…and soon you’ll be walkin’ ‘cross the floor! ~From the 1970 movie “Santa Claus Is Coming To Town”
Post-op from surgery number two on Wednesday, July 31st.
There is a card game that I like to play called Free Cell. I’ve been playing that card game for around 13 years now. You may be asking yourself what does that have to do with surgery?! Well in the game I have learned that sometimes in order to move forward in the game, you have to go backward first. And that is what I have to keep reminding myself. “In order to move forward, sometimes you have to go back.”
After I woke up from this second surgery I wanted to cry. My throat was so sore I could barely swallow, I was in just as much pain as when I had the original mastectomy, I had at least 3 new incisions with lots of staples again, my chemo port was in a different spot, and I had a new drain on the left side of my chest again as well. At first I was crushed. I felt like I was right back at square one and no closer to getting better. And that’s when I remembered playing Free Cell. And silly as it may sound remembering that little mantra made me feel better about this whole situation. Well that and singing the song from Santa Claus Is Coming To Town. It reminds me that I have to take this journey one step at a time. But the important part is actually taking the steps no matter how small or insignificant they seem.
Okay, so here’s the run down…
The left side of my chest needed the most work this time. There was a good sized area on the original incision that had basically died and was not healing properly, so all the “bad” tissue was removed and the “good” tissue sewn together. My surgeon was worried that since the left side was having problems healing, it might not be wise to leave the original chemo port in. So he removed the port from the left side and installed a shiny, new port on the right side. The right side also had a spot that had gotten a minor infection. It was drained, cleaned up, and covered. Have a looky loo at the new pictures if you dare…MWAHAHAHAHA!
New Port
Revision and Drain
Today is Monday August 5th, and I had my first follow-up appointment for my second surgery. (Geez, this is getting confusing!) And thankfully the new drain was able to come out today! YAY! And a few of the staples were removed. I did find out that the infection was a little more extensive than originally thought. I thought there was only the one spot on the right side that was small. But, as it turns out the big spot on the left side that wasn’t healing properly was also infected with a couple of rather nasty strains of bacteria. I’ve been on antibiotics since my surgery but today the test results of the wound culture came back and my surgeon decided to change my medication to one of those that comes with 3 pages of cautions, warnings, and possible side effects.
Below is a new picture of how I look after today’s visit with the doctor.
Revision 2
So now it’s time for a speedy recovery and quick healing so I can move on to the next phase. No chemo until this whole infection thing is worked out and my incisions are completely healed. Thanks to all of you who are still keeping me in your thoughts and prayers, sending well wishes, warm thoughts, hugs, sunshine, lollipops, rainbows, fluffy bunnies…..
….well you get the idea!
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