Today was lumpectomy day. I wasn’t sure if I would post today since I wasn’t sure how post op would look for me, but here I am, finally in bed and feeling pretty well so far. Definitely some healing days ahead, but things look good!
I had an early wake up call. The hospital wanted me there at 5:50 am and it’s about a 40–45-minute drive. I was taken back around 6:30 and was prepped with an IV, glucose test, and a pregnancy test which are all standard routine. Pre-surgery they dosed me up with some preemptive meds for nausea and pain. I was also given a scopolamine patch that was placed on my neck for nausea as well. I never seem to get sick from anesthesia, so I had never seen this before. Take note the patch must be removed with gloves. If you get it on your fingers and anywhere near your eyes, it will dilate your pupils for hours. I got to put on yet another hideous gown and some sexy socks. Thank goodness I had my extra pair of fuzzy socks my friend Teri had sent me for after surgery. Picture for your entertainment is included. If you’d like your own pair of sexy socks, you can snag them here! You are welcome.
By 8:03 I was heading into the Operating Room. The only thing I recall was being loaded onto the table and the arm board being attached for my right arm. Then everything went dark. I woke up confused to a new nurse and I just remember saying “Am I done or still waiting?”. I am never the most mentally acute coming off of any anesthesia. I spent about 40 min in recovery, got myself dressed and was home on my couch by noon.
Reading the post operative report, I was given some ceFAZolin to ward off any infection, Decadron to reduce inflammation and nausea, fentanyl for pain management, lidocaine locally, Zofran for nausea (I feel like someone was just waiting for me to puke with all this anti-nausea medication), Versad and propofol for sedation and a vasoconstrictor which is too long to type. Needless to say, I can see why it takes a day or two to flush all this out of your system.
During the procedure, they injected me with isosulphan blue dye and lymphoseek for the lymph node mapping. Only one lymph node lit up with the radioactive tracer and was removed for biopsy. No other suspicious nodes were found, and the node was considered to be negative for cancer. The tumor was then removed and margins shaved and marked with ink. Intraoperative imaging confirmed the clip and marker were contained in the mass that was removed. The surgical site was closed out in layers with internal sutures. We will have to wait for final pathology reports, but everything went exceptionally well. I will tell you, the isosulphan blue dye WILL turn your urine bright blue. No one warned me about this so my first trip to the bathroom was a surprise. This is normal and hopefully will work its way out by tomorrow!
Post op recovery so far has been good, but I am not sure how much of that was the surgical pain management. Tomorrow could be worse, but I was upright most of the day. I feel like a good sleep is ahead of me given the wake-up time and anesthesia. For those of you who don’t like incisions, I would scroll past the picture, but my incision for my lymph node biopsy doesn’t look so bad. It was internally sutured and then glued shut so my scarring should be minimum. The breast incision is covered in gauze, so I haven’t had a peek at that yet until I shower in a day or so. So far, the pain is tolerable with alternating Tylenol and ibuprofen every 4 hours.
I am grateful for my mother and older sister for taking me today and for not killing each other in the waiting room. It was a early and long day for both of them. Now to start healing and prep for radiation consult.
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