Home.
It feels so good to be home. To be with my family, to be with my creature comforts, and to sleep in the silence that you often take for granted until you spend night after night, listening to the moans and groans of a roommate and the annoyance of alarms going off at all hours.
This second surgery for myxofibrosarcoma, the doozy that I have been dreading, was another successful one. One that went so well that I was able to be discharged one day earlier than anticipated.
But don’t let the successfulness or the early discharge fool you, it was still a doozy. My left elbow is now covered with a 5 inch skin flap taken from my right upper thigh. A skin graft of my inner left forearm was completed to move an artery from my inner left forearm to my elbow to support blood flow of the skin flap.
And…I have over 80 stitches between my left arm and upper right thigh, drains to support healing, and a splint to ensure that my arm is immobilized for several weeks.
To be honest, the hospital stay was probably the hardest part of the surgery. I have never needed to stay in the hospital before the way that I needed to stay as part of my recovery from this surgery. It was equal parts humbling, scary, and comforting to stay there.
The care I received while staying on Ellison 14 was phenomenal. Gil, Garry, Ryan, Tia, Jasmine, and Madison along with Marie and Wilma are just a few of the nurses and patient advocates that took care of me. These wonderful people helped me when I was at my worst and laughed with me during the fun moments. Their kindness is what I will always remember long after the memories of catheters, splints, and relentless Doppler checks fade away.
And while I will always be appreciative, too, of the renowned plastic surgeons that were able to put my elbow back together in what feels like some twisted version of Humpty Dumpty, I hold a special place in my heart for a first year resident, a Dr. Rodriguez. Dr. Rodriguez helped me advocate for myself on several occasions, probably going out on a limb that I’m not sure he had with more senior doctors about my requests to do things. And when the memories fade here about the things that he helped me advocate for, what will always stay with me it’s the way that I felt heard when we talk.
And my one regret is that I never thanked him. He wasn’t on rounds on the day of my discharge. 🙁
So..I am home now and grateful to have the last surgery now behind me. These next several weeks are pretty low-key as my job is to heal both my Humpty Dumpty elbow and the donor site on my thigh.
The next step is to get cleared to begin moving forward with setting up radiation. But until then, I am enjoying being with my family, with my creature comforts, and sleeping in the quiet and stillness of my own bedroom.
If you were looking for ways to support me and my family during this time, please click on the link here to see ways that you can help us. Your generosity, your help, and your yummy meals mean the world to me and my family. Thank you!