Well, tomorrow it will be two weeks since they took out 2/3 of my right lung. Been meaning to do this for awhile. but when the mood to write strikes, the lap top was either in use or in accessible. Finally figured to hell with it, however this comes out it comes out.
Dr. Sherwood did a great job, they ended up going through the sternum, the tumor was too large for them to do it any other way, and to be honest even though I have a scar you can see unless I wear a turtle neck I am glad they did it that way, I think it was the less painful approach. At least I think I was; either that or I really do have a high tolerance to pain.
I spent five days in the hospital, feeling fairly good, well as good as you could feel being hooked up to a pain pump that was attached to you through an epidural, drain tubes and Foley.
I thought that sleeping would be a problem, but at the hospital and at home the first few nights being propped up on a slight incline seemed to do the number.
While I was in the hospital I started having a problem with my right arm swelling up, and I do mean swelling. To the point it was making the skin in areas of the arm very tender. Oh yeah, and the right boob swelled too. It is bigger than the left now, noticeably. They have no idea why the boob is swelling; they swear they didn’t do anything to it, well other than cut under it.
Anyway back to the arm. Dr. Sherwood decided to put a drain into the front of my chest on the right side just below the collar bone to help with the swelling and hopefully drain the fluid. Numbed me up, and inserted the tube. I didn’t watch because it was in a very awkward spot to try to watch. I know Jasmine seemed fascinated by it, but she ended up not watching because it made her want to pass out. Lots of fluid drained out, and Friday when they pulled the drain tubes (by the way that hurts) the one on the chest was still draining.
I don’t think they thought it would drain like it did, they bandaged it up and told me to leave it for two days and then just take it off, well, the plastic sticky that they put over the gauze could only hold back so much liquid before it started leaking. Trust me there is nothing worse than waking up in the middle of the night because the front of your shirt is wet.
For three days and nights I ended up using sanitary pads on the drainage spot. SUPER PLUS pads. And they would soak. But at least I figured a way to live through the day without having the front of my shirt soaking wet.
Come on now, no it wasn’t blood; it wasn’t clear red or even pinkish. The fluid was a clear yellowish, reminds me of the fluid that helps form scabs. Yes, I used to pick at my scabs as a kid. All kids do, don’t they?
The opening healed and I am still having issues with the arm swelling, it swells so much that you can touch it and leaves an indentation. Very funny I suppose. And yes the right boob is still swollen; trust me not the way to get a boob job. Very tender.
Any way I started feeling kind of tired and winded, like my lung capacity was reducing instead of improving. I mean when I got out of the hospital I felt good, and figured Jasmine and I could go to the Torpedo Factory (factory that used to make torpedoes now is an artists gallery)but Wednesday when I went to the docs for a follow up and chest x-ray they noticed a buildup of fluid in the chest cavity. I had already known something was up because for the past few nights sleeping was close to impossible. I would get comfortable in some awkward position so I could breathe, sleep for about 30 minutes, then wake up to move around so the muscles stop aching, and find a different way to contort so I can breathe and sleep. There are actually spots I can’t lay because I can’t get enough air into my lung.
It isn’t only getting enough air into the lung, or is it lungs? It is also the Oxygen saturation of the blood, not enough in the blood you don’t have any energy and end up gasping for air. Not fun.
Amazing how we take the simple action of breathing for granted. Going to have to work on getting the lung/s in better shape once I get the you are healed go ahead.
Anyway, I had a fluid buildup in my chest, I mentioned that right? So Friday morning I was at the doctor’s office to have the fluid drained. He numbed a spot in my back and inserted a needle into the chest cavity and started draining it off.
Two liters of fluid. I heard a shock in his voice when he asked the nurse to get something else to pour this into. I don’t think he expected there to be that much fluid.
It was a pinkish/milky fluid. He thinks that there may be some damage to a thoracic lymph node, even though they weren’t working near them that could be causing the milky color. They sent some of the fluid out to the lab to find out.If it is a problem with a node, then another surgery will fix it.
I guess it is fairly common for the chest to fill with a fluid after this type of surgery at least once, but not the color/opacity like I had. What happens happens, if I need it to be fixed it will be fixed.
Right now I do have issues breathing, which makes me wonder if the chest cavity isn’t filling again, but not the same positions give relief, so I have no idea what is going on. I do know the more humid it is the more thick the air feels and makes it seem a bit more difficult.
Any way you look at it, I have to find a way to adapt to the changes in my body, and accept them, to find a way to overcome them so to speak. I can’t let them run me.
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