Can’t believe it’s already been a week since the surgery.
Sorry for not updating the blog earlier. I thought I would have lots of time but I guess I’m fortunate enough to be able to sleep and nap very well and have many good friends to keep me busy and making sure that I would not be bored while resting at home. :-) I’m feeling good and very well taken care of by Siang, Mom& Dad and lots of friends. My house is filled with flowers, cards and fresh fruits. I really feel super special!
I’ll be going back for a follow-up visit with the surgeon’s nurse tomorrow and hopefully to remove the drainage tube that has been sticking out of my body for the past week.
Had a brief phone conversation with the surgeon last Friday. The sentinel node is confirmed negative, margin is fine. However, they see the tumor is primarily invasive ductal carcinoma (original biopsy results indicated that the tumor was mostly ductal carcinoma in situ with invasive components). This means some sort of chemotherapy would probably be recommended. We’ve made an appointment with a medical oncologist on April 28 to discuss the pros and cons of different types of chemotherapy.
Prayer requests:
(1)The scar will continue to heal properly, with no infection and no complication.
(2)I’ll experience little pain when the tube is removed.
(3)My digestive ‘issues’ will be resolved (the pain medication and anesthetics has slowed down my bowel movements) :-)
(4)I’ll be able to restore my arm and shoulder mobility.
(5)Wisdom in determining what the best follow-up treatment plan should be.
(6)Continue to pray for family and friends who have yet to know our Lord, Jesus Christ.
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This past week has gone by so quickly. I better write down my thoughts before I forget, though I can honestly say this has been one of the most memorable weeks of my life… this part is mostly a record to remind myself of God’s goodness, I’d like to share this with you all if you’re interested in reading about what happened to me, read at your own leisure….
Surgery Day – April 12:
God has been extremely gracious. His provision is more than what I have asked for… …
He arranged Teresa, a fellow sister-in-Christ, to be my nurse assistant during pre-surgery. She normally goes to a different church. But for some reason, she visited my church on Easter Sunday. So when Pastor Sam asked Siang and I to go up front to be prayed for that Sunday, Teresa was sitting at the back pew, wondering if she would see me at the hospital the next day. And what do you know? God’s plan is perfect. Teresa took care of everything for us during pre-op and made my parents feel very comfortable. The only hiccup was the other nurse couldn’t find my vein the first time when she tried to hook me up to the IV, so now there’s a big bruise on the back of my hand…
The sentinel node mapping was really swift. Though it was quite painful (the numbing medicine didn’t really work and I got poked quite a number of times), I thank God that the tracers filtered through my lymphatic system very quickly and they were able to locate the sentinel node within 15 minutes. I was told that it might take up to 3 hours for some people.
I was the last patient to be operated on that day, so after the sentinel node mapping was completed, I basically just lied in the pre-op area for almost 5 hours waiting for my turn. Normally, only 1 family member/friend is allowed to be with the patient in the pre-op area. But Teresa was kind enough to let lots of people come in and see me. She said I have broken the hospital record. She has never had a patient with so many pre-op visitors before. Thanks to all who dropped by to see me, pray with me, and cheer me on before surgery and thank you Lavina and Ivy for taking the day off from work to be there the whole time! It must be the on-going pre-op party that had made me forget about feeling nervous.
At around 3pm, the surgeon walked in. He took a purple marker and marked on my body where he was going to put the incision. Amazingly, I was quite calm at that point, just felt very ticklish as he drew arrows on me. Then at 3:30pm, two very loud and funny anesthesiologists walked into my pre-op room. They put a ‘shower cap’ on me, measured my blood pressure, asked me if I had any body piercing, asked me when was the last time I had anything to eat/drink, I told them since 10:30pm last night. They then apologized for making me starve and said they wanted to give me some ‘tonic and gin’ as they pushed some liquid stuff through the IV. They then asked my family and friends to take turn to hug me before they wheeled me away. Everything was a big rush. When I got into the other room, I asked them “is this the operating room?” They said “yes”…And that’s the last thing I remember.
When I woke up, I was already in the recovery room. The first thing I said to the nurse next to me was “are my sentinel lymph nodes negative?” The nurse said he didn’t know. After awhile, I asked the nurse again “did they get a clear margin on my tumor?” The nurse then said I should quit asking him b/c he didn’t know anything about the surgery, these were not communicated to him. So I decided to shut up. After awhile, the nurse said, “Annie, you’re too healthy to be in the recovery area, we’ll take you to the regular hospital room now.”
So I was transported to the other side of the hospital. 5 minutes after I settled in the new bed, Siang, Mom & Dad walked in.
My throat was hurting a little bit b/c of the respiratory pipe they put in me during the surgery. So the first thing I ate after surgery was my favorite orange flavored jello to sooth the throat. :-)
Daddy told me when they were in the waiting room, a gentleman we don’t know walked up to him and shared two bible verses with him. This is so cool! God is forever faithful. I know my parents’ heart have been touched by all the love and prayers of all my brothers & sisters in Christ. I know that the seeds sown would not be in vain. It is my sincere prayer and hope that their hearts will continue to be softened and receive the love of Christ.
God granted me another post-op party in the hospital room, I think there were more than 12 people in my room at one time. It was quite fun! I wanted to stay up and watch Miss USA on TV but was too tired, so decided to just sleep.
Thank God that I had the double room all to myself, so Siang could stay in the hospital overnight with me. When I went to relieve myself the first time after surgery, I was astonished by the dark blue pee in the toilet. What happened to me? Then I remember it must be the blue dye they injected during the sentinel node mapping. It was so weird. Siang wanted to take a picture but I flushed it.
….. to be continued …..