Post-surgery (again) and Pathology Report

Life sure is full of surprises! Where to begin...

I had my second surgery on Monday, May 3rd. Things went well and I was admitted to the hospital for a night.

The doctor removed all of the remaining nodes on the right side (armpit) and took a wider margin of breast tissue. He inserted a drain and I'll have it for a period of time.

I was released from the hospital at about 1 PM on Tuesday. Shortly after arriving home, I received a phone call from my oldest son announcing that his wife was going to have an emergency c-section that evening. Panic set in. Stephen had to stay home to watch the children. Kaylee's supervisor (her father) didn't feel he could give her the night off from work. I couldn't drive, because I'd just had surgery. I couldn't figure out how to get to the hospital to be available to my son and his wife for the birth of the baby. And, I felt lousy physically. I knew that the only way I could spend the evening at the hospital would be if someone else could take me there and help me with my physical needs. I put a note out on Facebook about the situation
Within a few minutes Ruthie Burke called and said she'd be at our place in 10 minutes. Ruthie can only imagine what a blessing she was to our family that evening. She very unselfishly gave of her time, on short notice, and helped us in one way or another througout the evening---until late at night.

(My parents were on their way to come and help in whatever way they could as well.)

Once we had arrived at the hospital we went to the delivery room that Kanaho was waiting in. We settled in for a bit. Soon after, I began to bleed quite heavily from the site where my drain is sewn in.. It seemed to be soaking through one gauze pad after another and it soiled my shirt. I called Tyler's step-mom and told her to come for the birth and to bring me a clean shirt. I wasn't about to spend the evening there in a bloody shirt. But, Kanaho's nurses urged me to go to the ER and rounded up a wheelchair to escort me there. I went there "kicking and screaming" as I was terribly upset to not be "there" for Tyler and Kanaho. I was heartbroken. :-( I'd just told Kanaho's brother and mother on Skype that I'd take care of Kanaho. And, a few weeks ago, I'd promised Kanaho that I'd join her in the recovery room so she wouldn't be alone. She'd asked me to do that, because she wanted Tyler to go to the NICU nursery with the baby, if he were to come prematurely. It killed me to not be able to follow through on that commitment, and I worried about her.

The ER staff tried to process me quickly so I could get upstairs to see Kanaho and the baby. I arrived up there AFTER the birth and AFTER Kanaho had been taken to her hospital room. It was so disappointing. But, we were able to stand outside of the NICU nursery window and see the baby. Then, Tyler took me into the NICU with him to see the baby.

Before I was released, Tyler brought a video of the baby to the ER and I was able to "see" my grandson.

They've named him Aloysius Eita. He was born on May 4th at 9:26 PM, weighing 3 lbs. 1 oz. and measuring 15". He was born six weeks early. He's going to be in NICU for a while and I'm confident he's receiving good care. My own twins spent a few weeks in there just five summers ago and did well. It's a joy to see Tyler and Kanaho so lovingly welcoming of their little son. I think they're in love with their little guy! :-)

After seeing the baby, Tyler and Kanaho, we headed toward the exit of the maternity floor, Stephen pushing me in the wheelchair (Ruthie had gone home to watch the kids so Stephen could join me at the hospital) and I began to feel as if I was going to pass out. Someone got nurses who gave me smelling salts and then Stephen took me to the ER again. I spent the night there and was admitted to the hospital at about 4 AM.

I'd lost a lot of blood and fluid. It seemed as though the drain just could not handle the amount of fluid that my body needed to release. The surgeon on call suspected that a hemotoma had formed behind the drain site.

The next morning my surgeon came in and checked me over. He said that things appeared to look okay, but my blood count was down. He thought about sending me home, but felt it would be a good idea to spend a second night and have my blood checked a few more times. The count remained low each time my blood was checked. I caught up on some rest and he released me today. I'm taking a multi-vitamin with iron to try and build up my blood.

Last night, Tyler surprised me by bringing Kanaho to my room in a wheelchair, along with Kanaho's friend who came to visit from Japan. They had a little pizza party. It really boosted my spirits to have that time with them. And, how odd it was to be a hospital patient at the same time my daughter-in-law and grandson were patients!

This morning I received a surprise visit from our children's pediatrician. He came in to see how things were going and informed me that my husband had called him the night before because one of our twins had vomitted for an hour. I had no idea, because my husband hadn't wanted to worry me. We have been blessed with some great doctors. I was touched by his visit as well as by my OB/GYN's visit with me in the ER. She stopped by after delivering my grandson and helped a bit just out of concern and thoughtfulness. She delivered my three youngest and I am thankful that she was able to deliver my grandbaby, too.

Kaylee came to get me at about 10:30. We went upstairs to see the baby and Kanaho before coming home. He's doing well, other than having some jaundice at the moment. He's under "the lights" as a treatment to get his bilirubin level to go down. He has a little mask on so I couldn't see his eyes today. He's so strong. When he was receiving his tube feeding, he arched his back off the bed (lifted it completely up) and stretched his arms and legs. He's just the cutest little baby!

Tyler is already a great dad! He changes the baby's diaper, cleans his eyes, nose and mouth, and spends quite a bit of time with him in NICU. Kanaho's recovering from her c-section and will go home tomorrow.

It was so crazy the night the baby was born! I was released from the hospital, Kanaho had to have a short notice emergency c-section, and Kanaho's friend from Japan was flying in for a visit. She had NO IDEA Kanaho was in the hospital giving birth when she arrived. Ruthie Burke graciously volunteered to go to the airport and pick her up. She had Kanaho write signs in Japanese so her friend would realize it's okay to go with Ruthie. Ruthie brought her to the hospital.

Ruthie arranged for ladies from the church to bring us meals this week. What a blessing and a help! Another friend had wanted to set up meals for us, but I felt that I didn't have a right to ask because the women had already helped us with meals after the births of my three youngest, and i don't feel that I've been involved at church as much as I should be. So, I was holding back on asking for help. As it turns out, my other friend was going to sneak and set up the meals anyway. :-) People have been so kind to us. The love and kindness have been so incredibly overwhelming.

As soon as my feet hit the steps to our house today---coming from the hospital--- the surgeon called. Stephen greeted me at the door with the phone in his hand. My pathology report was available, and it didn't contain good news. :-(

The surgeon removed 13 additional nodes and one contained tumor. So, a total of 15 nodes were removed between the two surgeries and two total nodes were cancerous. One had microscopic involvement, but the other one is worse. I'll most likely start chemotherapy soon.

And, the non-invasive type of cancer (ductal carcinoma in situ), once again, came all the way to the margin of the breast tissue removed. :-( This means that I'm going to need a third breast surgery to either attempt to remove MORE tissue and get all of the cancer, or have a mastectomy. But, the surgeon says we need to wait on this surgery and get going on the chemo first.

I'm going to call my oncologist tomorrow to ask if we can move up my appointment with her. It's not until the 21st.

I very much fear the possibility that the cancer has had the chance to spread from the nodes to other parts of my body. I'm greatly disappointed, and I'm discouraged. I WANT to live and be "there" for my kids and grandbaby.

The surgeon told me to focus on the positive---that there is cancer in only two of 15 removed nodes, and that my scans showed no tumors in other places in my body. But, that doesn't remove the possibility that microscopic cancer cells could have traveled elsewhere in my body via the bloodstream. Scary!

I'm thinking that I'd better start looking for hats, scarves, turbans, etc. I am guessing that I'll start chemo before this month is over. Oh, what a long, hard road ahead.

And, Stephen cannot continually take off work without pay to take care of the kids. He's eligible under the family medical leave act for time off ---but it'd be without pay. I cannot take care of the kids and house myself just yet, but hopefully during treatment I'll be able to do quite a bit if it doesn't make me too sick.