Hi everyone,
Well I had to go back to the hospital to have a pre op assessment done. I’m having a second surgery Feb 1 for the Right lymphadenectomy (where they take out all remaining lymph nodes in right under arm) and so I had to see the pre op assessment nurse, and have a history done, vitals and some teaching.
Then I saw the physio, and she went over some arm exercises I will have to do post op (reps of 10 each , 3 x a day… ) there are about 5 that I do first day post op, so Wednesday.. and then there are about 5 more that I do when the drain comes out… again reps of 10 – 3x a day… So that was good to know those. The aim is to strengthen the arm and to keep joints and muscles moving so I don’t get a frozen shoulder or stiffness, and to help with drainage of area to help prevent lymphedema.. something that can happen when there are no lymphnodes in the arm to help drain sweat and toxins from the body. We went over some thing I need to be wary of, and to try to prevent getting bite or stung or cut on right arm, as that increases my risk of infection.. She also took about 9 different measurement around finger (middle), around hand and wrist and up the arm in about 5-6 spots.. she took them as baseline measurements of right and left arm. I’ll have to see physio at 1 month, 3 months and 6 months post op.
Then I saw the anesthetist and had a pre op check done as well. He listened to my heart, and lungs, took my vitals, and looked in my mouth and throat and made sure I didn’t have any loose teeth or false teeth. I said to him my teeth are my own 🙂 and they are not loose.. crooked, yes, and I have a couple of crowns on back ones, but other than that… A ok.
He said I didn’t need another ECG or Xray today so that was good news… once I saw him I was free to go 🙂 So that took from 0745 – 12:15 ish.. I had some wait between physio and seeing the anesthetist, so I went and read in the cafeteria and had a coffee. I read on my new eReader, a gift from the gals I work with. 🙂
As an aside: I had a weird thing happen last night. I went to bed around 11:30 pm to try to get a decent sleep as I knew I had to be at the hospital early, but I had trouble falling asleep. It was early for me and I wasn’t tired. I was just laying in bed trying to sleep.. I started to have a wee spell of weeping where tears were falling , I guess it was me feeling sorry for myself, but I really had not been thinking of the cancer then, so I don’t know why I started to cry. M was there and asked me if I was crying and I said a little. He put his arm over me and gave me some kleenex and just having him there holding me was what I needed. 🙂 I got all warm and fuzzy and was able to sleep.
Next stop? Feb 1st Surgery time 12:10
…Pam…
I don’t know if any of you have heard of Megan, but she was a young lady from North Delta, just a few blocks from where we live. She was diagnosed with cancer at 16. She went public with her battle and wrote a song called Will to Survive. When music producer Garth Richardson (Red Hot Chili Peppers, Nickelback, Motley Crue) heard the song, he immediately wanted to be involved.
It’s a touching song, about struggling with childhood cancer. Megan donated all the proceeds of the song, available on Itunes, to a couple of agencies doing research into childhood cancer. I was not aware that much of what is done for adult cancer, doesn’t really apply to childhood cancer.