Surgery Round 2 by CA Tolchinsky at Monday, March 26, 2012, 2:36 PM

I was scheduled to get my port removed on Thursday. After spending hours making arrangements to get the kids to their practices, games, tournaments, and figure out work stuff, I was all set and arrived at the hospital at 7AM. I was prepped for surgery, and just about to be wheeled in, when my doctor was called away for an emergency surgery across town at a different hospital. They told me to come back at 1, which I did. I was starving also, because I hadn’t eaten anything since lunch the day before. It turns out he wasn’t going to be able to get to me today, so I was sent home (stopping first to eat of course!) So back I go to the hospital on Saturday morning. In addition to removing the port, he was also going to repair my scars on both breasts as well as my hips (from the tram flap). The surgery was only about 2 hours and I actually felt okay when I awoke all bound up in this binder thing to reduce swelling. I woke up the next day (yesterday) feeling as if I got hit by a truck! My hips are so bruised, and I can barely walk. I hate taking the drugs which make me feel so…yucky…but I take them to sleep. I just spent the past hour using alcohol to remove all the surgical medicine that I was covered with. I can tell that my scars will look much better once everything is healed. It also feels terrific to have that port out of my neck!! I will go for one more Herceptin treatment in August, then I will be finished with chemo. I will begin taking Tamoxifen for the next 2 1/2 years, which is a drug that reduces the chance of ER+ Breast cancer from coming back. It has a lot of side effects, about which I am greatly concerned, but overall the benefits outweigh the risks. For now, I am just so happy I have made it over a few more hurdles. Because of the delay in surgery, I was able to throw out the first pitch once again at NSU’s Strike Out Breast Cancer game on Friday night. http://nsusharks.com/news/2012/3/23/SB_0323120341.aspx