June 27th, This morning I woke up with hardly any anxiety! I think I am finally getting used to being poked and prodded!! We got to the hospital at 10am and my friend Susie was already waiting there for us! She has not missed 1 of my procedures yet! If she is allowed to be there, she has been there and I really thank God for her! She has been a rock for me! My mom and Jon were also there as well! So, I think I am doing so good and not being a scaredy cat, then the nurse calls my name to come back! Oh my word! That was it, I was terrified!!! They told me they were not putting me fully out, but that I will be so relaxed I would fall in and out of sleep! Ok, I could do this! So I get into my gown and slip into the bed. They give me my last IV I will ever need during this time. Then the doctor comes in to go over everything with me. Everything seems simple enough, they are going to make an incision, place the port into my Jugular. It will be used to draw blood from, do my chemo through, pretty anything that needs to go in or come out of my body will be done through the Port! Then the doctor springs it on me!! I CAN NOT get it even a little wet for 7-10 days!! Which means they don't want me to shower, bathe, swim, etc... I asked them what to do about my hair! I have super long hair that gets dirty in 1 day!! They said, "Just deal with it!!" WHAT??!! I know it doesn't seem like a big deal in the grand scheme, but for me, it is! Finally it is time to get the surgery started. They wheel me back to the most uncomfortable room I have ever been in, in my life! I got scared, really scared, so I just started praying. It felt like they took FOREVER setting things up in there. The nurse came in and said that she was going to give me the sedative to calm me down and because they were almost ready to start. So she gave me one shot in my IV and after about 5 minutes, it was not doing anything for me. I let her know and she gave me another dose. Right away I felt VERY relaxed. I could have fallen asleep, but then I was snapped back into reality! All of the sudden, I feel about 20 pokes from a needle piercing my chest! I told them I felt it and they said that he was numbing the incision site and the place the Port was going to be located. So I gritted my teeth and got through it. I did not feel the incision at all, praise God!! But the next thing I felt was this horrible pressure! I was literally moaning out loud it was so uncomfortable! It was the longest procedure I have ever had! I didn't cry, but I sure wanted to! After it was over, they wheeled me back to the recovery room and I stayed there for about 20 minutes. They reiderated that if it gets wet and infected, they will have to take out the Port and reinsert it! So pretty much STAY AWAY from me for the next 10 days!! I will not risk infection! I am going to do whatever it takes to keep it dry!! So now my new prayer is to keep this Port healing as it should and keep all infection away from me! NO SHOWERS FOR ME!! LOL!
When I couldn't shower I fell in love with dry shampoo. I have two kinds. One is not on the market anymore but there are several others you can find. Some have powder oatmeal in them to get the grease out. It is good stuff to have on hand. I have some always in my hospital bag just in case. Sorry the port was painful. I am glad you asked for more sedative. Don't be afraid to let them know when you are uncomfortable. (((hugs)))
ReplyDeleteTresemme has a Fresh Start Dry Shampoo that you can get at Walgreens.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if you could just go to a salon to have them wash your hair since you would be leaning back into the sink thing with the cut-out for the neck. Would that hurt your neck where the port is though? Just "thinking out loud" here. ;)
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