Post-Op Visit

We took Mom to her post-op visit today and she handled it pretty well. That was a good thing since she had a terrible night. Her pain meds were causing some side effects that were uncomfortable, so she stopped taking them. The result was quite a bit of pain during the night and severe nausea. I was very much afraid we were going back to the ER, but I finally gave her pain medicine anyway, and she finally settled down enough to sleep some. At one point, I was laying at the foot of her bed I was so concerned. I believe something else was causing the side effects, but the resident we saw today changed her pain meds just in case. She has one place to the right of her incision that is causing a problem pain wise, and her back is evidently having muscle spasms. Hopefully, she will be able to keep this medication in her system and avoid a repeat of last night's performance.

We still do not know what the pathology report showed, or what her prognosis is. The Surgeon is out of town for a week and the resident was not allowed to share that information. Mom begins her chemotherapy on July 3rd. She will be taking treatment at UAMS every 21 days and they will last 4 to 5 hours. The day after treatment will be pretty hard on her, and the following week will not be a picnic either. She will definitely lose her hair, but she only wants to wear a hat. No wig, no scarf.

She felt well enough to eat at Cracker Barrell, and to take a short trip to J.C. Penney to find a couple of comfortable outfits to wear to chemo treatments. I carried a wheelchair I borrowed from the clinic and it was a chore getting that dinosaur out everytime we went somewhere, then putting it back in. But we do what we must, don't we?

Right now I'm so exhausted I don't think I could sleep if I laid down. But, I have to work tomorrow, so I'd best get to trying. I will be spending tomorrow night and Wednesday night with her, and will leave for work from her house in Rison on Thursday morning.