Wednesday - Day 2, Post Surgery

Today has been a little more of a rough day for my mom.  She was unable to have any food or water after midnight today.  She went in for a procedure to put the port (for chemo) in her chest.  They ended up placing the port on the right side of the chest thinking that would be the best choice for her since it would be to close to her heart if they put the port on the left side.

Her procedure was about an hour or so behind schedule but assured her that it would be similar to her previous colonoscopy.  I should have asked a little more detail since when I was able to see her after the procedure she explained to me that she was awake the entire time and could feel the procedure happening along with all of the pain and sensations associated with it.  She even felt and saw her own blood while on the table getting the port placed.  I guess most people are not put under for a colonoscopy but my mom was and she did not think that she would actually be awake during the entire port procedure.  She was a little groggy after but made it back to her room to rest and recover.  

Her doctors decided to give her a blood transfusion of 2 units to try and get her levels up where they should be before she starts her chemo.  She is at 8.1 and should be up around 10 at least before chemo starts.  She had to stay in bed most of today since they did not want her walking around or sitting up very much while receiving the blood transfusion.  She is looking forward to actually being able to walk around quite a bit tomorrow and she was going to try and walk several time this evening after she is finished with the blood transfusion.

She is off all iv medication and pain meds and is taking them orally now.  She went over 12 hours without any pain medication at all and only ended up taking 2 vicadin the entire day that I was at the hospital with her today.  She was even able to eat some solid food today for the 1st time since the surgery and not just have clear broths and liquids to drink.  She is determined to be able to do things for her self and even had her first 2 actual meals and really enjoyed the taste of the food even though it seemed a little salty to her.  She has another set of wonderful nurses who are taking amazing care of her and appreciates all that they do for her.

It was a pretty quite day all things considered.  I won't be going to the hospital tomorrow by my aunt will be with her all day.  I'll update the blog as soon as I find out everything from my aunt.

Thanks again for all you do!

Jennie