Another surgery

This morning, I was back in out-patient surgery at Tomball Hospital. Today's procedure was to insert a "port" in my chest....one of the last steps before I start chemotherapy. It was a quick and relatively painless procedure (the needle stick for the I.V. was the worst part, although now that the pain meds are wearing off, I can feel it more!). Tomorrow is my heart scan (yes, it should have been Friday but the hospital bungled a bit). Then, I meet on Friday with the oncologist who should have my treatment plan mapped out. I am hoping things really start next week.

For your information, the port is about the size of a quarter, only thicker, and will show only as a bump underneath the skin. There are several benefits to having a port:

• No need to find a vein every time you receive chemo. A special needle fits right into the port, so all you feel is the stick—not the poking, prodding, and false tries in your arm. The nurse may numb the skin first with ice or a cream, to lessen any feeling at all.
• A port may be especially valuable for women who might be experiencing some swelling of the arm on the side of their surgery.
• The medication goes right into the main blood supply entering the heart, so it can be sent quickly and efficiently to all parts of the body.
• Some types of chemotherapy can be very uncomfortable if injected into a vein just under your skin. The port avoids this potential discomfort.
• Getting blood for blood tests can usually be done through the port, decreasing the number of times you need to have a vein "stuck."

Yesterday marked the one month anniversary of my "routine" mammogram. By the end of the following week, the doctors were telling me I probably had breast cancer. In some ways, this month has gone by so very quickly, running from one test or doctor to the next. But in other ways, time has seemed to drag on while waiting to actually start treatment. Yesterday, I was thinking about really beginning treatment and wondering what it would be like. I realized that the disease was seeming more real again; this waiting/testing period had seemed to dull the urgency of my situation. Last night, I admit that I needed a pep talk from Michael as I poured out my concerns to him. As he calmly reminded me of the truths of Scripture, I was able to go to sleep and rest peacefully, waking refreshed and remembering a stanza of a hymn I read last week:

"Whate’er my God ordains is right. Though now this cup, in drinking, may bitter seem to my faint heart; I take it all unshrinking. My God is true, each morn anew, sweet comfort yet shall fill my heart, and pain and sorrow shall depart." ~Samuel Rodigast (1649-1708)

posted by Kim @ 1:19 PM