The Next Day

Preparing for surgery took a long time. We arrived at 7:30 a.m. and finally entered the operating room at 10:25 a.m. The guy in radiology bent his needle locater trying to insert a wire to direct the surgeon. He composed the beginning of a country western song to me named "You're a Hard-breasted Woman". His line of work must require a sense of humor. I love that ride to the operating room on the gurney in that designer gown, no makeup, no hair, nowhere to look but at the suspended panels of the hospital ceiling. "Look mama, that lady's got the cancer!"...I'm always amazed when anesthesia makes you feel like five seconds have gone by and you're done with everything. I didn't even throw up afterward (a personal specialty). Once we got started we were home in no time. Last night went better than I expected. I got good sleep without a lot of pain. I can't really tell if the discomfort I'm feeling in my right armpit and breast is from the surgery or from the tape holding all the gauze in place! I am very blessed to be feeling this well. A friend who is about a month ahead of me in treatment called today to say that radiation isn't nearly as bad as chemo. That was great to hear. I haven't known what to expect from radiation,having had chemotherapy first and being a little run down. My friend said to keep a lot of aloe vera on hand and expect to feel tired. Today I've been the ultimate slug, lying in front of the TV with my telephones close, eating one thing after another and drinking enough to bust. I keep thinking that if I try enough things to eat, one of them will give me energy. I watched my first Dr. Phil and Oprah! A curious thing happened after surgery. I had this huge "patch" or something on my lower left abdomen. I didn't dare to remove it because I didn't know what it was doing there. A call to my operating room children confirmed that it was a "Bovie" patch, used to ground electrical current during surgery. I also had florescent turquoise urine for which no one prepared me. I guess when they are giving you out-patient surgery, they don't really care what you know, they just want you OUT.