The initial surgery for this current brute was scheduled for August 21, 2008. It was to be done by the da Vinci® Surgical System, a minimally invasive option for complex surgical procedures. I was asked to remove my wedding ring, but requested that it be taped instead. I don’t like taking it off. The nurse was very sweet but insistent that I take it off. She said that during the surgery, instruments may be used which require electric current and the gold ring on my finger could conduct the current and burn me. I said I was willing to take the chance. She then reminded me that the same electrical current could ricochet and shock my surgeon while he was handling delicate instruments inside my body. The ring came off!
Well, the cancer had advanced too far and wide for the robotic technique to get it all. So, a LARGE incision was made. After five and a half hours of debulking – a medical term for an aggressive surgery to remove as much of the cancer as possible prior to follow-up chemotherapy treatment. It also involves a lot of very sharp instruments and hours of scraping – both of which I try not to think about!
So, I had a nine-day recuperative holiday during which my sweet, unbelievably resilient husband never left my side. That’s not completely true. He went home for a few hours the day after my surgery to check our house. A small hurricane had gone through during the night. That’s usually where you might say, “What else could possibly happen?” I don’t say things like that anymore. I’ve seen what else can happen. Another day, I made him leave just to get a change of scenery. I said “Go walk around Sears or Home Depot! Enjoy yourself!” Well, he did and he got a fantastic deal on a compressor! That’s how he enjoys himself.
Thankfully, I had been placed in a private room during my stay. The nurses brought in, what was jokingly called, a “recliner bed” for my private caretaker to sleep on. He quickly re-named it “the coffin.” In order to get his 6’3” 190 lb. frame into this “recliner bed,” he had to lie on his back with his arms at his sides. If he tried to move around, it would tip – in a variety of directions. I think I slept better than he did, even with all the checking, and charting, and midnight visits from the medical staff.
We developed a routine. Meals would come; I would look them over, taste something, and give the tray to him to eat. Food wasn’t high on my list of priorities. The pain medications and anesthesia were excellent diet aids. The anesthesia also had another, more drastic, effect. Something I had never heard of. Something I think should be shared.
When I came out of the anesthesia, there was a TV over my bed. I noticed that it was blurry, but I didn’t think too much of it at the time. However, it didn’t get any better during the entire hospital stay. Everyone else thought it looked fine, and my vision had always been perfect.
After I got home, I noticed the same issue with our TV. It became obvious that the TVs were not the problem, I was. I mentioned it to a few people who blamed it on the chemotherapy. The chemo hadn’t started until my last day in the hospital – this problem had started immediately following surgery. I waited a few months to see if it would improve. I had enough other things to keep me busy during that time anyway. Finally, I saw my ophthalmologist who said it was a rare, but not unheard of reaction to long hours of anesthesia. He said it could be temporary – only time would tell. I wear glasses now for distance but I’m not complaining. I’m alive – glasses are a small price to pay for that!
Blurry or not, we watched quite a bit of TV during those 9 days. Every night after dinner, we would watch “Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?” We had never been big game show fans, but, for some reason, it became a favorite – and a great distraction. Since that hospital visit, I’ve had another surgery, a “procedure,” and a few 23-hour hospital stays. Each time we look for that show. It’s become a hospital staple – along with the 3:00 AM vitals, reclining coffins, and pineapple Jell-O mold. By now, we believe we are “Smarter Than a 5th Grader” – at least in the medical category!
SURVIVAL TIP FOR TODAY – Be aware of any changes that may occur after surgery or treatments. Your body is unique and deserving of your full concern and attention.
With extended hospital stays that becomes the norm--the routines of the doctors and nurses, watching a certain something on the TV, a loved one close by as best advocate--and then going home feels strange sometimes, the readjustment to familiar environs. And the adjustments are always there, on both sides of the medical fence.
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