Post Surgery

I'll be spending less time in here -- our bedroom -- than you'd think because my office has a recliner. When I'm not on the computer, I'll be walking around the house ("15 mintues a day at least") and watching television while doing jigsaw puzzles at my card table, or crosswords in my cozy chair.

The hospital sent me home with three pain killers, which all work differently. I asked for a topper of Zofran for nausea -- I have very, very little tolerance for pain medication. One of the drugs is oxycodone, which I won't take but accepted anyway ("Take it home, just in case. This surgery is one of the most painful surgeries to recover from, and we'd like you to have it as an option"). They don't know I went to a movie (The Royal Tenenbaums) three days after a mastectomy. My pain tolerance is much higher than my pain-killer tolerance. Also, I was told to have gas relief medication and stool softeners on hand -- you think it's TMI until you have this operation. They fill your stomach with air to expand their working area, and it gets trapped and that does hurt, I admit, so I took that. Also, they don't want you to "bear down" when using the bathroom, so I took the second pill this morning. I do want to cooperate as much as possible in my recovery.

Last night, I had to give in and take the other two pain pills to get some sleep. But I did sleep pretty comfortably, and this morning I've not taken anything yet. Now I'm going to get off the computer, and rest in my chair. Kev made me tea and toast, and I'm all taken care of.

I expect this to be the final entry in the Cancer Journal, as I'm now cancer free. I'd like to thank you all for your love and support during this trial. I'd also like to publicly (as we do privately) give glory to the Lord, my savior, who apparently is not yet finished with me down here yet. And a special thanks, too, to Kevin for his undying support and assistance, and to my daughter Summer, who has been my medical advisor through this, and added much information to help me understand and cope with the diagnosis and test results. And man, have I been grateful for my sisters, cousins, and friends through all of this! God bless you all.