good news comes in threes!

We get three pieces of good news in one week!  I think this is some sort of record!  But the surgery went well and the surgeon was able to remove the entire tumor!  Now, he says this doesn't mean that I am cured as Hodgkins is a systemic disease, but at least we don't have to debulk a bulky tumor!  And, of course, I keep calling it a tumor, but there is a small chance that it isn't even Hodgkins, so we will know in a week when the biopsy results come back.

Yesterday was quite the day.  Mom picked me up at 10 am and we headed to Northside Hospital.  They took me back to the pre-op room and I sat there by myself for about 30 minutes before the nurse came in.  I was scared and started to tear up but then realized this was just one more opportunity for practicing relaxation and controlling my brain.  So I got in my little hospital gown and sat on the bed cross-legged and meditated.  When the nurse finally came in my BP was 120/72!!!  I was so proud of myself.  So she hooked me up to IV fluids and my mom was able to come in.

Mom was SOOo so fantastic yesterday.  She was a trooper and in for the long haul.  Initially we were to be there by 10:30, surgery from 12:30-3:00,  and recovery for 2 hours.  But the surgeon came in and said that the OR that we were to use had an emergency case in it and my surgery would be delayed by 3 hours!!  So mom hung tight with me, while dad exchanged text messages with us.  It was as nice of a time as you can expect for something like that.

When the surgeon was talking to me I asked him why he can't just remove the whole thing, and he said, well, he will try, but the tumor is located in such a dangerous area for cutting--snuggled up to my heart, next to my lung, and right by the superior vena cava.  He said I had a better chance because I haven't had radiation, which can cause scar tissue.

So I went into surgery and woke up sometime later with him showing me pictures of the ENTIRE tumor!!  I was so happy, despite my anesthesia related crying fits.  Once I find a scanner I'll scan the shots and post so you can see.  The tumor looks like a turtle! He showed the before shot and he had to cut through all of this connective tissue that the tumor was pulling on my lung.  Kinda scary.

Anyway, the surgery lasted longer than we thought, and my poor mother was out in the waiting room getting pretty nervous.  But thankfully the surgeon came out and said everything was fine.  Michael joined her at that point and they met me in the recovery room.

I had a real tough time with nausea, but passed all my other tests like walking by myself, peeing and drinking water.  So they decided that I didn't need to stay overnight and discharged us around 10 pm.  My nausea finally abated when I got home and dug out some chemo anti-nausea meds.  Thank goodness because I was in such pain that I need to take a pain pill, but I couldn't get anything down until the nausea went away.

Last night was a crazy one, and I thank the stars above for that incredible man of mine.  I am in such pain that I can't sit up or lie down by myself.  So he is right there by my side to help lift me.  I woke him up at 3 in the morning when it was time for another pain pill, but he had to make me some food for me to take it with.  So there we were, laughing (well, me trying not to laugh because it hurt) that we were sitting in bed while I sipped mushroom broth and ate saltine crackers while he rubbed my aching back in the middle of the night. I am so lucky to have him.

This morning he stayed with me until about 11, and mom and dad will be here about 1.  So here I had a few minutes to write to you all and give an update.   I am a little loopy, but grateful for a bit of relief from the pain.  I have a call into the doctor to just be sure it is the normal kind of pain and nothing to worry about.  (you know me, I like to worry).

I can't tell you how blown-away I am by all of your facebook comments and love you gave me yesterday.  It definitely put a happy light to my day.

And we celebrate again for the successful removal of whatever mass likes to light up so brightly on my PET scan!!!

Love to you all, now time for rest.
Evie