Surgery Day

Surgery was scheduled for April 9th at 9:15 which meant we had to be there at 7:15. I didn't really eat the day before (or many days before that!) and couldn't  drink past midnight. My mouth was unbearably dry so I kept running to the bathroom to rinse and spit.

Honestly I barely remember changing clothes. I do know I had to have a pregnancy test which was difficult to do considering I hadn't been able to drink. I met nurses, anesthesiologists, and got to see my surgeon. I was given an epidural to manage the pain and make recovery easier. Narcotics block you up and that's the last thing you want when you have a colon resection.

The epidural went pretty smoothly. I was completely unfamiliar as I had all my babies at home. But I had the utmost confidence in my pain management team even after only having just met them moments before. Shortly after the epidural was put in I was wheeled away into the operating room. Big, sterile, bright, overwhelming. loaded with people-that's how I remember it. I saw my surgeon. He asked me to lift my gown and put my left leg in a stirrup and the next thing I knew I was in the recovery room.

I remember Dr. Stryker coming in and saying "The surgery went great!", but I could only respond by saying "It hurts! It hurts! It hurts!". And it did. Apparently there is a short time between coming out of surgery and recovering where the anesthesia must wear off before the epidural really kicks in. I remember feeling my abdomen and asking if I had a bag. The nurse told me no, there was no bag. Good news #1.

It wasn't long before I was being brought up to my room, pretty much close to pain free.
As I was being wheeled into my room I kept trying to see the look on Jim's face and decipher it. He didn't look happy (nor sad) and it was making me nervous. When I asked him he said it went great. The dr. came out almost an hour earlier than expected, thrilled with the result, said that he was concerned the tumor may have left the wall a little bit, but it was altogether in one tight mass. He took 16 lymph nodes and to him, they looked good. I had to double check with Katie (she insisted on coming) whether any of this was true because Jim was his usual hard to read self. She confirmed it was and joked with Jim that he was really bad at this kind of thing.

And so I felt ok. The pain was tolerable. Jim stayed the first night. I walked a bit the second day. Katie stayed the second night. I walked more and more. Jim stayed again and then Ruth stayed. I was getting better every day, eating (what I could-hospital food is truly awful), and feeling stronger. I was released the 5th day after I had met all the requirements.
I took one Norco after my epidural was removed and one when I got home and I haven't looked back. Despite having to deal with my final period and minor aches and pains, I would say it was a snap.
On the day of my release my surgeon came in. He said again how great the surgery went. He said he had received the pathology report and the bit of tumor he thought was exiting the bowel wall was actually a lymph node. He said the tumor remained within the walls, but there was a lymph node resting on top of the wall where the tumor was and it indeed had cancer cells in it. At this point I melted a little bit ,but he wouldn't have it. I said "Oh my God", and he said "Oh my God what?! You're fine, you're going to be fine. There were barely any cells in it and everything else looks great! I took 16 total lymph nodes 15 of which were clear. You may have to have chemo, but it won't be your neighbor with breast cancer's chemo. You'll keep your hair and be able to work. You are fine!".
And with that I decided to believe him.