Around 10 pm on Sunday night, Karen and I were laying in bed watching television. There was a little bit of tension, but not between us or anything I think that we could specifically pinpoint, but I would guess that it was just the upcoming surgery and the time spent away from Harper/home. We received a text message from Trey and Suzy Barnes around that time. The picture was of Suzy pointing at a sign that indicated that a flight headed to NYC was boarding soon. Can't really explain how we felt at that moment, but whatever tension or negative feelings that were lingering around the room were immediately gone. They arrived in NY around midnight and were there at the hospital the next morning to be there with us as I went through all the pre-op procedures. Friendship is something that you can never really put a cap on. Every time I think I know what my friends are capable of, I just have to set reset the expectations I have placed on people in general.
The surgery took a while. At the moment I can't remember exactly how long I was under, but I think it was like 4 hrs or so. I woke up in recovery, stayed there for a bit, then was moved into my overnight room. Pain wasn't as intense as I had anticipated. I have never been under the knife for a serious procedure before, so I had nothing to compare it to. 24 hrs after being moved into my room, I was discharged. The staff at Sloan was pleased with how I was healing and somehow felt confident in Karen taking the wheel from there on out. Fortunately, the Hope Lodge was able to give us a room because of a patient leaving early.
The room is really nice, spacious, and well, free. It's amazing that a place like this exists in the heart of NYC. We have a large one bedroom apt that has a private bathroom as well. We have to share the kitchen with others on the floor, but it's been nice seeing others here going through familiar treatments. I'm not saying it's nice to see people going though such things...just that it's nice to see people that understand the process.
Today we were visited by, well...a visiting nurse. He came by and went over the different sorts of things we can expect over the next week or so. In addition, he changed my dressing and measured my stitching. The length of the scar is going to be 15 inches. It's healing very well and he said there is some reason to be optimistic that we could have the stitching/drain removed by next Thursday. It's not something we are getting our hopes up on, but it is something to frame our mindset around...loosely.
So it is going to be a week or so in NYC, then we return. When we get back to St. Augustine, i'll start another cycle of chemo, then get back on with life. As we mentioned before, we will have to do a few cycles of chemo before we meet with NYC again to discuss the adrenal surgery. Thanks so much for your support, love, and prayers. If you are scrolling, and do not care to see the handiwork of my surgeon...stop scrolling now.
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| View from the front |
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| View from the side/back |
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