Since We Last Spoke

It has been 3 weeks and 5 days since my surgery and I would love to tell you all that I am off the pain meds and the pain is gone, but sadly I cannot.  On the upside when I take the pain meds the pain goes away for hours verses’ making the pain bearable. 

I started physical therapy and that is helping and today, Monday, October 08, 2012  I will begin 5-6 weeks of daily (excluding Saturday and Sunday) radiation therapy.

My surgery on the September 19^th went good, he removed Shirley who was about the same size as my 8 ½ shoe and even though I had positive margin, we are considering this surgery to be a success.  You see, my first surgery I had negative margins and the stupid tumor came back, so this time Dr. Getty said he was going to go in and remove as much as he can without taking too much of my muscle since we (and by we, I mean me) are going to do radiation anyhow. 

Doc did a fantastic job in fact he removed the big ugly scar from my first surgery on September 14^, 2011(I would tell people that I got my scare from a knife fight. That’s how big and ugly it was, but I digress) and replaced it with a beautiful new scare. At bottom of this post you will find a picture of 2011 scar.  Warning it's kinda gross.      

I spent a lovely 2 nights in the hospital this time on floor 6 of University Hospital’s newly revamped orthopedic floor where every room is a private room, THANK G-D!!!!  I am sorry but when you are recovering you should not be subjected to sharing a room with anyone else!!!!  And when I run for president this will be my platform; that and free ice cream for everyone.  Sorry, I digress again but I live in a swing state (Ohio) and we are subjected to this crap of false promises all day everyday….

Back to my hospital stay, University Hospital was very nice, but I have to say Seidman wins hands down for patient care.  The care at Seidman is like sitting in first class and while UH does a great job (every nurse I had was fantastic) I had one nursing assistant who clearly needs retraining and a new sensitivity chip installed.  But overall, everyone took superb care of me.  I did not have to wait very long for someone to attend to me when I requested assistance and the nurses absolutely were concerned about my recovery, not to mention, the food was pretty good. 

Seriously, one awesome benefit that the hospital provides is extending food service to patient’s family and friends at a very reasonable cost.  On my second night in the hospital my husband and daughter joined me for dinner and at just $6 ea. they could order off the same menu as me (and as much as they wanted).  My daughter loved it, and I loved it because it made the experience less scary for her.

When I got home the outpour of support was amazing.  My neighbor and beastie had a welcome wagon for us including balloons and dinner, another friend made us dinner which included my daughter’s favorites, meatloaf and mashed potatoes.   My employer sent a wonderful care package from Harry and Davids and everyone, I mean everyone contacted me in some form (phone, email, text, Facebook, etc.) sending their best wishes and prayers for a speedy recovery.  And for that I SAY THANK YOU!!! 

I would like to send a special THANK YOU to my husband, daughter, mom, dad, sisters, nephews and brother in laws who have supported me with their unconditional love and willingness to be there whenever I need them no matter what.  THANK YOU, I LOVE YOU ALL more than you can imagine.  Your kindness and support means everything to me and I don’t know how I would manage without you. 

xoxo,

Faith