April 6, 2016

It's probably kind of ... odd to call the day you have cancer surgery a good day. But hey, I'm embracing the oddness.
We reported to the hospital at 9 a.m. sharp, and soon I was in a green hospital gown, waiting to be taken to radiology for a lymphoscintigraphy. I knew it wasn't going to be good - the nurse didn't talk about what it was, just kind of said "you'll go down for your lympho, and then up to surgery!" like she didn't want to talk about it.
The nuclear medicine person filled me in. Four shots of radioactive material just barely into/under the skin of the nipple. "We've tried different ways to numb the area," she says, "but they all just ended up hurting more." So, it turns out the worst part of the day was to be the first part of the day. Yikes.
Actually, it wasn't all that bad. It hurt, but it wasn't a prolonged shot - that's what I expected, because that's what it's like when they numb you up for a biopsy. This was a quick, intense pain, but then it lessened pretty fast. Maybe the radiologist talked it up so much to make me feel brave for getting through it. (It worked.)
After the shots, I spent about an hour in a big machine to provide a "map" of my lymphatic system, so the surgeon would know which lymph node to remove and examine to determine if the cancer has spread.
And after that, more barbaric fun - the radiologist used a needle to thread a wire into my tumor, giving the surgeon a well-lit path for the surgery. Uncomfortable, but not all that bad.
Then, finally, I was wheeled into the pre-op room. I talked to the anesthesiologist and my surgeon while an unlucky nurse tried multiple times to start an IV. It turns out the veins on my right side aren't easy to stick.=( Eventually, the nurse anesthetist gave it a couple tries and finally succeeded. Everyone apologized (over and over) about all the tries, but it wasn't that bad, either. (Plus, I knew the good drugs were on their way ...)
The last thing I remember is the nurse anesthetist giving me something that would relax me. Then I woke up in my hospital room, and Jeff came in - with Jen, and Tom! Tom had borrowed a car from a friend at Cornell and drove in to surprise me. It worked, and seeing both Tom and Jen made me almost unreasonably happy. =)
Jeff's parents came in a few minutes later, and we all had a nice visit. Jeff filled all of us in on the surgery - either 4 or 5 lymph nodes were removed, along with what the surgeon is pretty sure is all of the cancerous tumor. Final testing will take a few days.
I'm kind of sore - watching the clock, in fact, for my next dose of Norco - but we have finally started getting rid of this cancer crap, and I'm happy.
That's right - happy. (Take that, cancer.) I have an incredible family I love to pieces, and a good life. And I've started to kick cancer's ass.