Slash update -- not from Guns N Roses.

Slash! Poison! Burn! – My doctor’s description of how we’re going to get rid of this cancer.

It has been a week since “the slash” (my surgery). And for the most part, my spirits have been up and physically I’ve been fine.

Yesterday I met with my surgeon again. He finally took out this drainage tube, which was VERY annoying. (It’s hard to wash your hair when you have to hold the drainage bulb in one hand while trying to scrub your hair with the other). It was inconvenient (bulging out of my clothes) and uncomfortable. So I was happy to be rid of it. Apparently, my husband informed me, when I have my reconstruction, I will have a few drainage tubes on each side, and for longer. But no need to worry about that now.

I was hoping with the tube gone to get some exercise in today…at least a long walk, as the doctor said I should be okay to run by next week. But for some reason, I’m in more pain today. Maybe from lifting the kids the past couple days??? I’m not sure, but it seems harder to raise my arm today, and I’m just experiencing more discomfort than I have since I returned from the hospital. I haven’t really had to take any pain killers since earlier this week, but today, I think I’ll pop a Vicodin at nap time, and see how that works, because the ibuprofen I took this morning did nothing (and yes, I did have my coffee).

Back to the slash….The initial shock of the scar wasn’t too earth shattering. I had seen pictures, so I knew how deformed I was going to be. When I showed Melvin, he was all “It’s beautiful,” as he analyzed the sutures up close. What a surgical nerd! But I guess his response was better than when Cameron walked into the bathroom one day when I was getting ready and wrinkled up his nose, saying, “Ew gross!” Max was already so spooked by the whole hospital experience that I wasn’t about to emotionally scar him anymore by showing him what we call “my oweee.” (Though I have to admit, one time when he was crying for me to pick him up…for no good reason…and he wouldn’t stop, I flashed my drainage tube to remind him of why I couldn’t. He quickly backed away from me and didn’t ask me to pick him up for a couple days. Cruel, but effective!).

Besides the scar from the surgery, and now pencil size hole I have under my arm from the drainage tube, I also have this porta cath, which might be the grossest thing of all. Ever see the movie The Mummy, where those little cockroach creatures get under the skin of the man and crawl up his body. That’s what this looks like. Of course, it doesn’t crawl, but a couple inches below my neck is a quarter size ball, that protrudes out, with a small tube, also outlined in my skin, that leads up to a pea size ball, which leads into my vein (or artery or something). In the correct light, you can see it all very clearly, just underneath my skin. It’s creepy actually. But Dr. Sanan said it will be my friend when it comes time to chemotherapy. This way, they’ll just stab the “giant cockroach” (as I’ll refer to it now), instead of always struggling to find a vein.

Speaking of chemo, I have a couple weeks of healing, and then on Oct. 2nd, I meet with an oncologist. She’ll mix up my little “recipe,” and then we’ll start the next phase (Poison!) of completely obliterating this cancer.