From Recovery to Room

Kathleen here again.
I went to the hospital this morning to be there as ME was moved into a room. As I turned the corner expecting to see the now-familiar lush growth of impatiens in bloom with their fun little bursting seed pods, I was taken aback to see that all the lovely plants had been pulled out and dumped into a truck bed, and a crew was planting chrysanthemums. I felt uprooted myself.

MaryEllen was still in recovery and they were waiting for her surgeon to arrive an clear her for a room assignment. Obviously he had a very tiring long day yesterday himself, so no one felt he should hurry. When he came in he said Mary Ellen looked very good, and he told her that the blood vessels he had to work with had turned out to be much smaller and shorter than he had expected, making for a trickier and longer surgery. The oxygen saturation on the transplanted tissue looked good, and he told me to keep reminding ME to breathe deeply to keep the tissue full of oxygen.

She was then moved to a room, unfortunately by a pair of bumbling idiots paying more attention to their cell phones than to the many dangling lines hanging off the bed that were attached to ME. They were so bad that the floor nurse promised to report them.

It took a while for our new nurse, Susan, to get ME all settled. She needed Benadryl for the itching associated with the anesthesia meds, and then her flaps had to be checked for capillary refill and all SIX drains had to be emptied and the fluids measured.

Overall things were promising, but MaryEllen was very uncomfortable and itchy and nauseated and not thrilled that the doctor's orders included getting her up and into a chair.

I left after she was all settled and went to meet a friend and have some time to regroup.
I had asked people to refrain from visiting because when ME would finally get to sleep, she would need to be left to rest. She did ask to have her next-door neighbor Lori come and bring her favorite soup and a Wendy's chocolate shake.
I will see her tomorrow, and I'm sure there will be more visitors then. Goodnight, Kathleen

Surgery Success!

I just got back from visiting ME in recovery. I went with Colleen, ME's friend who is a breast surgery recovery nurse at a different hospital.
She is slightly awake. Colleen assessed many aspects and says she looks great. Vitals are terrific, incisions look good, and there is a nurse devoted specifically to ME. She will remain in recovery all night and then we'll se her tomorrow. Sleep well, Mare! Love, Kathleen

Still In Surgery

It's 9:45 PM and Mary Ellen is still in surgery. This is not unusual, and we were told it could be even a few more hours. I will go see her briefly later tonight.
She will be moved into a room tomorrow around noon. She will be VERY out of it for a while, and it may be best to hold off on visits until Monday to let her rest. I will give her her cell phone, turned off. You can leave her a message to listen to when she feels up to it.
I know a lot of people are anxious to visit, but please consider giving her a day to recover first. The visits of her very closest friends will probably be enough tiring out for the day.
I know everyone's support means a lot to Mary Ellen. She will need it in the weeks to come, especially. Those of you who have my cell #, call for an update between 12:30 and 1:30 Sunday. After that I will post a message on my phone and turn it off for a while. Thanks, Kathleen

No Nodes Is Good Nodes!

This is Kathleen here, guest blogger.
Very early this morning I went with Mary Ellen to the hospital. She was in good spirits and strong as always. We went to the surgery area where she changed into hospital garb and waited a while for her surgical team to come and talk to her. Several different advocates and surgical staff came and let her know what to expect and answered questions. Every one was kind and helpful. After they took her in for the surgery I went to wait in the designated waiting area, but I couldn't stay there because there were competing TV's and I am highly allergic to television, so I went to wait in the chapel where I read the Koran and looked at the Torah in squiggly Hebrew.

After a while I returned to a smaller waiting area and was able to mute the TV while I was the only one there.

Finally the first surgeon came out and told me the good news: no cancerous nodes! There will be further node tests, but so far so good. She said Mary Ellen is doing fine in surgery, responding perfectly to all the meds and holding strong. They sent me home to update all of you and get a nap. I'll be going back there briefly later tonight while she's in recovery, and tomorrow I can visit, as she'll be in a room.

I'll update you as more info becomes available. Thanks for all your support, Kathleen

On Our Way to the Hospital

We are just about to leave for the hospital. I am lucky I woke up in time. My alarm clock never went off. It is about 20 years old. I never usually use it because I almost always just wake up when I want, like today. It would have been nice if it worked, just for a sense of security.

Anyway, off I go. Super nervous. My sister Kathleen (Kate) is going to write on here to keep everyone updated.

Thanks for all the support. I love you all!!!!!!!!!!!

Hey, What Else Can We Do Now Except Roll Down The Window and Let the Wind Blow Back Your Hair

I am out of time. Whatever did not get done is not going to get done. That's life.

I went to the plastic surgeon and he marked me for surgery. He used purple surgical marker and then went over it with a green sharpie. I have tons of lines all over my abdomen and breasts. He used the CT angiogram results in conjunction with a doppler to find all the vessels he will need and then marked them on my abdomen. It took about an hour and a half.

He answered all my questions. Will you give me something for anxiety in the morning? Answer, no. It interferes with the anesthesia. Can I take something tonight? Answer, have a glass of wine. Cool. I am going to the Springsteen concert tonight and now I can have a beer. Score.

The PA came in afterwards and discussed a lot of things with me. There will be 3 surgeons. Dr. Keller, Dr Kostroff and Dr Schwartz. There will be an anesthesiologist and an anesthesia nurse. There will be a number of PAs and a number of nurses. She said the surgery should start at 7:30 am. The earliest it will be finished is 8pm, but it is more likely that it will be 10 or 11 pm. No family or friends should wait there. They will call when Dr. Kostroff is finished and she will have the status of the sentinal node biopsy. Dr. Keller will call when he is finished. He will not come out to meet anyone even if they are there. After the surgery I will go to the recovery room and will stay there all night. Family can visit there but it will be a waste because I will be out of it. The next day I will go to a regular room and people can visit. I will have a pain pump that I will control of. I will have no food restrictions. I will have a Foley. I will have the pneumatic stockings on my legs. I will have six drains, two in each breast and two in the abdomen. It is expected that I will go home Monday.

I finished a few more errands. Went to the gym to suspend my membership, went to BJs to buy big heavy stuff I will not be able to carry for awhile (diapers, wipes, dog food). I think I am as ready to go as I will ever be.

My sister Kathleen (Kate) is going to update the blog. She will write on it as soon as she hears things.

Now, we are off to see Bruce Springsteen at Giants Stadium. It should be awesome.

Thanks everyone!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Getting Everything Done, Running Out of Time

The surgical date is getting closer and I have not finished everything I wanted to. There is never enough time. I did get a lot done, lots of medical appointments, made a will, figured out childcare for Julianna, set up consents so the people taking care of her could take her to the emergency room if they had to, visited people, checked on my life insurance, etc, etc. I would like to thank everyone for all the calls, emails, cards, letters, and gifts. You are all great. If I haven't gotten back to you yet I am sorry. I will be in touch with everyone as soon as I can. It has been really hectic and I will never get to everything.


I had the CT angiogram Monday. This test is to map all the vessels the plastic surgeon will need in order to perform the reconstructive surgery. It will also tell if I have any vessel damage from previous abdominal surgeries, appendectomy and c-section.



I got there at 12 noon. They brought me back at 1:15. I am noticing that this is common. No one seems to be running on time.



First they wrapped me in multiple blankets taken directly from the warmer. Pretty cozy. Then they started an IV that they would use to administer the contrast. They had me change into two gowns. One gown open to the front, one to the back. I had to lie on the table and they covered me with more blankets from the warmer. They Had me lie down on a table. Then it slides into a cylindrical thing that spins at a high rate of speed. Occasionally a loud voice will say "hold you breath" and then "breathe". At some point during the test they infuse the contrast. It is done by a machine and the tech doesn't have to come back in. I have had a number of CT scans with contrast. In makes your entire body get warm. I was ready for it but this time it was different. It was not a slow warm feeling. It was super hot immediately and it was hard for me to catch my breath. When the tech came in I asked her why it was like that and she said they infuse it extremely fast so they can get the arterial phase of the vessels. That would have been nice to know so I knew what to expect.

The test wasn't too bad. I won't know anything about results until I go to the plastic surgeon later today.

On my way home from work Monday I had to get a chest xray. It was fast and easy. I am pretty sure I will glow soon if I don't already.

Later today I have to go to the plastic surgeon. This time tomorrow I will be in surgery.

I would like to thank everyone for the tremendous support. It has been really great and I really appreciate it. I love you all!