Done and done!

 It is midnight, Thursday night. I've been up twice walking the unit and feeling good. What we know is that the large masses (hot dog bun) and ovary do not have signs of cancer. The small, mesenteric mass, that I called the cocktail hot dog, shows cancer. It will be a week before we know what kind of cancer, the source, and if it will require further treatment. That is fine with me. Getting through surgery and learning that one of the masses is cancerous is plenty of news for one day. 

A quick run-down of my day. We checked in at 9:30 am, waited to be called to the pre-op area at 12:00 noon, I went into surgery around 1:00 pm ( I didn't even know we went, they snuck my anesthesia in my IV and I was gone).  I was out of surgery and in post-op at 4 pm. Melissa and Gene were there to greet me. 

I was pretty coherent by 5 pm, drinking water and talking. My wound is wrapped in a "wide belt" and it feels good. They put a block in the big nerves feeding my abdomen, so minimal pain there.  Far less pain than I had with the torsion that started this circus. 

As has become my "routine", there are no beds available, so I am staying in post-op recovery (PACU) with a bunch of other patients and will most likely go home from here. Melissa is taking a quick nap in my bed, as I sit up to write. She has no where to sleep. Her "bed" resembles what the grand kids use to "camp" in the living room. Two chairs, a blanket and a pillow.  We are doing okay, it is only one night. I just had orange jell-o, the best part of being sick. 

Thank you all again for your kind texts, it really built my confidence and I'm pretty sure it has made the post surgery easier. 

As you know, during and after surgery, you get hooked up at a whole bunch of monitors, IV's, arm bands, an oxygen nasal catheter, etc. And shedding these one by one becomes the goal. So far, I have shed the IV, oxygen, pressure things for my legs that never got hooked up, and urinary catheter. How many points do I get for that?

I'm hoping to be discharged tomorrow mid day, and if I make it by 5pm, I think I get a gold start for beating the 24-hour recovery clock. 

I won't know if this is the end of my silk pajama journey, or if it has just begun, but this "leg" of the journey has gone well so far. 


Love to you all, Writing from post-op in a hospital gown:(

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