Recovering at home

We officially got to go home on Sunday. I had to do a bladder test first though. The nurse filled my bladder through the catheter with 200 mL of saline, then took the catheter out. I then had to pee out at least the 200 mL. Let me tell you what, peeing out cool saline is such a weird sensation. But I officially passed!

Getting home was pretty uneventful. I was able to take my first shower since Tuesday morning and my hair had enough grease in it to fry some chicken. My sister Lauren told me it was so bad I had to use shampoo twice....

Wil and I waited until Monday afternoon to pick up the kids from daycare. I was feeling good enough to go with him. As soon as Wil got out of the car , Wilson saw him from the playground and starting yelling "My daddy!!!" Then he saw me and he started yelling "My daddy!! My mommy!!!" He was very curious about my boo-boo and tried to lift up my nightshirt to see it....

Wilson has found a new toy in my incentive spirometer. This is a device used to make you expand your lungs after surgery to prevent pneumonia. He loves to blow into it to make the indicators bounce around.

The rest of the week has been spent in bed with my Mom binge watching the last two seasons of Real Housewives of OC. I haven't had much of an appetite, so I'm losing weight.

Now onto the bowels... I've had pretty severe diarrhea, like every 20 minutes or so. Dr. Skinner gave me the go ahead to take Imodium. Then it evened out. Wednesday after about noon, I didn't have any bowel movements or farts... Not a good thing. I was having pretty severe abdominal pain/cramping with no relief. Then at midnight, after trying to take a Zofran, I started throwing up . Keep in mind that my abdomen is held together from a vertical incision with 27 Staples. I felt like I was being ripped apart. Then another vomiting episode at 2:30.

I called my oncology nurse, Lauren, the next morning . She talked to Skinner and I was sent to get some x-rays done to make sure nothing was wrong. All they showed was my bowels needed to get a kick start, so here comes a suppository. I did thank Skinner for violating me from afar. All is good now !

Now that everyone is up to date on my bathroom habits .... I went in today to see Liz one of the practices' PAs (and one of my favorites ) to get my staples removed. Wowza, that wasn't fun at all... Thankfully I was the only patient there at the time because I yelled a couple of times pretty loudly. I feel better now that they are out though.

So game plan, I still can't drive until I can twist around, stomp my foot, and laugh without holding my stomach. I've already started the new medicine (aromatase inhibitor) to stop the conversion into estrogen. I'll follow up with Dr. Skinner on December 2nd.

A big thank you to all of our family that has stepped in to help take care of me and the kids. Thanks to my parents who have stayed with us this week, helping with me, the kids, laundry, and chores !  We couldn't have done this without you ! And especially to my hubby Wil, he slept every night at the hospital with me in the most uncomfortable sleeper chair imaginable. He wiped my butt (since I couldn't bend around to do it myself), was patient with me, encouraged me, and prayed for me when I couldn't find the words.

I would like to thank all of you praying for us and for my recovery. I love all of my cards, texts, meals, and gifts.

Prayer requests:
1. That God continues to show us glimpses of His goodness in this cancer journey.
2. For my abdomen to continue to heal and for more mobility .
3. For my bowels to even out and no more vomiting episodes .

Praise reports:
1. Staples are officially gone.
2. Great medical team on my side that helps with any need that comes along with compassion and humor

"And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to His purpose." Romans 8:28

Hospital recovery

Whew y’all .... what a week. The days and nights are starting to blend together but I’ll try to give you the highlights.

Bowel prep Monday was as fun as ever. Only clear liquids to eat and pounding a whole bottle of miralax in Gatorade. Uggg getting nauseated just thinking about it.

The kids left Monday night to go to Wil’s parents for the week. We had to wake up super early for a check in time at 5:30 am at the hospital . After getting checked in, changed into my hospital attire, I had to say goodbye to my family in the hallway to preop and will came back with me. We had to sign all the consents and meet with all of the doctors. Our team was amazing and I was blessed to have an old ICU coworker set me up with a great CRNA. She gave me some Versed and I don’t remember much after that.

In surgery, my docs found more than what was expected from the scans. My surgeons took out about two feet of small intestines and part of the large where the one mass was seen. The lymph node was taken out as well. Then there were places on my bladder that had to be removed, the largest one about the size of a thumbnail. The good news is that they were able to remove the tumors, I had less adhesions than the last surgery, and no illeostomy!

So they left the catheter in to allow my bladder to stay decompressed and allow to heal. The game plan is to remove it today and then allow me to pee and then scan my bladder to ensure I’m fully emptying it.

The first room they put me in was hot as hades. Apparently the lady wh8o was in it before me had it set to 80 degrees, so I became very nauseated. So after engineering came in and couldn’t get the air to work , I was transferred to the room next door.

That day is still really foggy. The following day I was advanced to clear liquids, which backfired. I was throwing up all night and extremely nauseated. Dr. Stuart took me back to ice chips and started some medication to help my bowels to move. The first day that I wasn’t sleeping all day and felt more like myself was Saturday. Today is even better. I have only been on Tylenol for pain for several days and medicine for gas. I am on a regular diet and handling it well.

Dr. Skinner just did rounds and I'm going home today! Just waiting on orders and getting this catheter out!

Thank you all for the prayers and support. God has answered a lot of prayers. Please pray for continued healing.

Breakfast on Sunday

Pancake socks since I couldn't eat

Apparently I took a selfie after surgery

Going for a walk

Sunrise on one of our morning walks

Just one of my many bruises

Waiting in pre-op