Well, what can I say about my lousy day on Wednesday? Thumbnail sketch ..What was suppose to be a 25-30 minute surgery turned into 2 hours. Hubby was beginning to worry. I woke up at noon in recover with a huge ass bandage on my throat and way more pain than anticipated. They moved me back to my room and Den said the Doc came out and told him they didn't find it...WHAT??? After digging around in my neck for 2 hours he couldn't find the parathyroid with the growth. Disappointment doesn't describe it. The nurse brought me a glass of water and told me I could go home. I could barely function...felt nauseous, faint. Den helped me dress and I lay on the foot of the bed. Finally I sat up and the nurse said,"OK, I'll get the wheelchair"..She handed me a “barf bag” and I was whisked out the door like I had the plague...The Doc never even came in and spoke to me. I’m pretty sure they were waaay behind in the OR because of me..I got out of recovery and on the road 30 miles to home in about 1 1/2 hours..record time, in my humble estimation…. My big plans of having Burger King Whoppers for dinner were swiftly turning into broth, Tylenol and a bowl by the couch. Thank God for Nurse Dennis!!!! He did a double shift and got NO overtime!
Needless to say, the rest of my day was NOT as I had planned....All the fun things, nausea, pain, weakness and crud in my throat. My Doc did call at 7PM, (REALLY?) and told me to take the Tylenol 3 he prescribed. (I can't take it because of the Codeine, so I took Extra Strength Tylenol which barely helped). He also said that the reason he couldn't find the errant gland with the growth might have been the angle of the CT scan. Sooo ..what was suppose to be a 30 minute procedure turned into a 2 hour one, with absolutely nothing to show for it but a huge bandage, a drain in my neck and a bad attitude. Here's the kicker....They cannot do another Radiation CT for 6-8 months. In the Doc's exact words on the phone, "By then it will have grown and will be easier to see". THIS was NOT what I wanted to hear from him..sheesh!! You cannot make this stuff up!!
Today I went to the Dr. and had my drain taken out and bandage changed. We were told not to bother the huge bandage on my neck until he could take it off..So, what I didn’t know is that I also have a 2inch incision and 7 staples in my neck…Those get taken out next Tuesday. I am on a mission now to search for a new ENT Doc to see if he wants to “find the buried treasure” parathyroid gland. I have been reading up on this and know for a fact that this is NOT am impossible task. I actually do feel better today FINALLY, but am not looking forward to going “under the knife” in the future. Unfortunately, it looks like I will have to..
OK, enough of the pity party…I will now concentrate on the UP side of things. We have been making plans to head off to Florida this Winter…hoping to spend about 6 weeks in South Florida, and visiting Cypress National Park and Everglades National Park…Dennis has a high school classmate from Sandwich who takes his fishing boat down to Everglade City. Two years ago Den and I visited him and his wife, Sammie, and went out on their fishing boat into the ocean..Here are a few pictures from that trip..
We are planning on going to Flamingo Florida for a week, which is about 38 miles South of Homestead. I hear it is a great park to see the wildlife and the wildlife there includes mosquitoes!! Because it is a National Park we get 1/2 price camping. They have electricity 30 amp and a dump station…we will have water onboard and they have water to fill you fresh tank. After this last few days, I am NOT afraid of mosquitoes, alligators, snakes or anything!!!!!
I also have another little trip to look forward to at the end of August. Our crazy son-in-law, John….(well, actually BOTH of our son-in-laws are nuts!) is running in an Iron Man Triathlon in Louisville Kentucky on August 25th. Dennis and I are going down and rooming with our son, Kelly and his wife, at the same hotel John and Chris will be staying at..I gotta give Cindy, our daughter-in-law credit..Who in their right mind would spend 3 nights in the same hotel room with their in-laws???? Hey, we’re all family…AND… we’re all CHEAP!! We go down Friday, August 23rd and come back Monday, August 26th…Unfortunately for John, this will be an alcohol free trip until he does his event…Don't’ worry, John, it may be hard, but the rest of the family will do our best to drink your share and ours too!
OK, that’s enough for today. I’m sure everyone is weary of hearing my “medical mystery tour”. My attitude had improved since Wednesday evening, somewhat, and I just gotta remember that I am one of the lucky people who really don’t have a darn thing to crab about…I have great family, friends and I WILL have FUN!!! And now…it’s time for my very first cocktail in 5 days…AND I DESERVE IT!!!!!!
“To thrive in life you
need three bones.
A wishbone.
A backbone.
And a funny bone.”
~Reba McEntire
