Well it has taken something drastic to get me back as Shell has taken over the blog.:)
We were at the hospital at 8 this morning,although the surgery didn't happen until this afternoon. Shell is doing well. Surgery was only an hour and a half. They also had a better handle on her nausea. Because of this she is alert and will likely get out tomorrow. She is on the same floor as before and had Stevo, the same nurse as before.
A debt of gratitude goes out to Dr.Meiers and Dr. Souf who came in on their days off in order to get this done. We found out today that because there is a shortage of OR nurses, it was actually going to be a couple of weeks if Shell was left on the regular schedule.
I would be remiss if I didn't give a big thank you to the Toronto Maple Leafs. They beat Buffalo tonight and because of that they have improved the SENS chances of making the playoffs.
Because of the lack of OR nurses it has made me think that I may apply for the assistance to take the course, after I challenge the LPN.
I also wanted to mention that Shell started knitting this past week. I believe her goal is to knit a dish cloth for every thank you note that she sends.
Three Stars:
1. Dr. Meiers
2. Dr. Souf
3. Maple Leafs
Finally a night alone with Bea.
Back by popular demand!
Big Bobby Blogger
Saturday, March 31, 2012
Friday, March 30, 2012
Surgery Saturday
Finally received a call....after many phone calls and a letter to the hospital Client Representative to plead my case of the decaying flaps. I will have after hour surgery tomorrow morning - flap removal and node dissection will occur simultaneously...For that I am thankful.
Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers!
Love to all, Shelley
Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers!
Love to all, Shelley
Thursday, March 29, 2012
Definately not a blonde!
This morning my sister Karen and her girls, Melissa and Kate and I went browsing for wigs, hats and scarves. Oh my! What an adventure of sorts! I have always wondered what I would look like in various styles and colours and now I know.....I am definately not a blonde! In the past I have been told " you should have been blonde" "are you sure you're not blonde?" LOL! (BTW, I love all my blonde friends :) and would be honoured to join their club...)
However, having their support made this trip easier to take....I now need BBB's and the kids' input on this sort of thing. I have received advice that I should take the dog for her approval too as dogs have been known to protest this type of thing ;) Perhaps I will join the ranks of BBB and proclaim that bald is beautiful - not sure yet! This is just some of the prep work required for chemo....
Eat, pray (for patience) and walk!
Lots of Love, Shelley
However, having their support made this trip easier to take....I now need BBB's and the kids' input on this sort of thing. I have received advice that I should take the dog for her approval too as dogs have been known to protest this type of thing ;) Perhaps I will join the ranks of BBB and proclaim that bald is beautiful - not sure yet! This is just some of the prep work required for chemo....
Eat, pray (for patience) and walk!
Lots of Love, Shelley
Wednesday, March 28, 2012
No surgery date...yet
We have been holding off blogging in hopes that we would have a surgery date to post....after a few phone calls there is nothing yet! BBB previously posted about patience for patients....we are praying for patience as we wait for confirmation.
Yesterday I had a great reiki session - very relaxing and puts my mind at ease. Reiki is something that my brother Trent and I have embraced over the past few years as a supplement to western medicine. Through a good friend, I have found the Reiki touch in Barb, a master here in Regina - very professional and very compassionate. Here is a great link with some very valuable information on Reiki - what is is and how it works. My brother Trent is also an Usui and Lightarian Reiki Master in Calgary. I am thankful for the engery he gives me.
Today the flaps separated and scared the heck out us! After a few doctors appointments and many phone including a wrong call transfer,a guardian angel named Patti G picked up the call. We were able to get into see a nurse (Jane -- another angel) for a flap clean up. As difficult as it was to hear that these flaps have failed and require removal, it was also comforting to know that when a surgery date is confirmed there will be no second guessing as to what procedures will take place - axillary node dissection and flap removal. In the meantime, I have to say it feels amazing to have clean flaps...
So yeah, although we feel a bit beat up emotionally by cancer today in that cancer took breasts and now flaps....at the end of the day we are ahead of the game - we have each other, we have great a great family and we have great friends. Cancer cannot take that away.
We will post the upcoming surgery date as soon as we receive the date.
Much love to all, Shelley & Bob
Yesterday I had a great reiki session - very relaxing and puts my mind at ease. Reiki is something that my brother Trent and I have embraced over the past few years as a supplement to western medicine. Through a good friend, I have found the Reiki touch in Barb, a master here in Regina - very professional and very compassionate. Here is a great link with some very valuable information on Reiki - what is is and how it works. My brother Trent is also an Usui and Lightarian Reiki Master in Calgary. I am thankful for the engery he gives me.
Today the flaps separated and scared the heck out us! After a few doctors appointments and many phone including a wrong call transfer,a guardian angel named Patti G picked up the call. We were able to get into see a nurse (Jane -- another angel) for a flap clean up. As difficult as it was to hear that these flaps have failed and require removal, it was also comforting to know that when a surgery date is confirmed there will be no second guessing as to what procedures will take place - axillary node dissection and flap removal. In the meantime, I have to say it feels amazing to have clean flaps...
So yeah, although we feel a bit beat up emotionally by cancer today in that cancer took breasts and now flaps....at the end of the day we are ahead of the game - we have each other, we have great a great family and we have great friends. Cancer cannot take that away.
We will post the upcoming surgery date as soon as we receive the date.
Much love to all, Shelley & Bob
Friday, March 23, 2012
Need to be cancer clean
Today we met with both surgeons (cancer and plastics). The verdict is in and I will be scheduled for an axillary node dissection and flap exploration/removal within the next 2 weeks....hopefully next week as I will need at least 4 weeks recovery before I can start chemo. All waivers/permissions were signed.
So why the dissection? There were two factors that played into this: 1) my "young" age and 2) the sentinel node had a 2.4 mm cancer mass on it. In extracting more nodes, the doctors concluded the course of my treatment would be greatly influenced. If there is no more cancer on the nodes, then I would not require radiation. If there is cancer on the nodes then yes, radiation would follow chemo. Either way, it is important that I am cancer clean for the next round of therapy. There will be considerable discomfort in my right arm as a result of this but it is nothing that physio and hard work can't helped.
As for the flaps, well, it sounds and looks like they will come off. Although I am not looking forward to all of this, it is what is best for fighting the cancer as cancer has no boundaries.
This surgery in its entirety will take about 2 hours and I will need to stay overnight in the hospital because I am on blood thinners. After that, well, it will be R & R and exercise to get in shape for chemo.
Keep praying and keep the faith!
Much love,
Shelley & Bob
So why the dissection? There were two factors that played into this: 1) my "young" age and 2) the sentinel node had a 2.4 mm cancer mass on it. In extracting more nodes, the doctors concluded the course of my treatment would be greatly influenced. If there is no more cancer on the nodes, then I would not require radiation. If there is cancer on the nodes then yes, radiation would follow chemo. Either way, it is important that I am cancer clean for the next round of therapy. There will be considerable discomfort in my right arm as a result of this but it is nothing that physio and hard work can't helped.
As for the flaps, well, it sounds and looks like they will come off. Although I am not looking forward to all of this, it is what is best for fighting the cancer as cancer has no boundaries.
This surgery in its entirety will take about 2 hours and I will need to stay overnight in the hospital because I am on blood thinners. After that, well, it will be R & R and exercise to get in shape for chemo.
Keep praying and keep the faith!
Much love,
Shelley & Bob
Wednesday, March 21, 2012
More Appointments
Today's phone call from the surgeon's office booked us in for a meeting this Friday at 10:00 AM...we are hopefully that a plan will be disclose then. In the meantime, we continue to pray for strength to deal with the "plan". Since we haven't heard from the plastics surgeon, we assume that next week will be a joint surgery...but we never know as things haven't really turned out how we assumed they would so far in this journey.
The legs are starting to loosen up a bit making walking easier. Bob gave me his "best" needle of Fragmin (blood hinner stuff) so far this morning - no bruise and no pain :) My legs are rather colourful as of late - he is really doing a great job! I don't think I would be able to this myself...ok, I know I wouldn't be able to do this myself!
Sleep was actually better last night than the previous week....I think I actually slept 5 hours straight! So this too is coming along. The morning/afternoon naps are still the best to keep me going.
Our friend Mike B asked the other day on the phone about my mental state with all that has been going on....I told him I always had issues and after being married 22 years and hadn't really noticed a changed :) All things serious, the power of prayer and support from family and friends has kept me and all of us on the positive thinking trail. However, I am ready to say "uncle" to God and the medical pwers that be.....
Bob is in Melville tonight for a hockey game and I am relaxing with the kids - perhaps a movie as there is no school for them Thursday or at least Grey's Anatomy :)
Will update again on Friday!
Much love, Shelley
The legs are starting to loosen up a bit making walking easier. Bob gave me his "best" needle of Fragmin (blood hinner stuff) so far this morning - no bruise and no pain :) My legs are rather colourful as of late - he is really doing a great job! I don't think I would be able to this myself...ok, I know I wouldn't be able to do this myself!
Sleep was actually better last night than the previous week....I think I actually slept 5 hours straight! So this too is coming along. The morning/afternoon naps are still the best to keep me going.
Our friend Mike B asked the other day on the phone about my mental state with all that has been going on....I told him I always had issues and after being married 22 years and hadn't really noticed a changed :) All things serious, the power of prayer and support from family and friends has kept me and all of us on the positive thinking trail. However, I am ready to say "uncle" to God and the medical pwers that be.....
Bob is in Melville tonight for a hockey game and I am relaxing with the kids - perhaps a movie as there is no school for them Thursday or at least Grey's Anatomy :)
Will update again on Friday!
Much love, Shelley
Monday, March 19, 2012
Fighting Cancer #1 Priority
No surgery date is defined yet.....however, we did find out a couple of new things to share with you.
First of all, we met with our plastic surgeon and agreed that fighting cancer is our #1 priority as it should be. Reconstruction can happen later without the pressure of prolonging chemotherapy should something else go wrong. Therefore, I will be going under the knife first of all to see if these flaps are surviving or partially dead/dying. In the event they are dead/dying in part or whole, both flaps will be removed and the wounds will be closed. This means reconstruction can occur after all chemo/radiation and recovery are complete. If the flaps are thriving and need more time, then they will remain as is. However, we are preparing psychologically for the removal of the flaps although we are not quite sure what that means....we will continue to pray for strength to keep moving forward to fight cancer.
Secondly, we learned that this Wednesday, the cancer specialist team consisting of medical and radiology specialists and surgeons will be meeting to discuss challenging cases. Yup, I am on the list of challenges to be discussed. The decision to proceed with an Axillary Node Dissection (or not) will be finalized. The benefits and challenges of these procedures versus radiation after chemotherapy or chemotherapy alone will be vetted and decided upon. So what does this mean going forward?
If the team decides it is beneficial to have the Axillary Node Dissection then this procedure will be coordinated with the plastics surgeon - remove more modes and flaps if required. This procedure would likely occur next week so that I would have one versus two surgeries.
If the team decides that the Axillary Node Dissection is not necessary, then it is highly likely I will have surgery with the plastics surgeon this weekend. Dr Souf will come in after hours to explore and remove as necessary so that I can heal and keep going forward with the cancer treatment plan.
The bottom line is we will know when surgery will be by the end of the week.
So you are probably wondering how we are doing with all this.....actually, we are ok. Things happen for a reason. The removal of the flaps is temporary - perhaps we will appreciate the craftsmanship of plastic surgeons more so :) There is a plan or there will be a plan in place to conquer cancer - that is a good thing!! A plan carefully thought out by specialists - again a good thing. There is power in number...Teamwork is awesome! You are all a part of our team - our prayer and support team! Again, there is power in numbers! We continue to pray for strength and courage as we move forward!
As always, we will update the blog once we hear from the doctors regarding our plan.
Much love, Shelley & Bob
First of all, we met with our plastic surgeon and agreed that fighting cancer is our #1 priority as it should be. Reconstruction can happen later without the pressure of prolonging chemotherapy should something else go wrong. Therefore, I will be going under the knife first of all to see if these flaps are surviving or partially dead/dying. In the event they are dead/dying in part or whole, both flaps will be removed and the wounds will be closed. This means reconstruction can occur after all chemo/radiation and recovery are complete. If the flaps are thriving and need more time, then they will remain as is. However, we are preparing psychologically for the removal of the flaps although we are not quite sure what that means....we will continue to pray for strength to keep moving forward to fight cancer.
Secondly, we learned that this Wednesday, the cancer specialist team consisting of medical and radiology specialists and surgeons will be meeting to discuss challenging cases. Yup, I am on the list of challenges to be discussed. The decision to proceed with an Axillary Node Dissection (or not) will be finalized. The benefits and challenges of these procedures versus radiation after chemotherapy or chemotherapy alone will be vetted and decided upon. So what does this mean going forward?
If the team decides it is beneficial to have the Axillary Node Dissection then this procedure will be coordinated with the plastics surgeon - remove more modes and flaps if required. This procedure would likely occur next week so that I would have one versus two surgeries.
If the team decides that the Axillary Node Dissection is not necessary, then it is highly likely I will have surgery with the plastics surgeon this weekend. Dr Souf will come in after hours to explore and remove as necessary so that I can heal and keep going forward with the cancer treatment plan.
The bottom line is we will know when surgery will be by the end of the week.
So you are probably wondering how we are doing with all this.....actually, we are ok. Things happen for a reason. The removal of the flaps is temporary - perhaps we will appreciate the craftsmanship of plastic surgeons more so :) There is a plan or there will be a plan in place to conquer cancer - that is a good thing!! A plan carefully thought out by specialists - again a good thing. There is power in number...Teamwork is awesome! You are all a part of our team - our prayer and support team! Again, there is power in numbers! We continue to pray for strength and courage as we move forward!
As always, we will update the blog once we hear from the doctors regarding our plan.
Much love, Shelley & Bob
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