Pre-Op Appointments

I had all of my pre-operation appointments yesterday.  This will probably be a boring post, but I just want to remember it later...so this is for my documentation mostly.  

I thought I would just walk into the doctor's office and pay my portion of the surgery and that would be it, but it wasn't.  Since I will be a part of a clinical trial (since the implants they will be using are not approved by the FDA) I had to fill out TONS of papers and sign & initial a lot of pages.  Also, they ask that I come back a bunch of times for follow-up visits and to fill out questions again regarding the clinical trial.  Good part is that I get paid $50-$100 each time I come in and do their surveys.  :-)

I guess I'm part of the "satisfaction and psychological" portion of the clinical trial and not the "health" portion.  It sounded like there were different groups.  I had to answer 11 PAGES of questions about how I feel about myself, my body and my breasts.  lol!  A lot of them were pretty funny.  I had to choose a number between 1 and 5 stating how I felt about my eyes, nose, hips, butt, feet, etc....#1 being I dislike them and 5 being I'm very happy with them.  lol!  I also had to indicate whether I was a depressed or happy person about 40 times, but the sentences differed slightly.  Kevan thinks that it is for them to tell whether the new implants helped my self-image and made me less depressed.  Since I've had a double mastectomy....I'm guessing that is going to be a YES.  lol!  It also asked me if I considered myself to be a healthy person.  Well....I just had cancer...so....not so much.

After all of the paperwork Miss L (my favorite nurse there) took my temperature and blood pressure.  Of course, I can't have a blood pressure cuff on my arm anymore (due to my bilateral lymph node biopsy) so they had to take it from my leg.  It is pretty annoying.  Then, Miss L walked us through how to take care of my drains (again) and what to expect.  Ugh.  I hate drains!  Also, I will have to do my exercises again (hopefully, I will remember better than last time) and I will have lifting restrictions as well.  They want me to be able to lift my arms that day.  Thinking about it hurts.  Then, I got to pay a huge payment for my surgery since the doctor is out of network.  :-(  Not so fun.  I'm glad we had the money in savings, but we were hoping to not have to pay so much since Kevan still doesn't have a job.  Oh well.  God knows and he will provide what we need.  Luckily, the hospital is in network so all of that stuff will be paid for...just the doctor is out of network.

After all of the stuff at the doctor's office we had to head to Centennial hospital and pre-register.  After registering we met with two nurses to go over surgery information.  They acted all excited for me.  lol!  They said they can't wait for my surgery and that they think I will look great when I leave.  They will be in the surgery...so that was a little odd since they are going to see me without my clothes on.  lol!  I know....they see it all the time.  They told me this surgery should not be as bad as the one in May.  I should be able to lift myself up...unlike last time...I couldn't do it for almost 3 weeks.  The downside is that I won't be able to unwrap my chest wrap for 2 days after.  So, not only am I gonna be stinky....I won't know what I look like either.  Bummer. 

Today I had to have an ultrasound of my ovaries.  I'm still having some major menopause symptoms so they wanted to check them out.  The doctor said everything looks good.  So, no worries there.  :-)

Pre-surgery Update 2:45 pm CDT

Jayde just went into surgery.  It is about 2:45 pm CDT.  We sat around most of the day waiting for various things.  The die/marker injection for the lymph node biopsy was very painful, even with the Lidocaine cream.  We spoke briefly with Dr. Whitworth before they took her in.  Not much new information; just a review of what was planned.  She was a little nervous and had a headache.  They gave her some some Valium and Fentanyl.  That seemed to take care of everything.  She is doing pretty good so far.  Here is a picture of her right before they took her to the O.R.  I will update more later once I know more.

Leaving for the Hospital

I slept great last night.  I woke up about 4:45 and went ahead and got up.  It is hard to stay away from my Keurig this morning.  I WANT COFFEE, but I am not allowed to eat or drink anything.  I'm already starving and my surgery isn't until 2:30pm.  Ugh!

Now that I was up so early I didn't really know what to do with myself.  I can't wear makeup or contacts so that was going to save me a lot of time this morning.  So, I washed and sliced some strawberries that I didn't want to go bad while we were gone and then used the foodsaver to put them in freezer packs.  I know.  I'm strange.  lol!  Then, I washed my bathtub since I won't be able to use for about 6 weeks and I'm the only one that uses it.  Also, I won't be able to use my arms well and I didn't want a dirty tub for several weeks.  :o)

I'm all showered and ready.  I had to use an anti-bacterial scrub on my body this morning that the hospital gave me.  It is to prevent infection.  It smells like a hospital.  Even Kevan noticed it.  I should've shopped for some new eye glasses.  Mine are about 11 years old and I hate wearing them because they are off kilter a bit and are full of scratches.  Normally, it isn't an issue because I only wear them at night, but now that I can't wear contacts I've realized how much they annoy me.  Oh well.

We will be leaving for the hospital in a few minutes.  I'm all ready to go...just waiting on everyone else.  It is about a 2 hour drive (with traffic) to the hospital.  I just have to apply my "numbing cream" before we leave.  This is so that when they inject the tracer material into both breasts, for my sentinel node biopsy, it doesn't hurt.  My doctor said it can be pretty painful and unfortunately....I will be awake for it. [Update - the doctor was right.  It was VERY painful...even with the numbing cream.  The pain only lasts a few seconds so I just prayed through it and God helped me.  I did end up crying, but I think it was just all of my emotions of getting ready for surgery too.]

Thanks again everyone for your prayers.  I am so calm this morning and I slept so good last night that I know that God is answering them.  I love you all.

Jeremiah 29:11 - For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. 

Psalm 27:4-5 - One thing I ask from the Lord, this only do I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze on the beauty of the Lord and to seek him in his temple.  For in the day of trouble he will keep me safe in his dwelling; he will hide me in the shelter of his sacred tent and set me high upon a rock.