I’m home! That’s kind of a bad thing because that means they didn’t find a benign tumor, but it sure was nice to be able to come home and sleep in my own bed!
On a 0-10 scale, my pain is right about 9.9. I’m hoping it’s just from the surgery yesterday though. Dr. Conrad seemed to think that the biopsy would relieve some of the pain, but then again, he didn’t really see what he had expected to see either.
I got to the hospital at 5:30. It was nice being the first appointment of the day because I didn’t get delayed. A little after 5:30 they wheeled me back to a pre-op room where they made me put on a really cute hospital gown, stockings and all of that fun stuff. Only one person could be with me at a time back there so everyone had ten minute shifts. Kim (my sister) came back with me first, then Joe, then dad, then mom and then Joe was the last to be with me. They brought a stretcher to me and I left that area and my whole family walked with me back to where I met the anesthesiologist and then they had to go to the surgery waiting area.
The anesthesiologist was a resident doctor named Juan. He was really cute and had an awesome accent, so it made things a little easier. :) Except for the fact that he couldn’t find a vein for the IV. His exact words were, “So Ms. Katie, did you bring any veins with you today?” He kept saying “little poke, little poke” with no success of finding a vein. I have 5 little spots on each hand where he tried to get it and one of the “little pokes” on my left hand caused a big bruise! After about 25 minutes of this, he finally went and got the head anesthesiologist doctor (and his professor) and he found one on my arm right away and got it in. This little ordeal caused my surgery to start about 20 minutes late!
After they got the IV in the wheeled me to the OR. I don’t remember much about this part, as they started getting the drugs in to me at about this time, but I do remember seeing a huge flat screen TV. They were watching Sports Center! Haha, not really. It was a TV with my MRI on it so they could see what area they needed to work on. I remember seeing a whole bunch of people, including Dr. Conrad, but I don’t remember anything else.
I woke up and Dr. Conrad told my family that the first thing I said was, “Have you done the surgery yet?” I don’t remember that, I just remember waking up in the recovery room and talking to the nurse. They said I woke up really fast and from the time I woke up, I stayed awake the rest of the day. I didn’t get sick or anything. I was in an incredible amount of pain though. They gave me morphine in my IV…that hardly helped.
Anyway, they told me in recovery that I didn’t have to spend the night. I was a little upset, because I knew that mean it wasn’t a benign tumor, but so happy to be able to go home! I think that was part of my motivation to stay awake…I just wanted to get out of that place (and go to Buca di Beppo for dinner)!!!
They took the IV out and let me get dressed and then they sent us to the place that I was at on Monday to get a CT scan. Before they sent me they called to make sure I wouldn’t have to get an IV there…if they said I would need one, they could’ve left it in, but they told the nurse to “pull it.” As soon as I got to the CT place, they told me I would have to get an IV. I was so pissed!!! Especially after the traumatic experience I had earlier in the morning! I had to drink two big containers of barium sulfate. It was the most disgusting thing I’ve ever tasted. I’d have to say that was by far the worst part of the day!!
After that it was homeward bound. The ride home was rough with traffic and the fact that all of us had been up since 4, but we made it. We stopped and had a bite to eat at The Cheesecake Factory (Buca di Beppo was closed). I was pretty hungry and it was the first time I actually had an appetite for a few days, so it tasted pretty good!
Anyway, that was my day. Unfortunately for us, Dr. Conrad doesn’t really know what’s going on. It didn’t look at all at what he thought it would. It wasn’t an obvious cancerous tumor, it wasn’t a benign tumor, and he couldn’t tell if it was an infection. He was able to tell us though, that even if it is cancer, I wont have to have the surgery that he thought I would have to have (cut off bottom half of femur, knee replacement).
They took 5 vials out of my bone and sent it to pathology. If it’s an infection, I’ll have to be hooked up to an IV for three months, if it’s cancer I’ll just have to have chemo and radiation. The only discouraging part for me is the fact that we still don’t have an answer and I'm still in excruciating pain. Even when I’m sitting or laying down, I have a huge amount of pain.
He told me to go to Maui and enjoy myself since they wont know anything for 10 days. I have to be really careful about blood clots though since I’ll be flying so soon after having surgery. I have to wear really awesome knee high stockings on the plane and get up and walk around every hour. We’re going to call today and request emergency row seats so I can have more room to stretch out and elevate my leg. I wont be able to do much in Maui….I may not even be able to go on the beach, but Maui is Maui. It will be wonderful no matter what! I’ll be taking my wheelchair (we were able to rent one) and my crutches. I never would’ve imagined that I would be going to Maui like this!
Alright, it’s been 4 hours since my last drug dose, so I gotta go eat a cracker and pop some more pills.
Joe and I (and his parents) leave tomorrow at 12:40 and my side of the family (mom, dad, sister, bro-in-law, Staples) lave on Monday. I’ll be in touch!
Love, Katie
On a 0-10 scale, my pain is right about 9.9. I’m hoping it’s just from the surgery yesterday though. Dr. Conrad seemed to think that the biopsy would relieve some of the pain, but then again, he didn’t really see what he had expected to see either.
I got to the hospital at 5:30. It was nice being the first appointment of the day because I didn’t get delayed. A little after 5:30 they wheeled me back to a pre-op room where they made me put on a really cute hospital gown, stockings and all of that fun stuff. Only one person could be with me at a time back there so everyone had ten minute shifts. Kim (my sister) came back with me first, then Joe, then dad, then mom and then Joe was the last to be with me. They brought a stretcher to me and I left that area and my whole family walked with me back to where I met the anesthesiologist and then they had to go to the surgery waiting area.
The anesthesiologist was a resident doctor named Juan. He was really cute and had an awesome accent, so it made things a little easier. :) Except for the fact that he couldn’t find a vein for the IV. His exact words were, “So Ms. Katie, did you bring any veins with you today?” He kept saying “little poke, little poke” with no success of finding a vein. I have 5 little spots on each hand where he tried to get it and one of the “little pokes” on my left hand caused a big bruise! After about 25 minutes of this, he finally went and got the head anesthesiologist doctor (and his professor) and he found one on my arm right away and got it in. This little ordeal caused my surgery to start about 20 minutes late!
After they got the IV in the wheeled me to the OR. I don’t remember much about this part, as they started getting the drugs in to me at about this time, but I do remember seeing a huge flat screen TV. They were watching Sports Center! Haha, not really. It was a TV with my MRI on it so they could see what area they needed to work on. I remember seeing a whole bunch of people, including Dr. Conrad, but I don’t remember anything else.
I woke up and Dr. Conrad told my family that the first thing I said was, “Have you done the surgery yet?” I don’t remember that, I just remember waking up in the recovery room and talking to the nurse. They said I woke up really fast and from the time I woke up, I stayed awake the rest of the day. I didn’t get sick or anything. I was in an incredible amount of pain though. They gave me morphine in my IV…that hardly helped.
Anyway, they told me in recovery that I didn’t have to spend the night. I was a little upset, because I knew that mean it wasn’t a benign tumor, but so happy to be able to go home! I think that was part of my motivation to stay awake…I just wanted to get out of that place (and go to Buca di Beppo for dinner)!!!
They took the IV out and let me get dressed and then they sent us to the place that I was at on Monday to get a CT scan. Before they sent me they called to make sure I wouldn’t have to get an IV there…if they said I would need one, they could’ve left it in, but they told the nurse to “pull it.” As soon as I got to the CT place, they told me I would have to get an IV. I was so pissed!!! Especially after the traumatic experience I had earlier in the morning! I had to drink two big containers of barium sulfate. It was the most disgusting thing I’ve ever tasted. I’d have to say that was by far the worst part of the day!!
After that it was homeward bound. The ride home was rough with traffic and the fact that all of us had been up since 4, but we made it. We stopped and had a bite to eat at The Cheesecake Factory (Buca di Beppo was closed). I was pretty hungry and it was the first time I actually had an appetite for a few days, so it tasted pretty good!
Anyway, that was my day. Unfortunately for us, Dr. Conrad doesn’t really know what’s going on. It didn’t look at all at what he thought it would. It wasn’t an obvious cancerous tumor, it wasn’t a benign tumor, and he couldn’t tell if it was an infection. He was able to tell us though, that even if it is cancer, I wont have to have the surgery that he thought I would have to have (cut off bottom half of femur, knee replacement).
They took 5 vials out of my bone and sent it to pathology. If it’s an infection, I’ll have to be hooked up to an IV for three months, if it’s cancer I’ll just have to have chemo and radiation. The only discouraging part for me is the fact that we still don’t have an answer and I'm still in excruciating pain. Even when I’m sitting or laying down, I have a huge amount of pain.
He told me to go to Maui and enjoy myself since they wont know anything for 10 days. I have to be really careful about blood clots though since I’ll be flying so soon after having surgery. I have to wear really awesome knee high stockings on the plane and get up and walk around every hour. We’re going to call today and request emergency row seats so I can have more room to stretch out and elevate my leg. I wont be able to do much in Maui….I may not even be able to go on the beach, but Maui is Maui. It will be wonderful no matter what! I’ll be taking my wheelchair (we were able to rent one) and my crutches. I never would’ve imagined that I would be going to Maui like this!
Alright, it’s been 4 hours since my last drug dose, so I gotta go eat a cracker and pop some more pills.
Joe and I (and his parents) leave tomorrow at 12:40 and my side of the family (mom, dad, sister, bro-in-law, Staples) lave on Monday. I’ll be in touch!
Love, Katie
1 comment:
is that you with no make up?! You're hot!!!! Anyway what an ordeal...all of this puts so many things into perspective. I can't believe we got mad at each other when we were 15 and stopped being friends for the most stupid reasons. Anyway, I know the feeling of being home-it's a wonderful thing. Give Suby a cuddle for me. Enjoy getting to wear sweats! (one of my most favorite things in the world,haha).
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