Ok, so here’s the thing….surgery sucks, and it didn’t go as well as planned or anticipated. I should have guessed when I passed out during pre-op, but alas, I did not. I mean, it’s ok…it will be ok, but not as well as planned. You know when the surgeon is disappointed that you should be, too.
One of my lymph nodes decided to go all rogue and wrap itself around a couple of very important veins/vessels. A specialist was called in to the OR, but he wasn’t crazy about the potential for damage, so it was decided to grab a couple nodes that were in need of removing and close me back up.
The intention now is to go to some sort of medical treatment (drugs) to shrink that jackass node down and maybe go in for it later.
Here’s the thing…I was totally expecting some sort of drugs afterward to make sure we get ALL OF THE CELLS this time. So the only major difference is that I may have to have another surgery (suck!).
Also, the ovary was just fine, so that actually is good news…I got to keep it, plus it doesn’t have any cancer in it…which means …
Admitted/update
Hail to the Victors
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 …
