I couldn't have painted nails or wear any makeup so instead went for comfort wearing royal blue lounge pants with my oversized & overworn Canucks hoodie. The comfort was short lived as once I walked through the pre-op doors I was given a gorgeous gown, cap and booties. I lay in the bed & answered the usual questions....is this your DOB? Any allergies? On any medications? I met with my operating team and off I went waving goodbye to mom as I headed to the OR.
In the OR I spoke of hockey and celebrity gossip before going to la-la-land and woke up in recovery 2.5 hours later. I was told the first thing I said was "big kahuna gone." I don't remember saying much of anything but apparently I provided some laughs. I had to stay in recovery until 730pm as there weren't enough porters to get me to my room. I was well taken care of and feeling no pain. I was allowed to call mom to have her come and give me my glasses so I could see properly.
I finally was taken to my room and had 2 surprises. My cousin Stephanie was going to stay with me so mom could have a break and that the room that holds 4 was empty. I got the bed with a view by the window and had a private room until midnight. My dad came to visit and had me smiling although I wasn't feeling too hot. Not too long after dad left I started to shake and couldn't stop. My stomach was empty, I just had major surgery and my body was pissed off! I was shaking so bad Steph had to hold down my legs as the nurse injected meds to my IV calming me down. At midnight Steph set off for home, I put in my custom ear plugs and fell asleep just as new roomies arrived.
The next morning my surgeon woke me to share the surgery news. Big Kahuna was gone! A biopsy was done of the margins and in 1-2 weeks I'll hear the results. If the margins are clear then all is done, but if not I'll have a 2nd surgery resulting in a colostomy. Knock on wood the margins are clear.
The rest of the morning and afternoon had a few speed bumps including me having to self-administer a post-op blood thinner shot in my thigh. I'll have to do this everyday for the next 10 days, hope my aim remains good! With support from my nurse & doctor I was discharged at 6pm just 27 hours after surgery. Pretty incredible.
The next few days will no doubt bring some pain and discomfort but this pain is nothing like what I felt during radiation. Doctors often say "on a scale of 1-10 how painful is it". Radiation was an 11 and this an 8.
Thanks to my friends & family who came to visit me in the hospital and for everyone's messages. I'm blessed having so many great people in my corner.
#carly2conquercancer
XOXO
C
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