Word of the Day-VOMIT

No, I don't mean the stuff that spews from your mouth, I mean the acronym the doctor gave me at the hospital on Monday. Before I get into that I need to backtrack a little.
Remember the last blog when I said I didn't want to jinx anything, well I did. I flew into Texas on Thursday, had pre-op on Friday and I was all clear for surgery. Sally, Ron and I went to a movie, then dinner, and relaxed. The plan was set into motion. Then I got a call from my surgeon on Saturday saying that there was an abnormal level of hormones in my pregnancy test and I had to come in for a blood test before they would do surgery. Goodness gracious, possible pregnancy? I was laughing on the phone and the doctor wanted to know what was so funny.I think I lost my mind a little and it was the giggle of the deranged I was emitting. Babies, breast cancer, and back boobs. The alliteration is just so fitting.
Monday morning arrived and I checked in at 8am for a blood test-to confirm that I was NOT pregnant. It took a couple of hours, but in that time I checked into pre-op. I dressed in my gown, got marks drawn on me, met with both my doctors, and the anesthesiologist. He was a nice man who explained the general anesthesia and another technique, a blocker. The blocker is similar to an epidural, yes I would be asleep, but he would also numb the chest area so I would have less pain up to 5 days after surgery. Since I tend to get very ill from pain meds this was a great option.
Complications, yes I asked. There is a .04% chance that you can get pneumothorax, which is when the lung is punctured and can collapse.
I agreed to the blocker, kissed my husband goodbye, and got ready to be drugged. I had to sit on the side of the bed holding a pillow to my front while the nurse held me up. On the bed next to me was a smorgasbord of medications. Low and behold, there was the Michael Jackson drug, next to many others, and two huge needles, I mean huge, for the blocker. I remember sitting on the bed and that was it.
Next thing I know there is my surgeon and the anesthesiologist. I realized that we were in the same room I started out in. They told my that during the blocker procedure my lung had been punctured and they could not proceed with surgery. Oh my gosh, there came that deranged little giggle again. The doctor thought I was loopy, I was, but it was really funny too. I named my lost blog "2nd Times a Charm, Or is it the 3rd?" It has to be the third because that is the number I am on now.
So my lung was punctured, I was admitted to the pulmonary unit of the hospital for overnight observation. I got to ride in an ambulance for the 1/2 mile trek(which I asked if I could walk, but that is against the rules).
Upon my check in Dr. Sohn informed me of VOMIT. It means a Victims OF Modern Imaging Technology. I have had so many scans and the first delayed surgery because the doctors are too good and thorough. This delay was because I was one .04% who get their lung punctured. I would rather be the 1% that the Occupy movement is against, but alas, I am not.
Now I will have another x-ray on Thursday(number 4) to determine the state of my pneumothorax. If it has cleared up I am scheduled for surgery on Monday, but don't hold your breath, pun intended. In the meantime I am not allowed to fly, scuba dive, or mountain climb. What is a girl to do for fun?

Second Time's A Charm, Or Is It the 3rd?

Alas, here I am again. It has been quite a while since I blogged, but I didn't want to jinx anything. I have been thoroughly cleared by MD Anderson to get a double mastectomy next week. Yes, I was supposed to have surgery a couple of weeks ago, but they found some suspicious spots on my pelvis and spine that needed clearing up. The spots were abnormalities seen on an x-ray that needed two MRI's to rule out metastasis. I am happy to report that it has been ruled out and I am cleared for surgery. I never thought I would be so happy to get lopped and chopped. During one of my MRI's I saw things I hope to never see again. There was a man(at least 80 years old) who seemed to disregard the fact that his gown opened to the back and he was not wearing anything underneath. It was very disconcerting to see him in all his glory.
So I have pre-op this week and then surgery next week...Since I have already had a double mastectomy will this be a quadruple? Weird, but maybe true. I have not heard of many people having two double mastectomies, but I always did like to do things the hard way.
Since this will be a another surgery there will also be more reconstruction options to consider. Some of them need their own post. You would not believe where they will take tissue from to make new boobs. There really isn't any space that they don't consider-stomach(nice it doubles as a tummy tuck), buttocks(bonus, lipo without lipo), inner thighs(again, bonus), but wait...the back. Yes, a lat flap surgery is very common unless they need to place tissue expanders in your back to make the skin in the front. Yes, you read correctly, tissue expanders in the back to make boobs in the front. You know what that means? They give you boobs on your back. As if all of this isn't humiliating enough you get back boobs. I guess tank tops are out for the summer. I really think I would have to draw the line in the sand at that point. Or I would have to move to Alaska and wear sweaters for 6 months.
The plastic surgeon I met with went to Yale and NYU. He is a super smarty pants and I like him, but he's not the one who would have back boobs-gross. So we will have to explore some other options, and I thought losing my hair was bad.