the day after

they took my last post away. i had blogged the day before my surgery. now it is gone. why they took it i will never know. it is only words i am writing to myself, and they were important to me. now those words are lost.
i know, i should word them and then save them in word before i post them in the blog. if i did that, i would not lose them.
i know in the lost post i finally admitted i am afraid. i know i told about where i almost choked up and let my fear show in front of my family, but i saved face when i felt it trying to sneak out. the kids don't need to know i am afraid. it would only make them feel more afraid themselves. and what about the grandkids? they do not need to see nana being afraid more so than the kids need to see mom being afraid.
i think i was more afraid of the surgery in itself than the fear of having breast cancer.
today is the day after my biopsy surgery. i am still feeling a hangover, most likely from the anesthesia. my breast is swollen and it hurts. ibuprofen is controlling the pain, even though they did give me a pain reliever that is a bit stronger. i will take that if the pain worsens, but otherwise i will use the ibuprofen.
yesterday began early. i was to be at the hospital by 0730, and i was. they signed me in, took me to change into hospital attire, then off for another mammogram.
it is a funny feeling to feel healthy and be carted around in a wheelchair, by one of your former co-workers even. the nurse who signed me in was one of my former nursing classmates. people all around me were people i knew from working with or school, or some other way. very few knew the reason i was there, and i kept it that way. the only former co-worker who knew why i was there was the one assisting with the mammogram.
at the mammogram, i was squeezed and crushed and pinched all over again. when they got me in the position they wanted they numbed to the back of my left breast, nearly under my arm, and inserted a wire to point out the mini calcifications that they wanted the surgeon to remove and test. of course the wire was left in. yes, it hurt. yes, it was uncomfortable.
and they squeezed and crushed again to make sure the wire stayed in place after the needle was removed.
i was returned to the day surgery waiting area where i waited, and waited. they transferred me from a recliner chair to a gurney bed, and i waited more. there was three anesthesiologists who came and asked me the same questions and each had me open my mouth. yes, i am allergic to all those things. yes, i have a hard time awakening from anethesia. yes, i have had other surgeries.
my daughter said that i answered all that four times. i probably did. i do not remember really.
my oldest daughter sat at my bedside while my youngest daughter texted her from her work floor above. she snuck downstairs sometime before i went into surgery.
i was hooked to a monitor, iv site was established. ouch.
then around 1100 they told me it was time and i was given the beginning dose of the sedative. i was almost out by the time i was taken to the surgical room. one of my very favorite co-workers was an RN on the surgical team.
i have no idea how long it took. i only know that as i said would happen, i was having difficulty waking up. there is a bandage to the outside of my left breast, barely under my arm. i still have the iv fluids going and the oxygen saturation thing still taped to my thumb. everything is so uncomfortable.
my daughter said i had been sleeping for about 4 hours. it must have been very short because it is about 1530 by the clock that i could see. i hear my daughter telling the nurse that i keep waking up, but only staying awake for a few seconds. i want to go home, so i force myself to wake up. i make myself sit up and stay awake. i do not want to be here anymore. i can sleep at home.
they had brung me a diet soda to drink because i am diabetic. it is nasty. another of my old classmates pops in and is talking to my daughter. of course i can leave if i can drink. i told her if i could have real soda and not diet i could drink it. she brought me real soda. it was good, i think more because it was wet. i ate some cookies too, and they did nauseate me a little.
my younger daughter shows up, i get my orders and my clothes. they remove all of the wires and such then i dress. one of the girls i know brings a wheelchair for me to go out in. i need to use the toilet which is only feet from me. i asked her if i had to ride that far in the wheel chair and every one laughed at me. i walked and made it safely. finally i was wheeled away.
after stopping at the pharmacy to pick up my medications, watched over by my youngest daughter, my oldest daughter drove up and snatched me away home. i know i must have slept on the way because i do not remember most of the trip.
at home i ate some chicken noodle soup and made myself comfortable on the sofa. through naps and people coming, i was able to watch grey's anatomy and private practice, then i announced i was going to bed, and i did.
after waking up multiple times through the night, my sort of son in law popped his head in the bedroom to check on me, and it was time for me to get up and get the grandchildren off to school.
i feel lousy. it is an anesthesia hangover. my breast hurts, but like i mentioned earlier, it is not too bad. i find myself keeping my arm close to my side, protecting my breast, and not using the arm itself too much. i don't even have to think about it. it just stays there.
the hospital has called to check on my condition. they are good about that.
now there is the wait again. results should be in monday.
i hate waiting.