A few people have asked me to continue telling my cancer story so here is another chapter. :-)
I arrived at Mercy Medical Center around 6 a.m. for my port surgery. A Power Port (shaped like a little purple, metal heart) would be placed on the left side of my chest then it would be threaded into the main artery of my heart. That way when I underwent chemo, the drugs would not burn out my veins in my arms.
I had been pretty brave up to this point, but there is something about hospitals that always makes me nervous. I was checked in and sent up to the same-day surgery floor. Immediately the nurse had me put on one of those awkward hospital gowns and then the wait began. I had to wait for a consultation with Dr. Morris then I was wheeled down to surgery. That's when the tears began.
I was cold, tired and did not understand why I was one day a healthy 25-year-old woman and the next day a sick cancer patient. Plus my mom could not come with me and I don't care how old a person is, they always need their mom.
I was quickly placed on the operating table and met my anesthesiologist (spelling?). Right away I felt a kindred spirit in him, because he looked and sounded just like my college roommate Betsy's dad. He was my Martin Hall angel in disguise as Dr. Bizchak. :-) He told me they'd give me some good stuff and the next thing I knew, I was in recovery.
They wheeled me back to my room and I knew in just a few short weeks, I would be flying to California to visit family for 9 days then boom, I'd be back to start chemo. Normally doctors make you start chemo immediately, but my mom and I had purchased non-refundable plane tickets and we wanted a break from reality before cancer really set in.
The vacation was very fun and we really did not talk about cancer. Instead we spent leisurely days sitting on Aunt Iona's patio, dining out with Bev and Chan and catching up on reading material. We also toured Hearst Castle, saw the ocean, went into LA and saw tons of family. But, it was hard, because I missed Matt and knew that when I came home everything would change.
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