. I called Gene and he was surprised my doctors already seen me. Emily wanted her dad to get her on the bus for her kindergarten since he is normally at work and I was okay with that. This allowed me to slowly get my things together and have some lunch before I leave. The nurses and doctors were all great during my stay. They attended to all my needs and even gave me some extras as well to take home.
I came home and was tired so I decided to take nap before the kids get off the bus. The kids were excited to see me when they got home. My mom stopped by and gave me some supplies I needed and then my sister in law arrived early evening. It was a nice night and I slept in our new chairs. I slept much better in my own surroundings rather then the hospital.
Saturday January 10, 2009
I woke up not feeling so good. Gene had taken my temperature and I was 101.3, We placed a call to my cancer doctor and said she would like us to speak with the plastic surgeon for some possibilities I am having a reaction to the implants. I didn't have any other signs of a sore throat, redness in my chest area, swelling of the legs, just a bad headache. The only medication I could take was Tylenol. She told me to rest and to call her if the fever gets higher because I might have to go back into the hospital tomorrow to run some testes. I felt better during the day and the fever did go away. I did sleep with an electric blanket on me the previous night so maybe that was a contributing factor. Both of my doctors called to check up on me later in the day to make sure I was feeling okay. The rest of the day and night was okay.
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
2nd day in hospital
Thursday January 8, 2009
I was woken up at 5:30 am for the usual routine check-up so I decided to stay awake. I activated my TV card and watch TV until I could place my breakfast order at 7:00am. I had no food restrictions so I was able to order what I wanted off the menu. I was starving because it has been 33 hours without any solid food. I ordered my food but was told it would take 45 minutes to be brought to my room.
The weather last night was another cold evening so there was a morning delay for the kids to get to school. I spoke with Gene and he mentioned that my mom and him will come to the hospital after they got AJ on the bus at 10:00am. Since Emily has afternoon kindergarten, she went over to the neighbors house for a play date before having to get onto the bus in the afternoon. My breakfast arrived and I was eager to eat my french toast but realized that it was scratching my throat while I ate it. During the surgery as a pre-caution the doctor insert a tube down my throat so I guess it was still sore. (I am glad I was not awake when they insert the tube yuk!) Luckily, I had ordered muffin, cream of wheat and several other foods so I was not starving but was a little disappointed about eating. You forget all these little things after surgery.
My pain level was still around a 5. The nurse would give me a percocet every 3-4 hours and a valium to help the muscle spasm every 6 hours. I also had an IV in my hand for an antibiotic drip and also potassium since the doctor felt it was a little low after my surgery. The day went pretty smoothly. I was able to get out of bed and freshen up and even sat in a regular chair during breakfast time. I had some visitors during the day that made my day go by pretty fast as well as receiving several phone call to see how I was feeling. Gene and my mom left mid day to go home and get the kids off the bus. Gene brought the kids back to see me at the hospital. I was happy to see the kids and they were excited to see where mommy was staying. They had a lot of questions about the room which was all curiosity in their minds. Emily was amazed to see a shower, a refrigerator, a window to look out to see where the parking garage was. AJ and Emily was amazed how my bed was able to move up and down, control the tv and even call the nurse if I needed to. We explained this was the floor and nursery where the both of them were born. They both looked at the menu in which I was able to order my food from and wanted to know what I was going to order for dinner. It was a nice family visit. My doctor gave the okay that I didn't need to be on the potassium anymore through the iv so the kids saw the nurse remove it out of my hand and thought that was something new to see as well. I still kept the needle tape on my hand so when I need to be hooked up to the antibiotic drip twice a day it was in place.
I had two more visitors in the evening and then tried to get some rest. I started to feel a lot of pain this evening. I asked for morphine since I would be in bed to rest for the evening just in case I got dizzy but the nurse said my blood pressure was a little low and the morphine would bring it down lower. So I just kept on my regular pain medications. The doctor also released that I did not have to wear the compression pump for my legs this evenings. I forgot to mentioned in the previous blog that at night I had to wear them to prevent blood clots since I was in bed and not moving. They are real loud and feel like a blood pressure machine tighten and loosing. This night was a little better for sleeping with out the loud noise and didn't get woken up as much by the doctors/nurses. I should be going home tomorrow! Friday
I was woken up at 5:30 am for the usual routine check-up so I decided to stay awake. I activated my TV card and watch TV until I could place my breakfast order at 7:00am. I had no food restrictions so I was able to order what I wanted off the menu. I was starving because it has been 33 hours without any solid food. I ordered my food but was told it would take 45 minutes to be brought to my room.
The weather last night was another cold evening so there was a morning delay for the kids to get to school. I spoke with Gene and he mentioned that my mom and him will come to the hospital after they got AJ on the bus at 10:00am. Since Emily has afternoon kindergarten, she went over to the neighbors house for a play date before having to get onto the bus in the afternoon. My breakfast arrived and I was eager to eat my french toast but realized that it was scratching my throat while I ate it. During the surgery as a pre-caution the doctor insert a tube down my throat so I guess it was still sore. (I am glad I was not awake when they insert the tube yuk!) Luckily, I had ordered muffin, cream of wheat and several other foods so I was not starving but was a little disappointed about eating. You forget all these little things after surgery.
My pain level was still around a 5. The nurse would give me a percocet every 3-4 hours and a valium to help the muscle spasm every 6 hours. I also had an IV in my hand for an antibiotic drip and also potassium since the doctor felt it was a little low after my surgery. The day went pretty smoothly. I was able to get out of bed and freshen up and even sat in a regular chair during breakfast time. I had some visitors during the day that made my day go by pretty fast as well as receiving several phone call to see how I was feeling. Gene and my mom left mid day to go home and get the kids off the bus. Gene brought the kids back to see me at the hospital. I was happy to see the kids and they were excited to see where mommy was staying. They had a lot of questions about the room which was all curiosity in their minds. Emily was amazed to see a shower, a refrigerator, a window to look out to see where the parking garage was. AJ and Emily was amazed how my bed was able to move up and down, control the tv and even call the nurse if I needed to. We explained this was the floor and nursery where the both of them were born. They both looked at the menu in which I was able to order my food from and wanted to know what I was going to order for dinner. It was a nice family visit. My doctor gave the okay that I didn't need to be on the potassium anymore through the iv so the kids saw the nurse remove it out of my hand and thought that was something new to see as well. I still kept the needle tape on my hand so when I need to be hooked up to the antibiotic drip twice a day it was in place.
I had two more visitors in the evening and then tried to get some rest. I started to feel a lot of pain this evening. I asked for morphine since I would be in bed to rest for the evening just in case I got dizzy but the nurse said my blood pressure was a little low and the morphine would bring it down lower. So I just kept on my regular pain medications. The doctor also released that I did not have to wear the compression pump for my legs this evenings. I forgot to mentioned in the previous blog that at night I had to wear them to prevent blood clots since I was in bed and not moving. They are real loud and feel like a blood pressure machine tighten and loosing. This night was a little better for sleeping with out the loud noise and didn't get woken up as much by the doctors/nurses. I should be going home tomorrow! Friday
Sunday, January 11, 2009
1st day at hospital 1/7/09
Wednesday January 7, 2009
I want to thank my husband for updated my blog while I was at the hospital. It was very precious and means a lot to me that he was willing to be part of my blog. I had tears in my eyes while I read it. He has been very supportive during this hectic time. Since you know how we were rushed to the hospital the morning of my surgery from the previous blog, I will start from the time we arrived at the hospital. I had to get the dye injected into the right and left side of the breast to be able to view my lymph nodes for surgery. I was awake for this procedure. It was very uncomfortable and did hurt, I won't lie! It only took about 30 seconds to inject the shot but it burned real bad. I had to clinch my teeth and close my eyes tight while it was injected. No, I didn't have any pain medications prior. It was two separate injections and for some reason when the injection went into the left side it burned more than the right side. Afterwards I had to lay there for 30 minutes, to take a total of seven pictures. The machine looked like a MRI machine but was open on top. The pictures were taken in order to track the dye traveling though my breast into my lymph nodes under my right and left armpit area. All I was thinking about was the massage I had the day before while these pictures were being taken that I am back in pain. I was in laying on my back in a straight position in the machine with my arms straight over my head and praying my muscles don't get locked.
Now I am back on the stretcher heading back to the pre-op room to meet the anesthesia doctor, my cancer and plastic doctor. The surgery began. The next thing I knew, I was waking up in the recovery room and I had was in tremendous pain. The surgery started at 12:30 pm and Gene and my mom were informed about my condition at 4:15 pm. I didn't realize how much pain I would be experiencing. I kept informing the recovery nurse that my pain was a 8-9 from a scale from 1-10. She was great and kept giving me an additional doses in my IV until I went down to a pain level of a 6. I was given some ice chips during recovery. Gene and my mom did join me during my recovery and informed me about the great news that my lymph nodes were negative. I can't believe that wasn't the first question out of my mouth but I guess the pain was so intense I needed to get that under control. I was then transferred to my room around 5:45pm. My doctor had some rooms blocked off for her patients that are private rooms which was great! These rooms are on the maternity ward which was kinda funny. At Bridgeport Hospital there are two wings for the maternity ward and most of the babies were on the other side of the wing. I was at the end of the hall way and did not hear one baby or any noise on my wing. It was great to know that I was in a private room with my own bathroom, shower(but couldn't use), sink, refrigerator and a window. Gene and my mom had left at 7:00 to go home. Gene had purchased a TV card for me to activate but I was so tired that I figured I would do that tomorrow. Yes, you have to pay for TV, nothing is free anymore. I started feeling nauseous so the nurse did not let me eat or drink anything at all. I was not happy since I haven't ate since 10:00pm the evening before. The nurse wouldn't even give me any more pain medication because I felt sick and she felt I received a lot of pain medication during the recovery room. I felt horrible and finally fell asleep. I never did get sick and about 11:15 pm the nurse came in and allowed me to have a small glass of apple juice to see if I could hold it down. I had to sip the apple juice over a 30-45 minute time frame. Wow it tasted so good since I have been deprived of food. At 1:00 am the nurse finally gave me some additional pain mediation percocet. She only allowed me to have a few saltines with the medication and that tasted wonderful. I couldn't sleep well because I am not a person to sleep on my back and I was woken up every three hours to check my vital signs and to have my tubes drained for the liquid that was coming out. I had two on each side that were very uncomfortable. At this time I haven't seen what my chest looked like I was just miserable. I was woken up at 5:30 am by the surgery team to look at my incision and make sure I am healing okay. I will update day two in the hospital tomorrow and let you know the news about when I did finally got to eat!
I want to thank my husband for updated my blog while I was at the hospital. It was very precious and means a lot to me that he was willing to be part of my blog. I had tears in my eyes while I read it. He has been very supportive during this hectic time. Since you know how we were rushed to the hospital the morning of my surgery from the previous blog, I will start from the time we arrived at the hospital. I had to get the dye injected into the right and left side of the breast to be able to view my lymph nodes for surgery. I was awake for this procedure. It was very uncomfortable and did hurt, I won't lie! It only took about 30 seconds to inject the shot but it burned real bad. I had to clinch my teeth and close my eyes tight while it was injected. No, I didn't have any pain medications prior. It was two separate injections and for some reason when the injection went into the left side it burned more than the right side. Afterwards I had to lay there for 30 minutes, to take a total of seven pictures. The machine looked like a MRI machine but was open on top. The pictures were taken in order to track the dye traveling though my breast into my lymph nodes under my right and left armpit area. All I was thinking about was the massage I had the day before while these pictures were being taken that I am back in pain. I was in laying on my back in a straight position in the machine with my arms straight over my head and praying my muscles don't get locked.
Now I am back on the stretcher heading back to the pre-op room to meet the anesthesia doctor, my cancer and plastic doctor. The surgery began. The next thing I knew, I was waking up in the recovery room and I had was in tremendous pain. The surgery started at 12:30 pm and Gene and my mom were informed about my condition at 4:15 pm. I didn't realize how much pain I would be experiencing. I kept informing the recovery nurse that my pain was a 8-9 from a scale from 1-10. She was great and kept giving me an additional doses in my IV until I went down to a pain level of a 6. I was given some ice chips during recovery. Gene and my mom did join me during my recovery and informed me about the great news that my lymph nodes were negative. I can't believe that wasn't the first question out of my mouth but I guess the pain was so intense I needed to get that under control. I was then transferred to my room around 5:45pm. My doctor had some rooms blocked off for her patients that are private rooms which was great! These rooms are on the maternity ward which was kinda funny. At Bridgeport Hospital there are two wings for the maternity ward and most of the babies were on the other side of the wing. I was at the end of the hall way and did not hear one baby or any noise on my wing. It was great to know that I was in a private room with my own bathroom, shower(but couldn't use), sink, refrigerator and a window. Gene and my mom had left at 7:00 to go home. Gene had purchased a TV card for me to activate but I was so tired that I figured I would do that tomorrow. Yes, you have to pay for TV, nothing is free anymore. I started feeling nauseous so the nurse did not let me eat or drink anything at all. I was not happy since I haven't ate since 10:00pm the evening before. The nurse wouldn't even give me any more pain medication because I felt sick and she felt I received a lot of pain medication during the recovery room. I felt horrible and finally fell asleep. I never did get sick and about 11:15 pm the nurse came in and allowed me to have a small glass of apple juice to see if I could hold it down. I had to sip the apple juice over a 30-45 minute time frame. Wow it tasted so good since I have been deprived of food. At 1:00 am the nurse finally gave me some additional pain mediation percocet. She only allowed me to have a few saltines with the medication and that tasted wonderful. I couldn't sleep well because I am not a person to sleep on my back and I was woken up every three hours to check my vital signs and to have my tubes drained for the liquid that was coming out. I had two on each side that were very uncomfortable. At this time I haven't seen what my chest looked like I was just miserable. I was woken up at 5:30 am by the surgery team to look at my incision and make sure I am healing okay. I will update day two in the hospital tomorrow and let you know the news about when I did finally got to eat!
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
Surgery Day ! Update from Gene
Well today was the big day for Monica's surgery and the weather was rather nasty out this morning as many of you here know we received quite a bit of freezing rain through the night. So an already tense anxious day was a bit more stressful dealing with the drive to the hospital. We received a call around 9 AM from the hospital that her surgery time was being bumped up from 2:00 pm to 1:00 pm and that they would like us to arrive at the hospital at 10:30 AM instead of 11:30 AM so we hurried along and picked up Monica's mom Kathy and got there on time. We were both glad she was going to go in early, as Monica just wanted to get this done and over with at this point.
I am very HAPPY to report that the surgery went perfectly. They took her into the operating room at 12:45PM and the Cancer Dr/Surgeon came out to speak with Kathy and I around 4:15 PM. She said that they did remove 2 limp nodes from each side and all 4 came back NEGATIVE for having Cancer ! Woo Hoo !! Thank god what a relief. About 5 minutes later the plastic surgeon joined us and also reported that everything went really well with the breast reconstruction. When I first saw the Cancer Dr walking towards us in the waiting room I had this huge rush of nervousness and big pit in my stomach, even though I truly believed all along in my heart that the limp nodes would come back negative for cancer.
We then had to wait about 1 hour before we could go see her in the recovery room. Once we got in there Monica was still a bit fuzzy and in quite a bit of pain, so it took the nurses about a half hour and a number of doses of some pain medication to get the pain level down from a 9 to about 6. Once her pain was a bit less they then moved her up to her room.
Once we got into the room Monica seemed better although obviously still dealing with some pain. She was in pretty good spirits all things considered and I called the kids for her so she could speak to them and tell that that she was OK and also to say goodnight to them.
So everything went real well today and now the real hard part starts for Monica over the next 4-6 weeks as she goes through the recover process. I know much like everything else she has had to deal with that was ever difficult or hard in her life she will once again show her toughness and resolve to get through this.
I just want to say that I am so inspired and proud of her and how she has dealt with this right from day one. She never once complained or asked why me, she just dug her heels in and decided to stay positive and take this thing head on and do what ever she had to do in order to defeat the cancer. I have always considered myself a pretty tough guy and have been through quite bit in my life including being in combat, but I don't know that I could ever match the toughness, strength and courage Monica has shown me through this ordeal. I love and respect her more than ever and thank God that she will be all right.
Finally I would like to thank all of you for the truly amazing amount of support, love and strength you have provided to Monica and our family it really has helped more than we could ever begin to tell you and thank you for.
Gene
I am very HAPPY to report that the surgery went perfectly. They took her into the operating room at 12:45PM and the Cancer Dr/Surgeon came out to speak with Kathy and I around 4:15 PM. She said that they did remove 2 limp nodes from each side and all 4 came back NEGATIVE for having Cancer ! Woo Hoo !! Thank god what a relief. About 5 minutes later the plastic surgeon joined us and also reported that everything went really well with the breast reconstruction. When I first saw the Cancer Dr walking towards us in the waiting room I had this huge rush of nervousness and big pit in my stomach, even though I truly believed all along in my heart that the limp nodes would come back negative for cancer.
We then had to wait about 1 hour before we could go see her in the recovery room. Once we got in there Monica was still a bit fuzzy and in quite a bit of pain, so it took the nurses about a half hour and a number of doses of some pain medication to get the pain level down from a 9 to about 6. Once her pain was a bit less they then moved her up to her room.
Once we got into the room Monica seemed better although obviously still dealing with some pain. She was in pretty good spirits all things considered and I called the kids for her so she could speak to them and tell that that she was OK and also to say goodnight to them.
So everything went real well today and now the real hard part starts for Monica over the next 4-6 weeks as she goes through the recover process. I know much like everything else she has had to deal with that was ever difficult or hard in her life she will once again show her toughness and resolve to get through this.
I just want to say that I am so inspired and proud of her and how she has dealt with this right from day one. She never once complained or asked why me, she just dug her heels in and decided to stay positive and take this thing head on and do what ever she had to do in order to defeat the cancer. I have always considered myself a pretty tough guy and have been through quite bit in my life including being in combat, but I don't know that I could ever match the toughness, strength and courage Monica has shown me through this ordeal. I love and respect her more than ever and thank God that she will be all right.
Finally I would like to thank all of you for the truly amazing amount of support, love and strength you have provided to Monica and our family it really has helped more than we could ever begin to tell you and thank you for.
Gene
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
Tomorrow is surgery day!
Hello,
My surgery is scheduled for 1:00 tomorrow at Bridgeport Hospital. The surgery will take between 4-5 hours. I will have the results about my lymph nodes by the end of the surgery. I will be in the hospital for two nights. I pampered myself today and went for a hour massage to try to relax and it was wonderful. It helped but honestly early this evening I was getting myself stressed out about tomorrow. Gene will update my blog in the next day or two to inform everybody how my surgery went. I spoke with the doctor and finalized some last minute questions I had for her. She did mentioned if I do have positive lymph nodes even if its under four that there is still a possibility of radiation or even chemo. Lets pray its not but if it is we will work one day at a time. The outcome is already there we just have to see the results. The doctor said I can take a Valium to help me sleep tonight and I should be feeling relaxed in a few minutes since I just took it. The weather here in CT is not too good for tomorrow's forecast. It might be light snow mixed with cold rain to make it slick. The surgery is still on but will make it a miserable trip to the hospital. I will post all my updates from the hospital as soon as I can. Take Care and thank you for all your support and kindness.
Sunday, January 4, 2009
getting closer
Not too much is new. I still haven't received my results for the genetics testing. The company has been backed up with a lot of testing and also had some insurance issues (I am not sure what was the problem since they never called me). My surgery is planned for this Wednesday 1/7/09 at 1:00pm. I will be following up with the cancer doctor on Monday. I am feeling great but I am sure Monday or Tuesday I might start to get a little concerned to get the surgery over with. I have been talking to the kids so they know the surgery will be next week and mom will not be home for two nights. I will keep you posted.
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