Saturday 01/15/11

Yesterday (Fri) was another full day. I took Shannon to his doctor’s appointment at 8:30 and then went and had some breakfast. I had to be fasting 6 hours before the porta-cath so I wanted to have a good breakfast that would last. As usual I ate less than half of it. But I took the remaining amount “to go” so Shannon could have it later. I went back and picked Shannon up and we headed up to the chiropractor to have my neck adjusted. All this sitting, lying down, and body changes, puts a few vertebra out of whack. Shannon still hadn’t eaten so we went to the lab to have his labs drawn.

I was originally scheduled to be at the hospital at 12:30, then then they postponed it to 1:30, then to 3:30 and finally to 4:30. I didn’t actually go in to surgery until 8pm. The procedure was supposed to take about an hour but due to problems the doctor had with finding a suitable vein it took 4 hours. He cut on the right side first, and then had to go to the left side. He puts one cut right where the shoulder meets the chest and another cut on the side of my neck. He was finally able to get it into my juggler vein. I was under general anesthetic so it took time for recovery. Huge tip for anyone who wears makeup. Any time you even think you might have general anesthetic, make sure you don’t go into surgery with eye makeup on. When I came out of the anesthetic I couldn’t open my left eye. Felt like there was sand in it. Apparently some mascara worked its way under my eyelid and with my eyes taped shut during the surgery and I ended up with an abrasion on my upper eye. OUCH! We didn’t get home until 3:30am this morning. I hadn’t eaten anything since breakfast the day before so I was really hungry. The recovery nurse told me to take it easy so Shannon made some chicken broth for me when we got home. I slept in my recliner. I woke up around 8:30am.

I feel rather beat up today. It is difficult to move my arms and swallowing makes my neck hurt. My eye no longer hurts but the ascites is making it difficult to breathe again. I just had a paracentesis on Wed but it appears I’ll have to go back to the ER and have another one. Not sure if I can even wait until tomorrow.

There was a lot of blood in my hair so Shannon had to wash it. He took his time to comb out all the tangles and it didn’t even hurt. He has been so wonderful. It is very difficult for someone as independent as me to feel so helpless. I hate feeling like a burden. But both Shannon and Lindsay have done whatever has been necessary for me. And trust me, there have been experiences I never would have dreamed I would be sharing with my daughter or husband. I am very grateful and fortunate to have both of them.