Reminder for Me to Rest
It's almost to the 3 week mark since my surgery. I didn't realize how slow this healing would take. I thought I would be doing more now. I hoped to be off most of the strong pain medication, but no... I have many layers of meds to hold off the worst of the pain, and pain will always be with me, even while fully medicated, but it is manageable, Thank God for that! Those earlier days when I had to breathe through the pain like when I was in labor. I never expected to be admitted to the hospital 2 more times. I'm trying hard to be content in where I am at, to rest my mind as well as body. It is sooo hard to see the dishes, etc and not go do them. But, my Pulmonologist, and the Surgeon's PA, both made it clear that this is a long haul, and that I need to not do anything like cleaning, laundry, or anything that involves bending, twisting, and stretching for the next few months! I was shocked when they said that. Please pray for Joel who has so much on his plate with work, caring for me, being my pharmacist (He keeps track of all the meds and when I need to take more to keep on top of the worst pain), cooking, cleaning up, laundry. I wanted to write out some of the reasons here, more for me to go back to and remind myself to rest, than for all of you. Reading the surgery notes help me to understand why this is so much different than my elbow surgery one and half years ago. I need to be thankful to be alive!
View this on the website if you want all the medical details.
The first few days, I had several weird heart arrhythmias, some which, according to the nurse, could be deadly if long lasting, but thankfully God helped my heart regulate itself rather quickly. I really have so much to be thankful for! Each time I was in the hospital, they always had monitors on my heart. The last time I was there, they said my heart beat was a little slow, but they said it expected after the work done in that area and my heart adjusting, so they are not too concerned. I'm also still having times where my blood pressure drops, which results in my being light headed. Joel is amazing, so attentive, doing extra work in love and calmness. Even telling me to stop when I try to wash the table. This happened after lunch... he said I need to stay still to let all those nerves reconnect! I praise God for the gift I have in Joel. Noah & Kira, & Ben also came over yesterday to help clean because Joel's parents are coming today! Truly I am blessed, and I want to help carry the load, which is what is so hard for me! Please pray for my family and support team, and pray I can fully rest, in mind, soul, and body!
Scary medical stuff here, you've been warned:
After making his way into the area of the cyst and deflating the lung, the head surgeon said, "A very laborious dissection was then undertaken separating the mass posteriorly from the trachea, anteriorly from the superior vena cava, inferiorly from the right main pulmonary artery and medially from the pericardium. There were dense fibrous adhesions to the structures..." Basically, the calcified areas were not easily removed and were attached to important parts of the body. The second surgeon also listed what was done step by step. Part of my lung upper lobe was removed to get the cyst out. They had to repair of pulmonary artery (the main blood vessel that carries blood from the right ventricle of the heart to the lungs.). There were nicks made in the superior vena cava (another major heart artery) that they had to stitch up as well. They removed a thick, layer of the lung called Fibrin to allow the lung to expand again. Removing a portion of the pericardium (the sac surrounding the heart) was also needed to get the cyst out. Before closing me up, they also used Cryoablation intercostai to nerves T3-"7. If I understand right, it is like freezing the nerves to help with pain. They had to go through a huge amount of nerves in the back. The incision is from below my middle neck and follows along the shoulder blade across my side. I hope I explained these things correctly, from what the Pulmonologist told me and google searches. I didn't add all of the list of things because some seemed similar to others, or I didn't understand enough.
