8 August 2023
Apologies for the lack of a post yesterday but I was a little under the anesthesia. As a matter of fact, I’m still feeling the influence so this blog may (1) not make any sense (2) have a lot of misspellings (3) not get the syntax correct.
Holley was spot on time of arrival at my house and then I proceeded to get her to exit the wrong place. Regardless, we made it to Holy Cross Healthplex before my noon required presence. As you might guess, there were forms to check the accuracy even though I had done that the previous day online. By 12:30 pm I was taken back for surgical prep. After putting on my gown, booties, and hair net, they allowed Holley to come back and keep me company. We had a good time talking and giggling until we realized it was 1:30. A receptionist appeared in my cubicle and asked if we were expecting anyone else. We both said Tom at the same time.
With the three of us, we probably came very close to being asked to leave. We could take our comedy routine on the road and make a mint. Tom is the person I helped through his stay at Broward Health a few months ago. I think he finally left around 5:30 (everything is still hazy) and soon after the anesthesiologist showed up and I was wheeled back to the operating room. It certainly was pristine and well managed. I shifted to the operating table, they place my arms at right angles to my body and covered my arms to keep them from getting cold. Then the anesthesiologist said you are going to get very sleepy and that’s the last thing I remembered until waking up in recovery. Later, I think they had to put me deeper under anesthesia and they must have intubated me for some reason.
What was supposed to be a quick 30 minute procedure took 1 1/2 hours on the operating table. What I write next is second hand from Holley but apparently Dr. Burgers had to make a larger incision than she thought – to the point that the incision was larger than the one for breast removal. Dr. Burgers apparently ran into some unexpected complications. I’ll know more when I get my report from her posted on the Holy Cross app.
In recovery I got chills and they kept running back and forth to provide me with warm blankets, even to the point of putting them back on my arms, around my head, and, of course, my torso and legs and toes. They then hooked up a heater hose to blow warm air on my torso. I was extremely emotional and when the nurse said I must have someone at my house with me after discharge, I broke into tears because I knew Holley couldn’t do it because she had to take her husband to surgery today and she had just spent 7 1/2 hours with me in the Healthplex. If I had known the surgery turned out more serious than anticipated, I could have lined up some help with staying overnight. Of course, Holley said she would stay and I said NO! She had already gone above and beyond.
Dr. Burgers, after the surgery, found Holley in the reception area and went over everything in detail with her. Again, Dr. Burgers goes the extra mile for me and my friends. I now have a drain again. The good news this morning is that it isn’t blood red any more but more pinkish. In addition the swelling has gone down considerably and I’m not in any pain.
After Holley gets me home around 7:30, I start thinking who I can call. Chris lives the closest so I started with her but my call went to voice mail. Next I called Barbara and she immediately volunteered. I felt badly asking with so little lead time but Barb dropped everything, packed a bag, and came over.
As you might also guess, there were prescriptions to be picked up and Jim, Holley’s husband picked them up for me at CVS. I only know this because the medicines appeared and I was told Jim brought them. He even came back to see me in the bedroom but I have no recollection.
Holley spent 7 1/2 hours in the Healthplex and when Barb showed up at the door stayed and went through all the procedures, medications, etc. Holley didn’t leave my house until 11:30 pm. I think she and Barb hit it off and I suspect Jim and I were much the topic for most of the night. I wouldn’t know, I was out of it.
Holley and Barb gave me a Tramadol for pain. Holley convinced Dr. Burgers that even though I had Tramadol at the house, she wouldn’t know where to look for it so got Dr. Burgers to write me a prescription for it. I never took it for the mastectomy but I did for this procedure. Honestly, the mastectomy was a breeze compare to yesterday’s procedure. I was an emotional wreck, weak and trembly, and not to stable when upright.
Somewhere during the last two procedures (Dr. Burger’s office and Healthplex) they determined my bacterial infection to be Klebsiella pneumoniae var.pneumoniae. This is a facultative anaerobic, Gram negative bacterium usually found in the intestines. It’s most often spread through person-to-person contact, particularly when someone infected with it doesn’t wash their hands. The bacterium may cause pneumonia, bloodstream infections, meningitis, and urinary tract infections. It is also considered a nosocomial bacterium which means it was transmitted to me either from my last hospital stay from the first chemo infusion at at Dr. Burger’s examination room. My money is on the first hospital stay or the next one for the mastectomy. I think it also explains why I was not getting any better nor feeling well at all.
The antibiotic Dr. Burgers prescribed is sulfamethoxazole-tmp (also known as Bactrim). It’s like the last antibiotic which I will now discontinue, twice a day, evenly spaced. Dr. Burgers explained Bactrim was a better antibiotic than Cephalexin for Klebsiella.
Before I left the Healthplex yesterday, Dr. Burgers had already scheduled me an appointment on Friday at 10:15 am. Again, this information is all through Holley. If I get worse, go to the emergency room or she could see me on Thursday. I was seriously threatened with bodily harm if (1) I took a shower or (2) changed the bandage or (3) removed the compression wrap around my torso. You do not want to piss off Dr. Burgers, Holley, or Barbara – not if you want to live to tell about it.
I’m a little trembly this morning. I made coffee for Barb and me and I ate my usual fruit and yogurt breakfast. Barb kept washing dishes (Hello! Dishwasher!) and helped organize the kitchen table to look more like a kitchen table than a medical clinic. I have been promised dire consequences if I need her and don’t call her. I feel 100% better than before the surgery. I’m not as swollen and I actually feel good for the first time since my emergency room/hospital stay after the first chemo. I’m still weak and unsteady on my feet. I’ve been told by Drs. H & B to keep my ass in bed.
I don’t know how I deserve good friends. Saints and Sinner and I’m the Sinner. Everyone else has been a Saint!
Stay tuned!