September 23/08
I saw Dr. Rideout last Monday (Sept 15), and I saw my excision for the first time. Although I knew what to expect, it was nonetheless a bit of a shock to see another huge chunk gone from my leg. The crescent-shaped hole measures 15cm long x 5cm wide x 2cm deep. On the up side, however, comparing it to last year’s excision right next to it, I realized how well I had healed from that, and knew that this time next year, this new scoop-out would look as good as the first one does now. Dr. Rideout said the wounds looked great, and he made arrangements for Home Care to come by daily for dressing changes. I have over 40 staples, the graft donor site is the same site that was used last year (anterior left thigh), and I still have to stay on complete bed rest and wear a splint.
On Tuesday I saw Dr. Pace, and he was pleased with how I was healing. He said that since Dr. Rideout would be doing follow-up for the skin graft, there was no need to come back to see him too. In the meantime, he’s still investigating that 6mm nodule in my thigh, and when he amasses all the PET, CT and MRI scans, he’ll bring them to a radiologist to compare them all. Hopefully that nodule will turn out to be nothing more than an innocent cyst or scar tissue.
By Thursday, Dr. Pace phoned with the pathology results, and he faxed them to me. All the margins are clear. The specimen was divided into three sections, top, middle and bottom. The top and bottom sections were negative for melanoma. The middle section tested positive, but with clear margins. The depth margin was a minimum of 7mm, and the lateral margin was a minimum of 2 mm. That’s still pretty close, but they localized it to the superio-lateral margin, so at least we know what direction it’s taking – towards the knee-cap.
Jim took the rest of the week off to take care of me. I had planned on going up to the cabin again with Cal and Sherry on Thursday because I can’t travel in Jim’s truck, but Jim wanted me to stay home with him. He went out for awhile, and when he came back, he showed me a picture on his phone of a red Ford Escape. I asked “Is that the SUV you’re thinking of buying?” He replied “No, that’s the SUV that I just bought!” WOW!!! He didn’t have it yet, as he ordered a trailer hitch and a remote starter, but he’d have it the next day. He said he was frustrated with me not being able to ride in the truck, so he traded it in on an SUV. I told him this was only a temporary handicap, but he figured I’d likely have more surgeries in the future. He’s probably right.
So Friday, we headed up to the cabin in our new Escape. Early that evening, while Jim was hosing down the quad in the garden, a huge cow moose sauntered up the driveway, walked right past Jim, went behind the shed, and headed into the woods! That was quite a sighting! Later we went over to Cal and Sherry’s for the evening. Daphne was having a ladies only night, and they all came over to visit, decked off in grass skirts and bandanas, and well on! Daphne, Brittney, Courtney, Natasha, Doris and Dessie, all well into party mode!!!
On Saturday, my friend Pam (who’s a nurse) came by to change my dressings. As she approached the driveway, she quickly veered away when she saw two moose lingering at the bottom of our driveway. She went over to visit Sherry instead, and came back after the moose had gone. I went over to Sherry’s for the afternoon while Cal and Jim went for a run on the quads to Gould’s Pond to visit Cal’s friend Alex, and while we were lazing outside in the fall sunshine, Mom, my sister Doreen, brother Dave and sis-in-law Judy showed up, laden with 2 huge striploin roasts destined to be sliced into steaks for the BBQ, and a load of salads. So we headed back to our place, and Sherry joined us. Then our friends Susan and Dean Coates dropped by, Greta Lynch dropped by with a gift of a bottle of wine, and soon Jim and Cal came home. What a crowd in our little cabin! See? That’s why we need that extension!!
We came back to town on Sunday, and I’ve been bored out of my mind since then. Tomorrow I’ll be getting my staples out, and hopefully be freed of the splint. I’ll be seeing Dr. Rorke on Oct 2, when I’m sure we’ll be discussing adjuvant treatment. Until then, all I have to do is get stronger and get back to normal!
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Surgery's over!!!
September 12, 2008
As I write this, I am sitting in the late summer sunshine on Sherry and Cal’s sundeck in Bull Pond. My surgery was Monday, Sept 8, and I’m doing amazingly well.
I had my appointment with Dr. Pace on Aug 12, and he decided he would excise the positive area below my knee, and Dr. Rideout would do the grafting. However, Dr. Rideout was on vacation, so we had to wait until he returned, which wouldn’t be until Aug 28. In the meantime, I kept phoning Dr. Pace’s office to see if I had a surgery date, but although I was assured I was classed as a #2 priority (within 2-3 weeks), nothing had been scheduled. On Aug 28 I was at the hospital with my friend Mary Robertson, whose brother Peter Bonia was in having an angiogram and stent procedure. While we were waiting, I decided to go downstairs to Dr. Pace’s office to see if I had an appointment yet. His secretary Janice told me that I was tentatively scheduled for Sept 22, as that was the earliest date that both Dr. Pace and Dr. Rideout were available. A short while later, I actually ran into Dr. Pace, and I told him that I thought Sept 22 was a long time to wait, considering it had already been almost 4 months since I first found the new tumor. He agreed, and told me that he would be willing to do the skin graft himself, if that was alright with me. I was all for it, so he said he’d try to get me in next week.
Janice called a few days later and told me I was scheduled for Mon, Sept 8, and that I had to go in for pre-admission procedures on Fri, Sept 5. In the meantime, I had been investigating another angle to solve the mystery of that nodule in my thigh. Dr. Pace had set me up with a CT scan of my leg on Aug 22 to try to zero in on the exact location of the thigh nodule, but it didn’t tell us anything more than we already knew, which was precious little. Yet, it’s still an issue that has to be dealt with, but we need to know more about it. Dr. Giacomantonio had said that if it was on the other side of my leg, he wouldn’t have been so concerned, but its location seems to be right in the path of the lymphatic channel, so it can’t be ignored. It had occurred to me a few weeks ago that my Edmonton PET scan done in March 2007 picked up a non-specific nodule 10 cm above the surgical site. The Halifax PET scan gave no measurement of location, only that it was located in the medial anterior thigh. I wondered if both PET scans had picked up the same thing. So I contacted the Cross Cancer Institute in Edmonton to request a copy of my PET scan, as Dr. Pace said he would have a radiologist compare both PETs and the CT. If the nodule was the same in both, and if it hadn’t changed, then we could assume it’s benign. Similarly, if it had grown, we could assume it was malignant. By the time Sept 8 rolled around (my surgery day), Dr. Pace still hadn’t received the PET scan from Edmonton, so he decided we’d deal with the lower leg for now, and tackle the thigh later if necessary.
In the few days leading up to my surgery, I became quite anxious, although I tried not to show it. Jim knew how I felt, and he was probably just as anxious as I was, but he kept assuring me that it would be a breeze. I had to register at 12:30 for my 2:00 surgery. I was called in at 1:30, prepped, and then left to wait for over 3 hours! Dr. Pace dropped by to see me, and told me that Dr. Rideout would be doing the skin graft after all. I was pleased about that, even though I had every bit of confidence in Dr. Pace doing the entire procedure. It was 5:00 when Dr. Ed Redmond administered the anesthetic, and at 6:30 I woke up in the recovery room. No nausea!!! What a relief!!! There were only 2 nurses working there, so I never got up to my room until 9:30, where Jim and Jessie were waiting. I had to use the bathroom, and two nurses were there to help me, but I amazed even myself to discover that I was well able to walk to the bathroom unassisted! Jim and Jessie made sure I had tea and toast, and when I was still hungry, Jim got me some veggies and dip and a bag of Bits & Bites from a vending machine. The nurse got my phone hooked up, Jessie got the TV hooked up, so I was all set. When I thought things were as good as they could get, they got even better. The nurse detached my IV so I could go to the bathroom again, and when she went to reconnect it, the needle became dislodged. They had had such a hard time getting an IV needle in me earlier because my veins are so small, the nurse decided to take the IV out altogether. What a break!!!
I didn’t sleep very well that night. I guess having been asleep for most of the day was enough, or maybe it was the continual ticking of the clock on the wall, but I was awake every half hour all night long. In the morning, Dr. David Harrington, Dr. Pace’s resident, came by to see me, and was amazed at how well I was doing. He thought I should go home then, but he’d check with Dr. Pace. As it turned out, I had to stay another day. But I quite enjoyed that day. Although I had requested a private room, I was in a ward of 4 beds, and my roommates were very nice. Marie was being discharged that morning, but she shared with us the difficult life she had. She was now in the process of divorcing her husband of 13 years, who was now in jail, and who had physically and mentally abused her for the duration of their marriage. She recounted horrible scenes of beatings that her children witnessed. And she also had lost a child, who had been run over by a car and dragged 40 feet and was killed. My God, what hell some people have to live through!!! Now she was worried about how she would care for her remaining 2 children, as she had no insurance, no disability, no EI, and couldn’t work until she was healed. I tried to boost her spirits, and give her some positive feedback and proactive suggestions, like asking her doctor for a letter confirming that she needed 24-hour assistance. He granted her request and covered her for up to the end of October. Now she was able to apply to Social Services for the help she needed. By the time she left, she was feeling much better about what she was going home to.
Another roommate was Karen, a 35 year-old wife and mother of 2 boys, who had just moved back to Paradise from a 15-year stage in Toronto. She had had most of her lower bowel removed, and was learning to live with having a colostomy. This would be reversed in 6 months, but for now, she was having a hard time coming to terms with her new condition. She had to pass an “evaluation” before she could be discharged, which determined if she was emotionally ready to deal with this on her own. That day she failed miserably, but the next day she had a remarkable turn-around. After crying to her husband the night before, and talking to each of her sisters on the phone for hours, she made a conscious decision to change her perspective. Instead of being repulsed by her colostomy and the maintenance of it, she decided to regard it as a masterpiece in progress, a fascinating work of art being created by a talented artist, her doctor. She told him she was honoured to display his workmanship, knowing that in 6 months she would be a testament to his finished masterpiece. She was re-evaluated again that morning, and passed with flying colours! It just goes to show, it’s all in your attitude!
That second day in hospital was more of a social event for me. Jim dropped by early in the morning with a McDonald’s breakfast, and was back again at lunch time with a Tim Horton’s coffee. I had lots of other visitors too: Mom, Sherry, Jessie, Scott, Julie, Mark, Crystal, Taylor, Kathy Adey. I received a beautiful fruit basket from Kevin, Rhonda and Lindsay. I got phone calls from Mom, Dave, Doreen, Carol, Kevin, Pop and Bonny, Abbie, Jessie, Julie, Ricky, Mark and Crystal. I even got a call from a former student from Corner Brook, Sandy Spencer, who has recently reconnected with me and is now living in Toronto.
I slept well Tuesday night, despite the constant grinding of medical equipment on our newest roommate just out of surgery. The next morning I was visited by Dr. Harrington, Dr. Pace and Dr. Rideout, all of whom agreed that I could go home on complete bedrest. Dr. Rideout was particularly adamant about staying immobile, saying that if the skin graft gets disturbed “all bets are off”. Jessie came to get me, Pam King-Jesso dropped by and helped get me downstairs and in the car. Downstairs we ran into Michelle Williams, who also helped, and I was home by 2:30, less than 48 hours after my surgery, and feeling surprisingly well!
On Thursday morning, Cal and Sherry came by to pick me up. I had decided the country would be the best place to recuperate. At home I would have been by myself all day long, having to face stairs to go to the bathroom, and having to tend to the dogs, visitors and phone calls. In the country I could stay with Cal and Sherry and they could take care of me until Jim came up on Friday evening, there would be no stairs to navigate, and no phone calls or visitors. And I have to say that Sherry is the best caregiver anyone could ever want. She brings me all my meals, helps me reposition myself comfortably, helps me bathe, changes my bandages. My friend Daphne Foote has also been by several time to visit and to help out. She even sent over a delicious supper last night. Heck, I’m better off here than in the hospital!
So here I am, "Hove off like the whore of Babylon", as Sherry would say, in a lounging chair in the beautiful sunshine. I’ve just finished a delicious bowl of lentil soup, compliments of my dear friend Kathy Hickman, who delivered a pot of soup to my door early yesterday morning. She is definitely the soup queen!! Ricky is on his way home from Baie Verte and will stop by for a visit, and Jim will be up after supper. I’ll stay here until Sunday, and I’ll go see Dr. Rideout on Monday, and Dr. Pace on Tuesday. All in all, I think this recovery will be a piece of cake!
As I write this, I am sitting in the late summer sunshine on Sherry and Cal’s sundeck in Bull Pond. My surgery was Monday, Sept 8, and I’m doing amazingly well.
I had my appointment with Dr. Pace on Aug 12, and he decided he would excise the positive area below my knee, and Dr. Rideout would do the grafting. However, Dr. Rideout was on vacation, so we had to wait until he returned, which wouldn’t be until Aug 28. In the meantime, I kept phoning Dr. Pace’s office to see if I had a surgery date, but although I was assured I was classed as a #2 priority (within 2-3 weeks), nothing had been scheduled. On Aug 28 I was at the hospital with my friend Mary Robertson, whose brother Peter Bonia was in having an angiogram and stent procedure. While we were waiting, I decided to go downstairs to Dr. Pace’s office to see if I had an appointment yet. His secretary Janice told me that I was tentatively scheduled for Sept 22, as that was the earliest date that both Dr. Pace and Dr. Rideout were available. A short while later, I actually ran into Dr. Pace, and I told him that I thought Sept 22 was a long time to wait, considering it had already been almost 4 months since I first found the new tumor. He agreed, and told me that he would be willing to do the skin graft himself, if that was alright with me. I was all for it, so he said he’d try to get me in next week.
Janice called a few days later and told me I was scheduled for Mon, Sept 8, and that I had to go in for pre-admission procedures on Fri, Sept 5. In the meantime, I had been investigating another angle to solve the mystery of that nodule in my thigh. Dr. Pace had set me up with a CT scan of my leg on Aug 22 to try to zero in on the exact location of the thigh nodule, but it didn’t tell us anything more than we already knew, which was precious little. Yet, it’s still an issue that has to be dealt with, but we need to know more about it. Dr. Giacomantonio had said that if it was on the other side of my leg, he wouldn’t have been so concerned, but its location seems to be right in the path of the lymphatic channel, so it can’t be ignored. It had occurred to me a few weeks ago that my Edmonton PET scan done in March 2007 picked up a non-specific nodule 10 cm above the surgical site. The Halifax PET scan gave no measurement of location, only that it was located in the medial anterior thigh. I wondered if both PET scans had picked up the same thing. So I contacted the Cross Cancer Institute in Edmonton to request a copy of my PET scan, as Dr. Pace said he would have a radiologist compare both PETs and the CT. If the nodule was the same in both, and if it hadn’t changed, then we could assume it’s benign. Similarly, if it had grown, we could assume it was malignant. By the time Sept 8 rolled around (my surgery day), Dr. Pace still hadn’t received the PET scan from Edmonton, so he decided we’d deal with the lower leg for now, and tackle the thigh later if necessary.
In the few days leading up to my surgery, I became quite anxious, although I tried not to show it. Jim knew how I felt, and he was probably just as anxious as I was, but he kept assuring me that it would be a breeze. I had to register at 12:30 for my 2:00 surgery. I was called in at 1:30, prepped, and then left to wait for over 3 hours! Dr. Pace dropped by to see me, and told me that Dr. Rideout would be doing the skin graft after all. I was pleased about that, even though I had every bit of confidence in Dr. Pace doing the entire procedure. It was 5:00 when Dr. Ed Redmond administered the anesthetic, and at 6:30 I woke up in the recovery room. No nausea!!! What a relief!!! There were only 2 nurses working there, so I never got up to my room until 9:30, where Jim and Jessie were waiting. I had to use the bathroom, and two nurses were there to help me, but I amazed even myself to discover that I was well able to walk to the bathroom unassisted! Jim and Jessie made sure I had tea and toast, and when I was still hungry, Jim got me some veggies and dip and a bag of Bits & Bites from a vending machine. The nurse got my phone hooked up, Jessie got the TV hooked up, so I was all set. When I thought things were as good as they could get, they got even better. The nurse detached my IV so I could go to the bathroom again, and when she went to reconnect it, the needle became dislodged. They had had such a hard time getting an IV needle in me earlier because my veins are so small, the nurse decided to take the IV out altogether. What a break!!!
I didn’t sleep very well that night. I guess having been asleep for most of the day was enough, or maybe it was the continual ticking of the clock on the wall, but I was awake every half hour all night long. In the morning, Dr. David Harrington, Dr. Pace’s resident, came by to see me, and was amazed at how well I was doing. He thought I should go home then, but he’d check with Dr. Pace. As it turned out, I had to stay another day. But I quite enjoyed that day. Although I had requested a private room, I was in a ward of 4 beds, and my roommates were very nice. Marie was being discharged that morning, but she shared with us the difficult life she had. She was now in the process of divorcing her husband of 13 years, who was now in jail, and who had physically and mentally abused her for the duration of their marriage. She recounted horrible scenes of beatings that her children witnessed. And she also had lost a child, who had been run over by a car and dragged 40 feet and was killed. My God, what hell some people have to live through!!! Now she was worried about how she would care for her remaining 2 children, as she had no insurance, no disability, no EI, and couldn’t work until she was healed. I tried to boost her spirits, and give her some positive feedback and proactive suggestions, like asking her doctor for a letter confirming that she needed 24-hour assistance. He granted her request and covered her for up to the end of October. Now she was able to apply to Social Services for the help she needed. By the time she left, she was feeling much better about what she was going home to.
Another roommate was Karen, a 35 year-old wife and mother of 2 boys, who had just moved back to Paradise from a 15-year stage in Toronto. She had had most of her lower bowel removed, and was learning to live with having a colostomy. This would be reversed in 6 months, but for now, she was having a hard time coming to terms with her new condition. She had to pass an “evaluation” before she could be discharged, which determined if she was emotionally ready to deal with this on her own. That day she failed miserably, but the next day she had a remarkable turn-around. After crying to her husband the night before, and talking to each of her sisters on the phone for hours, she made a conscious decision to change her perspective. Instead of being repulsed by her colostomy and the maintenance of it, she decided to regard it as a masterpiece in progress, a fascinating work of art being created by a talented artist, her doctor. She told him she was honoured to display his workmanship, knowing that in 6 months she would be a testament to his finished masterpiece. She was re-evaluated again that morning, and passed with flying colours! It just goes to show, it’s all in your attitude!
That second day in hospital was more of a social event for me. Jim dropped by early in the morning with a McDonald’s breakfast, and was back again at lunch time with a Tim Horton’s coffee. I had lots of other visitors too: Mom, Sherry, Jessie, Scott, Julie, Mark, Crystal, Taylor, Kathy Adey. I received a beautiful fruit basket from Kevin, Rhonda and Lindsay. I got phone calls from Mom, Dave, Doreen, Carol, Kevin, Pop and Bonny, Abbie, Jessie, Julie, Ricky, Mark and Crystal. I even got a call from a former student from Corner Brook, Sandy Spencer, who has recently reconnected with me and is now living in Toronto.
I slept well Tuesday night, despite the constant grinding of medical equipment on our newest roommate just out of surgery. The next morning I was visited by Dr. Harrington, Dr. Pace and Dr. Rideout, all of whom agreed that I could go home on complete bedrest. Dr. Rideout was particularly adamant about staying immobile, saying that if the skin graft gets disturbed “all bets are off”. Jessie came to get me, Pam King-Jesso dropped by and helped get me downstairs and in the car. Downstairs we ran into Michelle Williams, who also helped, and I was home by 2:30, less than 48 hours after my surgery, and feeling surprisingly well!
On Thursday morning, Cal and Sherry came by to pick me up. I had decided the country would be the best place to recuperate. At home I would have been by myself all day long, having to face stairs to go to the bathroom, and having to tend to the dogs, visitors and phone calls. In the country I could stay with Cal and Sherry and they could take care of me until Jim came up on Friday evening, there would be no stairs to navigate, and no phone calls or visitors. And I have to say that Sherry is the best caregiver anyone could ever want. She brings me all my meals, helps me reposition myself comfortably, helps me bathe, changes my bandages. My friend Daphne Foote has also been by several time to visit and to help out. She even sent over a delicious supper last night. Heck, I’m better off here than in the hospital!
So here I am, "Hove off like the whore of Babylon", as Sherry would say, in a lounging chair in the beautiful sunshine. I’ve just finished a delicious bowl of lentil soup, compliments of my dear friend Kathy Hickman, who delivered a pot of soup to my door early yesterday morning. She is definitely the soup queen!! Ricky is on his way home from Baie Verte and will stop by for a visit, and Jim will be up after supper. I’ll stay here until Sunday, and I’ll go see Dr. Rideout on Monday, and Dr. Pace on Tuesday. All in all, I think this recovery will be a piece of cake!
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