<\/a>
Years ago, Keith’s nephew Nick would help Grandpa mow the yard & at the end of the day, he’d sigh & say, “Grandpa, it’s been a big tractor day!!”.<\/p>\n
Well, this past week+ has been a “big tractor week” with my lung biopsy\/surgery. First time for major surgery, other than a C-section with Skye 24 years ago.<\/p>\n
Tuesday:
Pre-op day at Duke Raleigh. Keith & Skye spent hours sitting with me while I answered questions of every sort & was being informed of what to expect the following day.
Such a bitter cold day in the midst of a mild winter.
Afterward a nice gentleman drove us from the main hosptial to Dr. Chang’s office in a golf cart–I kidded him about using his air conditioner–burrrr!
We all came home & took a nap!<\/p>\n
Wednesday:
Keith & I headed back to Old Wake Forest Road, arriving about 10am, where we proceeded to the Same Day Surgery Waiting Room. I was fasting, so no coffee for me–& I was craving a steaming hot latte.
After about 20 minutes, we were called back to the pre-surgery cubicle. The nurse began the IV’s while I signed papers, answered more questions, etc.
Skye joined us before I was wheeled away to surgery.
I remember being parked on the gurney in a hallway, evidently near the OR. <\/p>\n
After surgery:
When I woke up Dr. Chang was standing over me telling me all had gone well. He looked alien-like in his green surgery scrubs. My next memory, I was in ICU, a tiny room with large machinery. Bruce, an ICU nurse, was so attentive to me all evening & through the night:) Encountered quite a few male nurses during my stay, which was so different from 24 years ago!:)
Family came in at various times…
Keith spent the night in the ICU Waiting Room, attempting to sleep. <\/p>\n
Thursday:
After a night in the hectic ICU–I myself setting off beepers & monitor bells & whistles, plus all the whirrs & buzzes that occur simply from spitting out readings every 5 minutes–it was time for breakfast. My nurse insisted I needed “real” food, so sent back the liquid diet that had been delivered. Can I tell you how delicious pancakes & sausage can be after fasting for 24 hours & going through surgery? Yum.
Keith & Skye arrived:)<\/p>\n
Rev. Andy stopped in to check on me before taking Mrs. Rev. to NYC for a “wild” weekend:) Loved chatting about NYC since it’s a favorite place of mine:)<\/p>\n
By 11am a private room had been found, so I was unhooked from “various & sundry” & taken from the 1st floor to the 5th. As soon as I got settled in, it was down to the basement(?) for a chest x-ray; at least I graduated from a portable bed to a wheelchair for the basement trip:)
After the x-ray, back to the room, a quiet, calm room. Still tethered by a few things, but much freer than ICU. Nap time, sleep time:)
Seth, Kelley, & Cameron came at some point:)
In the evening Lou & Lorraine & Ralph dropped in–felt pretty good, loved good company:)
Keith asked Skye to stay Friday night.
I still needed help getting to the bathroom by myself.<\/p>\n
Friday:
Woke up feeling funky. Spent the day dealing with nausea & grogginess. Ugh.
Diet all day? Diet Pepsi & crackers.
Sent out an email asking anyone that wanted to visit to call ahead. Only Seth came, in the afternoon. He sat with his iPad while Keith & I slept. (Skye & Cameron came later for a while) Nurse Sue was so kind–tried every way possible to help me.
The evening nurse turned off the lights & didn’t check on us for hours–we needed the peace & quiet, & uninterrupted sleep.<\/p>\n
Saturday:
Breakfast was coffee, pancakes & sausage, but this time I only wanted the pancakes. The nurse took away my last two “teethers”. Dr. White came by about 9am, Dr. Chang’s partner, to discharge me.
Let me say, I was so impressed that Dr. Chang & his PA Katie came by twice every day–amazing!<\/p>\n
By 10:30 Keith & I were packed & heading out the door of Duke Raleigh, into the sunshine:)My tummy was better, time to rest & heal.
BTW, did you know that your right lung has 3 lobes & your left lobe has two? Never knew that till this week! <\/p>\n
News from Dr. Chang’s PA this week: All lymph nodes were clean, & the tumor was a carcinoid cancer.(See http:\/\/www.cancer.org\/cancer\/lungcarcinoidtumor\/detailedguide\/index)<\/p>\n
Bless the Lord, oh my soul, & all that is within me, bless His Holy Name.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Years ago, Keith’s nephew Nick would help Grandpa mow the yard & at the end of the day, he’d sigh & say, “Grandpa, it’s been a big tractor day!!”. Well, this past week+ has been a “big tractor week” with my lung biopsy\/surgery. First time for major surgery, other than a C-section with Skye 24 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-817","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/whisper.rps.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/817","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/whisper.rps.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/whisper.rps.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whisper.rps.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whisper.rps.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=817"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/whisper.rps.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/817\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1203,"href":"https:\/\/whisper.rps.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/817\/revisions\/1203"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/whisper.rps.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=817"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whisper.rps.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=817"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whisper.rps.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=817"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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