Wednesday, March 28, 2012

from caregiving to survivorship

 “O Lord, Bless the surgeon’s hand. Comfort all who wait for news.”
Though ‘all who wait’ was still only our daughter, we were committed to our conspiracy of silence until after surgery. The evening before was spent as any caregiving evening as an outing with Patti unaware of either diagnosis or pending surgery.

Finally it was time to attack the cancer. In almost 4 hrs of surgery I behaved myself under anesthesia and surgeon performed a wide wedge resection of the lung lobe removing cancer and surrounding tissue, spreading the ribs, and going into the lung lobe to get the lymph nodes.

Awakening in ICU, I actually felt great – no pain at all! “It’s the epidural” explained my nurse.

My epidural was my BFF for two more days of pain free recovery. My only previous association with epidural was Patti’s birth of Megan but I have no problem endorsing, ‘real men get an epidural’. I was even able to walk around ICU within an hour of awakening.

On the third morning (first without epidural and I felt like I had been run over by a truck) and St. Patrick’s Day morn’ surgeon stopped by to say good bye, he was sending me home and by the way biopsies were back – all the lymph nodes and surrounding tissue from wedge tested negative for cancer. Yabadabadoo!

Rays of Hope, is a tribute to Karen Bennett's aunt Ruth, who kept hope alive while watching, caring for, and losing her husband and only child to cancer. 2012 Expressions of Hope Calendar March
3 and a half days earlier I had transfered Patti from her wheelchair to her bed and wished her good night a MS spouse caregiver (maybe a quarter million of us) now I walked out defined by ‘surviorship’, one of more than 10 million cancer survivors in the United States.

Though honestly, most important to me was that I was able to complete all my ‘activities of daily living’ by myself while recovering at home for the next month and should be back to full abilities then.

Yes I have some restrictions on lifting for now but thankfully our daughter is at home.  

Stepping into the void, she had picked up Patti from her care facility and had her home for a family outing, one week to the day since our pre-surgery outing.

Previous related entries ...

when caregivers get sick - lung cancer  Mar 24

when caregivers get sick – do you glow?  Mar 25



(PS The pictured painting "Rays of Hope" , is a tribute by Karen Bennett to her aunt Ruth, who kept hope alive while watching, caring for, and losing her husband and only child to cancer. 2012 Expressions of Hope Calendar, March)
Patrick Leer
BLOGS:
Caregivingly Yours, MS Caregiver @ http://caregivinglyyours.blogspot.com/

15 comments:

  1. (((Patrick, Megan, Patti)))) I'm so thankful that you got great results and am now a survivor!!! Do listen and do what the doctor says for the rest of your recovery until they release you. So glad that Megan has been able to help you to keep things running as smoothly as they can!!!

    betty

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    1. Thanks Betty! Megan has observed 'caregiving' since she was 18 months old. I could not ask for a better helping hand in all the world.

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    1. Thanks Judy! FYI your poetry is a favorite daily pause during recovery.

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  3. Great news Patrick! Your surgery sounds like what they may do to Ron if surgery is an option. I will definitely tell him about the epidural. That's the surgery he dreads the most. I'm so glad you are on the road to recovery. Just don't rush yourself!

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    1. Funny what you remember the most about major surgery but I am the #1 fan of epidurals! :)

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  4. Patrick - glad the results show no involvement in lymph nodes, etc. What a relief for you and your family!

    I appreciate that you've shared this story because it is an important reminder to me. I'm no spring chicken and if something did happen to me (when it does, is probably the right way to phrase this) ... I need to have a Plan B in place. We've talked about what options exist but it's been quite a while since we looked at the Plan's first draft and made sure it's still reasonable and workable should we need it. In fact, I'm not quite sure where that draft is ....

    Good luck in the coming month(s) completing your recovery.

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    1. Cranky, I can't even count how many times I've repeated the statistics and warnings - now having lived it I was glad to share a first person account. We caregivers have to believe we are immortals and invincible well until we are not.

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  5. It's a relief to read that everything went well, and you're cancer free!! Never had an epidural (the one that I did have -- first childbirth -- never took) but I've heard they're great.
    Peace,
    Muff

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    1. "chicken in every pot. And a car in every backyard" AND an epidural for anyone having surgery.:)

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  6. You deserve nothing less & probably something more. (yeah, I know that often doesn't mean anything, but..)

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    1. but ... it sounds cool, almost like it should end with "patience young grasshopper" :)

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  7. Patrick,

    It's good to learn you the outcome was positive. I found your blog after searching for members of our high school class. You are an inspiration to us all

    Steve Schuster (Geometry and Algebra II classes)

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    1. Thanks Steve! Of all the entries in all the blogs in all the world you would remind me of High School Geometry and Algebra II. :) As my daughter quipped the day of my surgery it was March 14, (3.14...). I was having a wedge resection (a pie (Pi) slice of my lung was being removed) it was an excellent omen and an excuse for Pi puns. :)

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