6 days post op

I am now 6 days post op and healing well. I went shopping yetsterday. I was exhausted and sore last night. Everything is moving along smoothly though. I haven't taken any painkillers today so far and drove for the first time today also. My inscions are bruised and itchy today. Last night I was able to sleep comfortably on my side again which is helping in the sleeping through the night situation. I still can't bend over very well. I am having hot flashes and am kind of an emotional wreck. My post op appt is July 5th, so I will be sure to update after that. I am still getting waves of nausea, lightheadedness and cramping. Like bad period cramping that makes you want to double over, but you can't, cause that hurts just as badly!

HOME!!

Surgery was thurs morning at 8 am. The worst part by far was the fact that they could not get an IV started (which has never been an issue for me) and after 6 sticks, yes, 6 sticks they finally got it started. I was all fiesty at that point. We had to be there at 500 am. I hadn't eaten, I had bowel prep the day before. The anesthesiologist came in and figured out how mouthy I have become before the drugs and said,,,yep we need to sedate you!!!! Everyone was wonderful though. All of my nurses were great. Recovery went well, and I was brought back to the surgical post op to spend the night. Pain was minimal and controlled with Lortab and an antinausea medication as well. I was up and walking through the night. I was discharged at about 10 am Friday. At moms now resting. I can't bend over, but I'm not in much pain, so I can't really complain about anything.

Preop and Prep

Preop went really well yesterday. They took 5 viles of blood, a urine sample and all my medical/surgical history. I have to wear a red arm band until I am discharged from the hospital, it has my blood type/cross unit number on it. So it is a fancy new accessory. Prep today isn't that bad. I really liked Jello and Gatorade....probably after today, not so much though! I have to be at the hospital (an hour and half away) at 5 am tomorrow. Surgery is set for 730!

CA125

CA-125 is a protien that is a so-called tumor marker or biomarker, which is a substance that is found in greater concentration in tumor cells than in other cells in the body. In particular, CA-125 is present in greater concentration in ovarian cancer cells than in other cells. Normal values can be argued, however most labs show values of less than 35 as normal. (My baseline was 9 and has been around this level ever since.)


My CA-125 level was 12 in October 2010. With everything going on right now, I was nervous to have my CA-125 drawn last week. But I did. I was called today with the results...May 2011 my level is 10. This is reassuring at least with everything that is going on with my ovaries right now!

I got a date with a robot....

June 23, 2011


That is the day I will say goodbye to my uterus and ovaries via robotic surgery. I will be doing more research and will update periodically. Right now I have to focus on the next sugery which is actually boob related.

Food for thought: If a girl gets a push present for pushing out a baby from her uterus, what does a girl get for removing the whole uterus?

I'm good with definititions....

I had a second ultrasound yesterday....the perks of working for radiologists and the art of persuasion at its finest!


During this ultrasound, the tech also found a small hyperechoic lesion on my left ovary...that's right the left ovary. The lesion on the right ovary was still present, essentially the stable in size since my ultrasound a month ago. Dr. S read the ultrasound (he is who ruled out the hemmorrhagic cyst on the last ultrasound) and found that the tiny (5 mm) lesion on the left was actually present back in October as well. As for both the right and left lesions, his differential is either a dermoid or a teratoma. Essentially the same things. ***Complex cysts often containing fat, hair, skin cells. They are typically benign. When found in the ovaries they most likely need to be surgically removed as they can cause torsion of the ovary causing severe pain and circumvent the blood flow to the ovary. ***

So the recommendation is that the right ovary must be removed. So I am back in the same situation. If I'm taking one, let's do it all. I'm sure I will be getting more information as the day goes on, so I will keep everyone posted.

The long story...

For those of you wanting more information on my genetic status and mastectomy, here is the original blog!

www.starspbm.blogspot.com