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Cancer Diary - Part 7 - The operation
Sep. 8th, 2018 09:56 amMy operation was 7th September. I was to be at the hospital for 730. I also had to be up at 6 to take a drink of water and a ranitidine. So I had a shower, washed my hair as I didn't know exactly when I'd be able to do that again, and made sure I only put deodorant in my left armpit. My husband drove me to the hospital. We had no idea where we were going and intended to fetch up at the main building and get directions from there. We arrived about 7am and that was a touch early, but all the nurses were there at the Pre-Surgical Assessment Unit. They got on with processing me. They told Al that he might as well go as there would be nothing for him to do till pick up time which would be the back of 4 at the earliest. Phone numbers were exchanged. So I made him hug me and he left. I got into my gowns. One with the back open and one the opposite way round. I got to keep my own pants on. Yay! I also got compression stockings on (sexy) up to the knee and grippy socks to pad about in. They took all my clothes and belongings and took them up to the ward. It was a bit later before I realised that my kindle and glasses were away with my bag and I wouldn't see them again till afterwards. I felt a bit stupid about that as I could easily have held onto them if just asked. But there's also the fact that the staff would have had to make sure they stayed with me and I was having a few pre-op procedures and workups at different places and knowing my perimenopausal brain I'd be unable to hang on to them myself.
So I had to pee so they could do a pregnancy test. (Ha Ha!) My period is on the 53rd day of its cycle and it's not unheard of to have a 50 year old pregnant woman. Fortunately that was negative. We went through all the same health questions as we had done a month ago, but I know it's important to check all of these things repeatedly so that they're sure they have the right person and they are certain of any risk factors. So I read a magazine (Cosmo August edition with the Caroline Flack letters to her exes which was a great article) in PAU for a bit and because I'm such a nosey cow I listened in on the surgical huddle and I knew I was going third of three, and it was likely because I would be the most straight forward case and it would give them the day to deal with any issues from the first two. This made me feel slightly better. I spoke to my consultant again (Mr Romics) and the other breast surgeon (sorry didn't quite get her name) who I will see in September (27th) for the followup appointment as Mr Romics will be away then. I also met the anaesthetist (Ian) and his boss (didn't catch her name either, but I was assured by all the PAU staff that she was lovely and generous and the best) who made sure I was alright in the head and neck and mouth dept, in case they have to intubate me. I told him how nervous I was and he said they'd make sure I was calm before the surgery.
Then it was hanging about a bit more. I watched some telly with a lady from Tiree who was in for an eye operation (ophthalmics was the other list that was on that day). Then the three of us breast ladies (me, AM and L) were taken up to nuclear medicine to get the tracer injection in our breasts so they could see the sentinel lymph nodes later in surgery. We had a chat, but we were all very apprehensive. AM was first in the queue and she already had her anaesthetic patch on her hand as she was going first into surgery. The tech who did my injection saw how scared I was and gave me a hug. That injection was just above my right nipple and not very pleasant. Quite nippy. It was over quickly though.
From there we were taken to the mammogram area to get the guide wires put in. That was done under local anaesthetic (just a wee scratch) and I got to watch it on the screen. He used ultrasound to find it and then inserted the needle through it and they withdrew it so the tip was in the centre of the mass. Given that this thing is 8mm that was a pretty delicate job. After all that we were back to PAU and into pre-surgery. I was there for hours. Watched Loose Women. The lady from Tiree came and went and another ophthalmic lady who I think may have been an emergency case.
It got to the back of 1pm and I was starting to look pretty miserable as all the healthcare assistants asked if I was okay everytime they saw me. Then they put me in bed, rearranged my gowns, got my heart leads and switched out my lights and asked me to chill. I did almost drift off a couple of times and there were a couple of pre-hypnic jerks, but when anyone spoke I woke back up.
Maureen the theatre tech came to do her checks, put on the heart leads and a blood pressure cuff on my leg as she said they'd all be round my top half and she'd need to be out of the way. She also noted that I was cold and I was. I think it was because I hadn't eaten anything and I wasn't moving around. She said they'd put a warming blanket on me in surgery and she gave me another blanket and put gloves on me because they wouldn't be able to get the canula in my hand if I was cold. She said it wouldn't be long now.
I don't know what time I finally got taken to theatre. It must've been close to 4pm. As expected they couldn't get a canula in my hand. Ian was under pressure to get me under so they could get on so they stuck it in my arm instead and Maureen held my hand while they did that. It's not a good sign when the theatre tech takes your hand and says you can squeeze if you like. So I did. Then after that there was a weird dream and suddenly everything was really weird and bright and I was back in reality, but still high as a kite. I was talking a load of gibberish. The anaesthetic team asked how I was doing and I said that there was some discomfort in the wounds. Maybe a 2 or 3 on the pain scale (I was being stoic, it was maybe worse than that) and so while the canula was still in they gave me some painkillers. When they were sure I was back properly I was wheeled to my ward where AM was already getting ready to go and L was there too with her family. They did my heart and blood pressure checks and brought me my tea and toast which I had been looking forward to all day. I got my bag and so I could text Al and message all my people, who wouldn't see facebook, that needed to know, I was okay (work-wife, boss, SW consultant). Al showed up about 6ish and by that time I had already peed. My blood pressure was still a bit low (102), so she wasn't happy and I had to drink a litre of water and have another cup of tea (nurse tea is the best tea) till it came up to 112. Then I was off home. I still felt pretty good at this point. Maybe the painkillers, maybe the relief that it was over, maybe the tea and toast, maybe all the supportive facebook likes and messages.
When I got home at the back of 7pm, I had chicken and salad and SW chips that I insisted that Al make as that's what I really wanted. Then Pog and Al and I watched Superbad as we all needed a laugh. I had a bit of trouble getting to sleep mostly as I was guarding my right side and because my mind was still processing the day, but I did eventually drift off.
So I had to pee so they could do a pregnancy test. (Ha Ha!) My period is on the 53rd day of its cycle and it's not unheard of to have a 50 year old pregnant woman. Fortunately that was negative. We went through all the same health questions as we had done a month ago, but I know it's important to check all of these things repeatedly so that they're sure they have the right person and they are certain of any risk factors. So I read a magazine (Cosmo August edition with the Caroline Flack letters to her exes which was a great article) in PAU for a bit and because I'm such a nosey cow I listened in on the surgical huddle and I knew I was going third of three, and it was likely because I would be the most straight forward case and it would give them the day to deal with any issues from the first two. This made me feel slightly better. I spoke to my consultant again (Mr Romics) and the other breast surgeon (sorry didn't quite get her name) who I will see in September (27th) for the followup appointment as Mr Romics will be away then. I also met the anaesthetist (Ian) and his boss (didn't catch her name either, but I was assured by all the PAU staff that she was lovely and generous and the best) who made sure I was alright in the head and neck and mouth dept, in case they have to intubate me. I told him how nervous I was and he said they'd make sure I was calm before the surgery.
Then it was hanging about a bit more. I watched some telly with a lady from Tiree who was in for an eye operation (ophthalmics was the other list that was on that day). Then the three of us breast ladies (me, AM and L) were taken up to nuclear medicine to get the tracer injection in our breasts so they could see the sentinel lymph nodes later in surgery. We had a chat, but we were all very apprehensive. AM was first in the queue and she already had her anaesthetic patch on her hand as she was going first into surgery. The tech who did my injection saw how scared I was and gave me a hug. That injection was just above my right nipple and not very pleasant. Quite nippy. It was over quickly though.
From there we were taken to the mammogram area to get the guide wires put in. That was done under local anaesthetic (just a wee scratch) and I got to watch it on the screen. He used ultrasound to find it and then inserted the needle through it and they withdrew it so the tip was in the centre of the mass. Given that this thing is 8mm that was a pretty delicate job. After all that we were back to PAU and into pre-surgery. I was there for hours. Watched Loose Women. The lady from Tiree came and went and another ophthalmic lady who I think may have been an emergency case.
It got to the back of 1pm and I was starting to look pretty miserable as all the healthcare assistants asked if I was okay everytime they saw me. Then they put me in bed, rearranged my gowns, got my heart leads and switched out my lights and asked me to chill. I did almost drift off a couple of times and there were a couple of pre-hypnic jerks, but when anyone spoke I woke back up.
Maureen the theatre tech came to do her checks, put on the heart leads and a blood pressure cuff on my leg as she said they'd all be round my top half and she'd need to be out of the way. She also noted that I was cold and I was. I think it was because I hadn't eaten anything and I wasn't moving around. She said they'd put a warming blanket on me in surgery and she gave me another blanket and put gloves on me because they wouldn't be able to get the canula in my hand if I was cold. She said it wouldn't be long now.
I don't know what time I finally got taken to theatre. It must've been close to 4pm. As expected they couldn't get a canula in my hand. Ian was under pressure to get me under so they could get on so they stuck it in my arm instead and Maureen held my hand while they did that. It's not a good sign when the theatre tech takes your hand and says you can squeeze if you like. So I did. Then after that there was a weird dream and suddenly everything was really weird and bright and I was back in reality, but still high as a kite. I was talking a load of gibberish. The anaesthetic team asked how I was doing and I said that there was some discomfort in the wounds. Maybe a 2 or 3 on the pain scale (I was being stoic, it was maybe worse than that) and so while the canula was still in they gave me some painkillers. When they were sure I was back properly I was wheeled to my ward where AM was already getting ready to go and L was there too with her family. They did my heart and blood pressure checks and brought me my tea and toast which I had been looking forward to all day. I got my bag and so I could text Al and message all my people, who wouldn't see facebook, that needed to know, I was okay (work-wife, boss, SW consultant). Al showed up about 6ish and by that time I had already peed. My blood pressure was still a bit low (102), so she wasn't happy and I had to drink a litre of water and have another cup of tea (nurse tea is the best tea) till it came up to 112. Then I was off home. I still felt pretty good at this point. Maybe the painkillers, maybe the relief that it was over, maybe the tea and toast, maybe all the supportive facebook likes and messages.
When I got home at the back of 7pm, I had chicken and salad and SW chips that I insisted that Al make as that's what I really wanted. Then Pog and Al and I watched Superbad as we all needed a laugh. I had a bit of trouble getting to sleep mostly as I was guarding my right side and because my mind was still processing the day, but I did eventually drift off.
