Surgery--Again

Glad you got paid finally!

Going to get my throat checked on Wed. Always makes me nervous.

Gotta make an appointment with the neurologist. I've been having some symptoms that make me worried.

I have so many doctor appointments coming up that I'm thinking about camping out in the park in front of the hospital. I'll be able to save on transportation costs. So what if the wind chill is zero.

Sigh.

I'm having some skin cancers surgically removed from my chin tomorrow, so I'll hold your hand and you can hold mine while we both nervously await the results from each of our appointments this week. I'm hoping they finally get rid of it for good this time and that I'll still have some chin left after they're done with the excavating.

I hope you'll have good news, Roberta.

Definitely rooting for you butrfly. My father had skin cancer.

I'm hoping they get it for good and that you have enough chin left to create some kinda profile.

It took 4 hours at the cancer center yesterday, a half hour for the removal, 3 hours waiting on the lab work and another half hour for cauterizing, suturing and bandages. (I got almost two whole slippers crocheted while waiting.)

They got all the cancer, said when asked, that there is only a 1% chance it will return again and if it does, they'll either do the MOS surgery again or go to the next step and use radiation. But, again, he said there is only a 1% chance it will come back.

I have a 1.5 inch line of stitches on my chin that I'm supposed to keep as motionless as possible so the stitches don't stretch and leave a big scar. Before they put the bandages on, I snooped. Looks like someone took a big bite out of the corner of my chin. The hole is about 3.5 centimeters in diameter. He puffed up and stretched the skin over it to make the suture seam and said the swelling should go down in a few days. Basically feels like it does after having a lot of dental work done. It looks like I've had a lopsided chin lift. After it heals, if it is still so lopsided, I may have to ask to have the other side done too so it will even out a bit.

I get the outer stitches removed in 7 days. The subdermals will dissolve on their own.

Next project is getting repaired the hernia that has appeared along the 18-inch incision scar from the ovarian cyst removal, hysterectomy and hernia repair surgery of 4 years ago.


So, how did yours go Roberta? I hope you got to wear a similar fashion-forward hospital gown, hair net and slippers as I did while waiting the 3 hours. It makes quite an impression. We had fun modeling our gowns. I giggled and knew I looked just as goofy as all those other people wearing my same outfit.

I'm glad that things went well and that the prognosis is good, butrfly. Wait to see what's left of your chin before you make any decisions.

I don't see the throat docs until tomorrow. And when I'm there I remain fully clothed. They put a mirror down my nose. It reflects back up what's going on in my throat. First they numb my throat so that I don't gag. I gag a little anyway.

butrfly - yikes! I'm glad the prognosis is great and hope your chin heals up perfectly.

Clear sailing tomorrow, Roberta. Or, maybe clear sleighriding, with horsies.

And you must have been to the doc today already, BFN. Good results, puhleaze.
(Mammo for me tomorrow, but I hope it's routine.)
What is it with January anyway?


Oops,Timing off on when your surgery would be. Good the results were nice and fast.

Thanks for the good wishes. Sleigh-riding might be right, osso. They're predicting another storm--snow and sleet in the pm. My appointment is at 11. With the usual 1-2 hour wait, I could be going home in the storm. I'm thinking about rescheduling.

This winter has been a doozy, and there are months to go. I never used to let the weather dictate my activities. I remember in kindergarten, the teacher referred to the kids who didn't show up in bad weather as sugar plums--they'd melt in the wet. I'm not worried about melting; I'm worred about falling or having an impossible time getting home. But I'd rather be referred to as a sugar plum than a chicken ****.

Sigh.

Sheesh, I would hope you would gag a little! That mirror down the nose makes my hesitation about getting a neti pot to wash out my nostrils rather hysterical in comparison.

Is your appointment in the morning or afternoon, Roberta? I'll keep an eye on your thread to hear that you made it back home safely in all that bad weather back there.

I'll be sending good thoughts your way.


Heh, our posts crossed. See? You are already on my mind!

My appointment is late morning--on the cusp of the impending bad weather. Gotta decide whether to reschedule or not.

If it means delaying the exam for a few weeks, try to go tomorrow if you can. If there is something new going on in your throat, the earlier the better for it to make itself known.

Any chance of someone or service driving you there and bringing you back home?

Go ahead and be a sugar plum if you need to.

Osso, if you need help getting to your appointment, let me know.

May you have a kind and gentle technician not smash the hell out of your boobies tomorrow.

I sugar plummed out. It's already snowing--hard, and it's only 9 a.m.

Since I wasn't going out later (I had made up my mind), I figured I'd hobble an errand now. Didn't realize it was snowing until I got outside. Across the street. Came back covered in snow and looking like a snowkvetch.

Gonna put my groceries away and get some sleep. First, though, some milk and cookies.

osso, Throwing in a sympathetic ouch for you and your mammo. Hope all goes well.

Butrfly, How you feeling? How you healing?

Healing well, Roberta.. It started to turn reddish the second day so I stopped putting on bandages and just left it alone. The redness, tenderness and swelling went away by the next day. Neosporin is a wonderful ointment.

I suspect I've acquired a late-blooming allergy to the materials in bandages and medical tapes. Same thing happened a year ago when the other basal cell cancer on my back was removed. The surrounding red welts were worse than the biopsy and cancer removal wounds -- took months to disappear completely.

I get the stitches removed on Monday and will then be able to see exactly how lopsided the chin is now.

How are you doing with all the snow? Do you have a balcony attached to your apartment that needs to have snow removed? What about groceries and other necessities? Are you all stocked up for the duration of the storm?

A snowkvetch!


Boida's voision of a snow angel.

Back from Bellevue. It was a mistake to go. Da Big Apple is very difficult to maneuver in when there's snow around. Lots of snow. Mountains of snow.

I didn't wanna miss seeing my therapists. Sometimes I just gotta get my head straightened out. I continue to love the art therapy. It's a dynamite combination of fun and revealing. I started drawing something today and burst out laughing. I drew something I had no idea I was gonna draw. We discussed it. It made perfect sense in the context. But I still laugh when I think about it.

Going up to Sheila's on Sunday. A very belated Christmas. If it snows, I won't go. Udderwise I'll be in da suboibs on Sunday.