Linda,
I’m a supporter you haven’t met, but I’ve always enjoyed your posts and appreciated your strengths.
You mentioned there were earlier signs that you didn’t heed. If you feel like sharing them, I’d love to hear them.
I’ll send a steel drum band, so make room on the porch.
Feel well.
Barb
You hang in there, Hot Stuff! A little unsolicited advice from a fellow hyster-sister. You’ve probably already figured this out, but nothing’s more tired than sitting. Get those feet up!
Hugs,
Denise
Quote:
So we have a pool boy but we need a masseuse!
Mary
Please! It’s Massage Therapist!
But for y’all I’ll make an exception.
Shall I wear my kilt?
Linda, keep it up! You are going to emerge from this latest challenge as an even stronger force to be reckoned with!
I want to come to the porch party too, if that’s ok! I’ll make up some mimosas for us all.
Really tired today. It seems that my surgical wound decided to get a little infected once I finished my course of antibiotics. Started last weekend with a little 1/4" reddened area and by Tuesday it was sore the entire length of the incision (about5"). And it was draining from one little spot.
So off to the doctors I went. She opened the incision a little bit in the office and about 1.5 liters of serous drainage burst forth. Everywhere. All over the exam table, the floor. Just everywhere!
So it was straight from the doctor’s office to the hospital Tuesday afternoon. Surgery Tuesday evening to excise any necrotic tissue and pack the wound. Came home yesterday evening. Have to go see the surgeon daily for repacking as the wound is still laid open so it will continue to drain.
And it hurts. And I’m tired. And I think I’m really going to be ready for that porch party in the future!
Just wanted to let everyone know.
Linda
Hi Linda,
You must be so tired! All that back-and-forthing. I would be one ball of frustration. I’ll be thinking of you and wishing for a smoother recovery from here on out.
Oh, Linda, bleah for surgical complications. Rest! Get better! The porch is waiting!
Mary
Quote:
Really tired today. It seems that my surgical wound decided to get a little infected once I finished my course of antibiotics. Started last weekend with a little 1/4" reddened area and by Tuesday it was sore the entire length of the incision (about5"). And it was draining from one little spot.
So off to the doctors I went. She opened the incision a little bit in the office and about 1.5 liters of serous drainage burst forth. Everywhere. All over the exam table, the floor. Just everywhere!
So it was straight from the doctor’s office to the hospital Tuesday afternoon. Surgery Tuesday evening to excise any necrotic tissue and pack the wound. Came home yesterday evening. Have to go see the surgeon daily for repacking as the wound is still laid open so it will continue to drain.
And it hurts. And I’m tired. And I think I’m really going to be ready for that porch party in the future!
Just wanted to let everyone know.
Linda
Hey Linda,
Wow! That was a large amount of fluid. You will probably feel much better now that all of that is out. It is just going to take time to get over the surgery and stuff so start fluffing the pillows and getting plenty of rest. There is just no way around this one.
I will try to give you a call on Saturday or Sunday. I am off call this weekend. Yeah!!
Keep positive as I am sure that things are going to go much better from here on out. Natalie
Hey, Linda! I’m sorry to hear you’ve had some complications. You sounded so good when I spoke with you recently. I’ll try to give you a call this weekend if I can! Hang in there, girl. Like Natalie said, rest, relax, let Zane wait on you hand and foot. You’ll get through this!
Jane
Linda,
It’s been awhile since I’ve been here and kept up with the posts. My heart just fell when I read this thread. I also received a cancer dx and know how devastating and frightening it can be. Don’t give up…the front porch is definitely out there waiting for us…both.
I hope that you are feeling better after the surgery. Complications are…no fun!
cyberhugs from me to you…
Kris
Just wondering how you are feeling, Linda. I hope much, much better now.
Strange subject heading, huh? But think about it. My incision had gone from the lower part of my belly button down to the pubic region. When the wound became infected, they had to open it again, all the way to the belly button. While you could see the top half of the belly button, there was no bottom half. . . . until today!
When I went to clean the wound and repack and redress it, I noticed it. A belly button!! That just goes to show how much the wound actually is healing. And even though it’s really rather large still, it is a lot smaller than when it was first measured. The wound had originally been 17.5 X 10 X 12 cm. That was on Feb. 18th. On the 24th, it was down to 11.5 X 7.5 X 9.5. So it was shrinking. But today is the first day I have seen an intact ‘innie’ again!
Funny how such a little thing can make my day so much brighter!! 
Thanks, guys, for all the positive thoughts and prayers that have been sent my way!
Linda
Hey Linda,
Remember that patient I told you about over the phone? Today, she is off the ventilator and I removed her last drain. I told her about you and she sends her best wishes. She said that maybe one day you both will meet and compare your scars.
Now just add that to our porch party and we will be set. Glad that you are able to contemplate your naval once more. 
Natalie
Sitting here in ICU waiting for a disaster!
It’s one of those “YES!” moments. Like when your innie turns outie during pregnancy and you wonder if you’ll ever be an innie again. And one day… YES!! All is again normal.
Does the porch party include belly dancing? With enough of the “party material” we’ll all be experts. 
(Yes, I want to drag my 90 y.o. body there when the celebration occurs those decades in the future.)
Grins,
Judy
Linda,
You crack me up!!! Somedays all we have is our sense of humor… and you know what? that’s enough…
Keep fighting my friend… I’m glad to hear you’re on the mend.
Andrea
You now have a case study: Renewed visibility of belly button associated with increased optimism in patient after surgery.
Gather a few more and you’ve got a research paper!
Seriously, I’m glad to hear you’re still nicely on the mend.
joe
Joe, that’s funny. Natalie was just telling me last weekend that maybe I should use some of this extra time to do a research paper. So maybe “Renewed visibility of belly button associated with increased optimism in patient after surgery” would be a good topic. At least it would be fun! It certainly has helped my outlook on things.
As for everything else. . . I start brachythermy next week. Five weeks, one day a week. Radiation oncologist told me it shouldn’t cause any side effects to speak of. I hope not. The idea of burning in my vagina makes me think of yeast infections! Yuck!
But, all in all, the wound is continuing to heal. My fibroblasts are working hard! Still losing a little more weight, and that sure won’t hurt me any! Only problem I have is everyone keeps saying eat lots of protein, and I have basically no appetite. But I’m trying!
I’m also trying to keep the faith. . . and I will thanks to all the support and encouragement I get from the good folks here at OPM!
Thanks again to you all!
Linda
Good luck with, Linda
Linda,
As a newbie, I have perused the forums trying to get a feel for OPM’s culture; it looks like you are a significant portion of the bedrock of this community–Thank you. At your suggestion, I have signed up to attend this year’s conference.
I admire your courage, your continuing contribution (apparently I have a gift for alliteration), and your sense of humor. They are yet another reason I want to be a doctor–I’ll get to hang out with people who have had to work very hard, through personal diversity of all kinds, in order to help other people through their own hardships. I know you will beat this thing.
On a lighter note, here are some funny bumper stickers:
* I wouldn’t be caught dead with a necrophiliac.
* Cthulhu Saves (In Case He Gets Hungry Later).
* Few women admit their age. Few men act theirs.
* We have enough youth, how about a fountain of SMART?
* Driving drunk? Unbuckle your seatbelt
* Jeeze if you love Honkus
* God was my copilot, but we crashed in the mountains and I had to eat him.
* If this sticker is blue, you’re driving too fast (on a white bumper sticker, for you physics geeks)
* Knowledge is Power; Power Corrupts. Study Hard, Be Evil.
* Jesus is coming back, and maybe this time he won’t look like Ted Nugent.
* There you go, contributing to entropy again…
* Your epidermis is showing.
* Warning! I’m running on sugar and caffeine right now.
* Mom ? What gets gum out of a cat’s fur ?
Thanks; I’ll be here all weekend.
Tim
It’s amazing how fast time is flying by. For the first time in a long time, I started feeling like myself again this week. Much more positive. . .my husband says Pollyanna must have come home from vacation.
I’ve had 2 of the 6 intracavitary radiation treatments now. The only side effect so far has been diarrhea on the day following the treatment. The treatment itself is fairly painless. . . with the only real discomfort being the insertion of the cylinders into the vagina. They want them to stretch the vaginal walls in order to get the best coverage with the radiation. The first week, my doctor started with cylinders that I knew wouldn’t fit. When he told me to try and relax, I reminded him it wasn’t HIS vagina. He laughed, gave up on the first cylinders, and ended up with cylinders 2 sizes smaller. Anyway, now they know what size to use, so the second week wasn’t quite as bad.
Why am I spelling all this out so graphically? Well, you know when you are a physician you may have a patient that is facing the same thing, or something similar. I just want everyone to understand what it’s all about, how it makes you feel, etc. That will help us all to be more caring, compassionate physicians.
Anyway, I’m back to really hitting my review books hard, as well as some lectures that I haven’t seen before to help refresh my memory. Boards on May 26, with a practice board exam the end of this month.
I really feel so much better than I have in several years that I think the cancer had been draining me a lot more than I knew. My ob/gyn doctor said that from the size of the tumor, it has probably been growing for 5 years or more. But, at least it’s gone now!
AND now I’m busy preparing my OMM presentation for the conference. No way I’m going to miss it!