Life is different today... I'm boobless in Seattle! I can't believe I'm already home. Itchy, attractive drains hanging off each side, percocet in hand... but not feeling all that bad. I'm surprised I feel this good and I'm very relieved it's over. I was just sorry I was asleep and missed the party my husband and good friends, Joy and Stephanie, were having in the waiting room! It was nice to know they were there waiting for me and cheering me on. I am blessed that so many people were praying for me and holding me up. People I haven't heard from in years have found me to tell me they are thinking of me. It's a very humbling experience.
I'm glad to be home as sleep was very elusive in the hospital. Lights on and off, machines beeping, blood pressure checks every few hours, 6 different nurses in 24 ...no, 23 hours. Insurance gives you 23 hours and boom... you're kicked to the curb! What's next...drive-thru surgery? I did appreciate the hospital stay, especially the push button pain meds! Hospital food - not so much. I spent my evening in the hospital Hilton kicking back, nodding off and listening to GOP Vice Presidential Nominee Sarah Palin's speech. WOW! I was glad I stayed awake long enough to hear her... she's a pistol! Now the race is becoming interesting.
I've got to wait for results for the node and tissue biopsy until Tuesday and find out what's next. My long time friend, Nancy, came to see me at the hospital before I left today. We speak the same language now. She's in her third battle with cancer. Breast cancer the first time at 44 when she had a lumpectomy, a double mastectomy 8 years later, and now 8 years later again, ovarian cancer, a hysterectomy and rounds of chemo... again. Nancy has BRACA1 gene mutation. Her sister had breast cancer before she did. Nancy has 4 daughters and one of those daughters is having a biopsy this week. Nancy is a breast cancer sister, a fighter, a survivor, a prayer warrior. She is funny and crazy and I love her to pieces. She has my same doctors, a scary family history, and way too much experience with treatment protocols... and now we are sisters by circumstance.
