Homeward: Aggressive rest

Pancakes, anyone?

I came home Friday afternoon, about 24 hours after I came out of surgery. Technically my walking papers were signed earlier, but the coordination of all the things took a while. As expected, I had a JP drain on each side and instructions to empty them twice a day and record their output. They had me wrapped up tight in a bias wrap that they said to keep on for as long as possible, but at least until Sunday, after which I would move to the compression bras they gave me. All of this helps manage the swelling, which is real. I was also supposed to check my temperature regularly, just in case of infection. 

I met up with my PT a few days later and got started on exercises. Because I was feeling so good, the main thing she told me was that I needed to be cognizant of not overdoing it. She gave me a rundown of a few things that could happen if I do. Her prescription for me was to "aggressively rest." 

I am trained for many things. I have a biology phd, in which I have done a ridiculous number of things. I have run a full research lab. I have trained circus on several apparatus. I left biology behind to co-run a synth company where I design schematics and pcbs, and deal with all the business crap. This is to say that I am good at a lot of things.

Rest is not one of them.

By Tuesday, our weekly team meeting (on Zoom) seemed like the height of excitement (and to be honest, I love our team, so it generally is pretty fun). I have stayed mostly off the computer and have gotten extremely good at voice-to-text work, although it consistently misspells both my and Stephen's names, so you can tell when I am using it pretty easily. I have read a ton of books on my kindle because all the non-fiction I'd hoped to read and do some professional development during this time are too heavy and I am relegated to mostly being on my back. Mostly, I am bored af.

I monitored the drains and by Wednesday, they were ready to come out, and I was ready for them to come out. This was exacerbated by two things. First, throughout this. I had no real pain issues other than some burning sensation, which I attributed to the fact that I had indeed had a somewhat big surgery...but then on Sunday, I realized that no, it was because there was tape on me. I discussed previously that I am allergic to adhesives, so no need to rehash, but the tl;dr version is that there was some tape that I couldn't get off, and by Wednesday, my belly and arms were a disaster.

Also Wednesday night, the right drain started seeping from my side, which seemed like a not-good thing. 

I called and her scheduler got me in Thursday morning. The surgeon and a nurse prepped to removed the drains. She joked about using me as a table to hold all the items they needed while they prepped for this; y'all, it's the first time in my life that I COULD be a table, and that was kind of fun. Then they each stood on one side and they pulled the drains simultaneously. I have no words for how strange a feeling this was. Not uncomfortable, not painful, not anything but...weird.

I see her again on Tuesday for a real follow up. She also has referred me out to a medical oncologist for the oncopanel. I wish I could stick with her, to be honest, but that's not how specialties work. I'll learn in July about the outcome with chemo. NO CHEMO NO CHEMO NO CHEMO.

ALSO. I realized I forgot one of the key moments from the hospital. I previously wrote about the day before surgery when they injected me with radiation. On the day OF surgery, they put some blue dye in under the nipples (isosulfan blue) and wait to see where it goes, to see which lymph node(s) to take out. Of course, not all the dye comes out in the nodes, so I had to clear it somehow. 

My first bathroom break post-op took the poor nurse by surprise. I was not quite steady enough on my feet to look but the next time, I noticed that I was peeing electric blue (in homage to a favorite Australian band of mine?). Like SMURF blue. Sadly, it didn't take long to pass, but it was fun while it lasted.