I'll be back soon enough to continue this thread with an update.

'02 Check out my CAP_INFO, and join my new WEBSITE. Coach Del Rio: "Respect every opponnent, and fear nobody."

God bless and keep your head up.  Everyone is praying for you.

There are now two gashes in my body. There's a long slit down my back from the initial procudure. This slash seems to be doing ok. My wife was able to easily take the bandage off enough to take a look at it, and it's not oozing or doing anything they said to look out for, however the shirt I'm wearing is all bloodied up. If my replacement shirt gets bloody there might be some concern there. The reason for this slit was to place radioactive dye in my back so they could track where it goes.

The other gash is under my right underarm. This is where they took out the centinal node to be detected, although I'm actually wondering if the surgeon took out the correct node. I say this because the gal who did my imagine a month ago suggested the dye was going towards my other node, and when the surgeon got to the node he took out he said the dye hadn't even reached it. Although he did say there was some traces of radioactivity, so I suppose they could have done either node. Then again, I'm sure he knew what he was doing.

With all of this I have a few more concerns that almost trump the basic concerns of my back healing up and finding out about cancer. Of course I say "almost" because those are the primary concerns, but these concerns are bugging me...

1. LOST comes on tonight, but it's airing opposite the final episode of American Idol, and per my wife that's what the tube will be tuned to. Even my begging in pain won't change that, so does anyone know if they have plans to re-air the 2 hour LOST special?
2. I'm supposed to have my wife also check the wound under my arm, but when we started to remove part of the bandage it hurts like stick. They're stuck to some really sensative skin, so I told her to not even bother. It feels ok, so I figure I just have to hope for the best there. I mean it REALLY hurts trying to take them off.
3. This one actually seems to trump all of my other concerns by a mile, and has me questioning the competence of my anesthesiologist. They said they had difficulties while operating due to my breathing. I have sleep apnia (not officially diagnosed, but I know I have it), and they couldn't risk me gasping for breath. Well, they ended up shoving the darn breathing tube so far down my throat that is scratched the heck out of my upper lining. Every last swallow hurts like a mo fo, and it even hurts when I cough. I'm actually worried about eating, which I still haven't done yet. The dude went so far down with this tube that I actually coughed up blood while they were operating, and I'm taking Oxycodine pills while sucking on Cepacol lozenges to deal with the pain in my throat. If it wasn't for this concern, I probably wouldn't need any meds.

Thanks for all  your concerns. It wasn't that invasive of a surgery as I'm able to move around fine already with no pain. Of course the meds might still be working so I'm not sure how I'll feel in the morning, but so far so good. My work is letting me go into negative sick pay hours to cover these three days and Monday is a holiday, but I need to be back at work on Tuesday. They said to leave the bandages on for a couple days with no shower, but then after that I should be able to just take them off without ever needing to change them. Finally, I should know the results about whether the melanoma has spread at some point late next week. You know I'll keep you posted.

 

'02 Check out my CAP_INFO, and join my new WEBSITE. Coach Del Rio: "Respect every opponnent, and fear nobody."

*** cracks open beer in honor of 02 ***

Don't Take Life Too Seriously Get Well, 76

..................just for laughs and to keep your spirits up.

Don't Take Life Too Seriously Get Well, 76