Tag Archives: cancer

Surgery update

February 1, 2011 Maurice 6 Comments

The surgery has been delayed. Pam was supposed to be in the operating room at 12:10, but here we are at 1:45 and we are still waiting to see the surgeon and the anesthesiologist. They have changed procedures since we were here last time.

Previously we didn’t see either one in the waiting room, but apparently an efficiency expert has found ways to streamline operations. As you can see, it’s been marvelously effective! Hopefully Pam will be out of here before she has to go back for her follow-up on the 11th!

There was an older lady chatting with Pam about how they told her that her surgeon was running a little late. Pam asked her what time her surgery was, and she said 1:15. Then Pam asked her surgeon’s name and of course it is Pam’s surgeon!

Oh said the lady, when is your surgery? When told it was an hour before hers she said, I suppose you’ll be before me?

I can only hope, I thought.

I’ll let you know when she gets in! Actually it was two-hours late that she got in to surgery.

So now we (Maggie and I) wait.

Pam’s surgeon came into the waiting room to see the elderly lady we spoke to before! That was surprising! It’s 3 pm, so the surgery went quickly. She had told the woman she would tell the surgeon to be quick, so I she did-or was!

It will take about an hour for her to come out of the recovery room. She was about an hour and a half in post-op last time so hopefully she will be home in time to watch her beloved Canucks play Dallas. She has been looking forward to finally seeing Cody Hodgson play his first NHL game.

It’s 4:30 and there still is no sign of Pam. I’ve had only three hours of sleep, so I’m really starting to fade. The air in the hospital is very dry and makes breathing a chore.

The waiting room is filled with people silently hoping that all will be well with wife, mother, son or relative. It’s a strange camaraderie that we silently share with each other.

Each time the double doors of the recovery room open, we all look expectantly, hopefully, wishing to see our loved one being wheeled out and returned to us. Whole, healthy and recovered.

—–

Pam and I have just arrived home. It is 7 pm. She is doing ok. She is in a bit more pain than the previous surgery. She did not speak to her doctor, although there really isn’t much for her to tell us. We’ll know more after these lymph nodes are analyzed. There seems to be more blood in the drain than the last surgery as well.

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Update: Jan 20th Surgeon's visit

January 20, 2011 Pam 9 Comments

OK. I just got back from the surgeon’s office and the family Dr. We were hoping for an all clear margins and lymph. Well, I got half of my wish. The margins, the area around the original tumor, were clear, so that’s good news. I get to keep my breast. Also the the tumor is estrogen and progesterone positive which is also good news. That means the cancer will respond to treatment by something like tamoxifen.

Short version of the bad news though is that one of the 3 sentinel lymph nodes shows positive for metastatic cancer. There are two small tiny spots, like about the size of a pencil dot on a paper, 1.0mm and 0.5mm, so very tiny. Which means I have to go back for more surgery and have to have all lymph nodes taken out of right axilla. (should cut down on amount of deodorant I have to use lol)

Anyways second surgery is already booked for Feb 1st. We’re not sure of the time yet, but probably another all day affair. I’ll type up the whole pathology report and send it when I finish letting people know the news.

I will see cancer clinic four weeks post op, and that is when radiation will also start apparently. Family Dr feels I will most likely have to have chemo but that’s up to the Cancer Clinic. Radiation, which I will have to have no matter what, should start around first of March or so. I am off until Feb 21st. Then, when I do go back, it will be for eight hour nights only if and until I’m feeling better. I see my Family Dr on Feb 10th and she and I will assess how I am doing and if I feel I can go back to work by Feb 21st .

It is OK to share this news if anyone asks. I am doing OK. I consider this just another hoop to jump through in this fight to get the cancer out of me. Maurice has been my rock and came with me to the Dr’s office. He had a few tears in the surgeon’s office and car. It’s hard to be brave when you don’t know what it is exactly we have to face yet, but for the most part we are doing OK. At this point, I remain positive and still hopeful.

So not the greatest news; not out of the woods yet. Thanks for thinking of me. 🙂 Thank you everyone for the posts, emails and calls.

If anyone is interested in what the pathology report says, send me an email and I’ll send you it to read.

…Pam…

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Update on Pam

January 12, 2011 Maurice 4 Comments

Pam had a pretty restful night. She says her armpit hurts more than the breast. That’s from the lymph removal, rather than the cancer removal. She has some “glowing” from the radioactive dye they injected. She’s got her arm propped up with a pillow to keep the pressure off the arm, and it’s helping.

She tried to type, but one handed was frustrating for her! haha Guess I can out-type her with one arm tied behind her back!

She’s drained her “davol” once – it’s a tube to take away blood away from the incision area. She’s taken only a couple pain pills, so she’s doing well. She’s having a nap. Max is laying beside her, snoring away! haha

We got a big dump of snow – around five inches or so. So there’s a nice white covering over everything! We used to be able to say we don’t get much snow here, but last few years we’ve seen snow several times a year.

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BC Day

January 11, 2011 Maurice 5 Comments

We arrived at Surrey Memorial Hospital at the recommended time of 7:15 for a 7:45 appointment. They got Pam in quickly, before her time, and was finished with her radioactive dye before 7:50. We then had a brief break while the dye took hold for some pictures. We tried to get in on a few Keno games, but the lotto booth doesn’t open til 10! hah

She took good pictures, so they threw her out and told her to head up to radiology to get a wire installed, the better to track her in case she got lost in the hospital – oh wait – it’s not that kind of wire! It was basically fishing for cancer cells, and they got it on the hook first crack.

Then off to mammography for another series of pictures. Those turned out too, so off we went to the surgery waiting room. We got here around 10:45 or so. It’s lovely and peaceful here, listening to Judge Joe Brown screaming at the defendants. Sigh – surely they could put something better on – like hockey highlights or something!

Pam is scheduled for surgery at 2 pm, so we’ve got a while to wait. Hopefully things will be on time and she won’t have to wait here forever. Although we do need to know how the lawsuit turned out…

UPDATE: The nurse has come by at 11:45 to admit her for the surgery. I’m not sure what that means, but I guess they’ll be putting her in a hospital bed soon? We’ll see in a few minutes I guess!

UPDATE 2: She has come back (12:15) and told me she has taken her pre-op meds. The surgery will probably be early, about 1:30. the surgery will take about one hour, and then about 45 minutes in recovery. She should be able to go home about four pm or so.

Proceeding well at this point! Pam’s friend, Maggie, has arrived to lend moral support.

UPDATE 3: So the nurse finally came for Pam at 2:10 – so much for an early start! Roughly two hours to go – one for the surgery, one for recovery. Not sure if they will let us go into the recovery.

UPDATE 4: It is 3:45 and Pam is out of surgery. She is in the recovery room. We’re not allowed to see her yet, and we don’t know how the surgery went. At least we know she made it out of surgery alive! I’m not sure when she entered surgery yet, or what time she came out. She should be awake enough to come out of the recovery room around 4:10. We’re just waiting.

UPDATE 5: It’s now 4:45 and still no sign of Pam. There haven’t been any code blue calls, so I’m not in a panic – – – YET! Not sure what the hold up is, and I don’t really want to nag the nurses, but if she isn’t back by 5, I’m going to go see what’s up!

UPDATE 6: We got into see Pam about 5:20 or so. She seemed a tad groggy, but otherwise fine. We don’t know anything about the surgery really, until the report comes back from the pathologist. I’ll let Pam explain about that.

We got home around 7:30 and she is resting, somewhat comfortably. She thanks everyone for the best wishes.

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