Wow, I know that kids are resilient, but oh my, is this kid of mine amazing!!

Last night, he couldn’t get up off of the couch or back on the couch after going to the bathroom and he was walking on his tip-toes to get around while using the death grip on our hands.

By the end of today? He’s standing, sitting, kneeling down for things, getting on and off the couch on his own and playing with the neighbors!! It’s obvious he’s still in pain, and I fully expect that, but the turn around from yesterday to today has been fabulous!

Of course, I’m totally worried about him overdoing it, especially since there’s just a tiny little steri-strip over his incision.

I’m thrilled that he’s doing so well.  I’m a little concerned that I’ll need to stay home on Monday since he has trouble leaning over to pull up his shorts, but we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.

In the meantime, I’m relieved my baby is smiling and laughing again.

I had my follow-up appointment with my surgeon today. (well, first I had a visit with another doctor and a med student, but he was pleasant and had a wicked cool accent – and he was young, so he was concerned for my modesty – HAHA!).

Anyway.. Dr. C. checked me out, asked how I was doing, poked and prodded - the usual.  I don’t have many complaints – you know, aside from the numbness, tingling, electrical pulses, general pain that comes and goes – but they were more concerned with my scars. Oddly, they don’t bother me.  The boys ask how my scars are here and there; they’re calming down and smoothing out as the days pass (the scars, not the boys, hehe).

Dr. C. really took his time to let me know that they would continue to fade and be less pink and more skin tone as time passes.  Which is fine, don’t get me wrong, but scars have never bothered me.  I have scars on my knees, my hands, assorted other places and they’ve never bothered me; these are no different, even though they are big. I’m much more bothered by the sudden breath-taking pain and electrical pulses running through my leg; the numb areas that seem to still itch.  None of which is concerning to Dr. C. That will go away, and hopefully all of the numbness will go away within 18 months of the surgery.

I left the Cancer Center feeling pretty good. I know what to watch for, I know I need to wear my stocking when I’m going to over-do it, I know that the twinges mean I’m healing.  I know that I am lucky every day – and those scars? Well, they remind me of that.

As in ‘fairly good news’ from my surgeon and the pathology department. Fairly good.

Fairly good.

Better than ‘not so good’ or ‘not good at all’ or ‘bad’.

Fairly good.

What that means, in real life, is that one of the 6 nodes that they removed in this latest surgery had a small amount of tumor in it. One out of six.  So yes, fairly good.

But not really good.  Or great.

So we have an appointment scheduled with the medical oncology doctor on the 13th to find out exactly what our next steps are.  Not sure if it will still be interferon, or if it will be something else. Wait and see, as usual, I guess.

In the meantime, I will get better, get stronger, and be ready to kick the rest of this cancer’s ass out of my body. (which sounds really strange when I write it that way, but you know what I mean, right?!)

Through this whole melanoma experience, the University of Michigan has proven to be the leaders and the best, at least when it has come to my care. Every single person we’ve interacted with – from the technicians to the reception staff to the nurses and doctors I’ve seen have all been amazing. I’m sure it helps that I’m a pretty easy-going patient – I listen, do what they tell me, ask questions and most importantly, let them do their jobs while keeping a sense of humor. I had two separate nurses tell me how nice it was to have a happy patient like me, and another wanted to sit and chat with me just because.

I made the lady that checked me in pre-operatively laugh so hard that she couldn’t catch her breath (she asked if English was my preferred / 1st language – I replied “Si”). The nurse that got my IV and everything set up pre-op dished it out as well as she took it and she ooohed and aahed over my pictures of my boys; Curtis, my post-op nurse, was snarky and funny. Then I got to OBS unit, where Cindy and Debi also insisted on seeing pictures of my boys, wanted to know about my iphone and all about my Kindle, and cut deals with me to get me off my IV so I didn’t have to go to the bathroom so much. Overnight, Diane took care of me with quiet laughs and silliness. All in all, I’m pretty sure I only could have been taken care of better by my mommy. (you know, if she were a nurse, too).

While there have been some confusing things (staying overnight vs. not, etc), I expect that with anything that involves 100 different people whose only interaction is paperwork. I feel extraordinarily lucky to be taken care of by the fine staff of U of M Hospital. They are professional, smart, funny and nice. Not to mention, it sure seems like they know what they are doing.

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We got checked in early yesterday and were ready to head into surgery by about 10:30 (scheduled for 11). I remember arriving in the operating room and then hours passed and suddenly I was in the recovery ward. The anesthesiologist made a lovely cocktail for me to make sure I wouldn’t get my usual nausea/puking afterward and it totally worked! I took my time waking up and then, once I was done repeating myself, they brought Mike in to visit. After a little while, they sent him back to the waiting room, as they were going to be moving me soon to the observation unit, and I was dozing off on him. For the record, post-op ice is the best ice in the universe. And there, it is these little tubes that are just the perfect size. Mmmmm….ice….

I was taken to the Observation Unit where I was to spend the night. It was a tiny little room, with a tiny tv and curtains for the 4th wall. But it was fine! I was feeling fine, people were taking care of me, I had my iPhone and Kindle and good drugs. It was a long night, since I dozed off and felt like I had been sleeping for hours and it was only minutes, but I was doing ok. In the morning, they served me a lovely breakfast (hehe) and got me prepped to go home.

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Now, it’s Friday – 3 days post op – and I’ve still not published this post. I fell asleep writing it a number of times, lol.

I did really well on Wednesday, slept decent at home, took my meds regularly. By 9 am Thursday morning, I was sick as a dog. I couldn’t stop throwing up and Mike had to call the doctor to see what to do. They advised me to stop taking the Norco (which seemed odd, since I didn’t have any issues a couple months ago!). They prescribed a anti-vomiting/anti-nausea med that would help me out…sadly, it wasn’t to be taken orally, if you know what I mean. By then, I didn’t care as long as I could stop throwing up nothing!

After sleeping most of the day away, I was feeling a lot better, even good enough to take some more Norco (with food), and eat real food. I slept great last night, so that was good too.

I’m actually kind of surprised at how sleepy and out of it I’ve been since this surgery. It’s good – I obviously need the rest to get better, but I am still surprised.

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Since I was literally stinking up the place and I was given the ok, I was excited to be able to take a shower this afternoon. Once I used the bathroom, drained my tubey, and headed upstairs, I was done. A quick soap and water wipe down sitting outside the shower had to do and it did. Now I’m resting in my bed, but definitely planning to head back down to my couch later (waaay more comfy than the bed!). So I am less smelly, but still did not get to enjoy to the first post surgical shower.

Now, I must go, because Tyra is talking to a woman is who is married to the Eiffel Tower and well, you just can’t find much better tv than that for recovery time!

Ok, so my surgery has been scheduled for 11am tomorrow (with us at the hospital by 9am).  Hopefully the earlier surgery means that we will be home at a fairly decent hour tomorrow (I want to be home to recover, not in the hospital!).

I appreciate all good thoughts, juju, mojo, prayers, whatever you’re willing to send out into the universe for me!

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Matt went to the doctor this morning – they prescribed a short dose of steroid to get him out of this croupy cough. It will sure be nice to not wake up the sound of a seal barking him coughing.

Preston has a cold, but is still in good spirits, though I can tell he’s sick mostly by his desire to relax in the middle of the day! lol

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Today I will make sure the house is somewhat clean, the laundry done and my work caught up as much as possible. Tonight, I will take a shower with Dial (oh, the dry!) and repeat in the morning (seriously, oh, the dry!). No more eating after midnight, no more water after 7am.  My dog will be going on a short vacation (to avoid the ever popular jumping all over me issue), and my mom is coming to take care of my boys and is bringing her famous chicken noodle soup.  I have magazines, puzzle books, Alias & Mad Men on my phone, Glee on my DVR, and my laptop.  I think I’m ready for recovery, just have to get through the damn surgery first!!