Eagles Over the Kennebec

It snowed about six inches on the overnight.

I had an appointment for a drain inspection at the Cancer Center in Brewer at 9:30 am this morning.

These two things are not unrelated.

It was a gorgeous drive up I95 to 395 to Brewer. The roads were clear, the snow clung to the trees, and the sun was a silver disk behind dispersing clouds.  We saw a Cooper's Hawk shopping the verge for a snack, and a couple of turkeys flying across the road at about the level of my knee.

We left early, as one does when there are 50+ miles to cover on the morning after a serious snow.  It was a little spooky, driving up I95 to the third largest city in the state, during Tuesday morning rush hour.  There was no rush.  There were some few cars, an a goodly number of big trucks, but nothing like the congestion we -- well, I -- had anticipated.  Maine doesn't have a lot of people, and its rush hour "congestion" is a thing of much merriment to those from Away, but -- not this thin.  In fact, it was a little like driving a ghost road.

Having left home early, we arrived at our destination early.  We pulled into a space in the sparsely occupied parking lot, and sat for a few minutes, listening to the radio, and waiting for time to pass.

While we were engaged in this pleasurable activity, a red car pulled into the space once removed from us and a woman -- the driver -- and a young man -- somewhere between 18 and 24, I guess -- got out.  The young man was carrying a bottle of gatorade; the woman was possibly his mother.  They walked in the direction of the hospital entrance.

The song we were listening to went over and another started.  There was a BAM! from outside -- the young man had returned to the car, minus the gatorade and the woman.  He threw himself into the passenger seat and began whaling on the dashboard, the inside of the door, the ceiling.  He was also shouting, apparently into his cell phone.

"I guess they're not letting extra people in," I said to Steve.

"Let's go see," he answered, and we got out of the car, walked by the vehicle where the young man was still throwing his tantrum, and so the front door.

Before us was a man pushing his wife in a wheelchair.  In the vestibule of the building was a table, with three face-masked women behind it.  As we came up, the man had apparently just been told that he could not accompany his wife to her appointment.  He was...not pleased, and was letting it be known.

I hesitated, a hospital employee at the far end of the table waved me in, and I went.  Steve stayed at the door.

"Just checking," I said, when I got to my helper.  "My husband can't come in?"

"No," she said.  "He can't."

I turned and waved at Steve.  "I'll call you!"  He nodded, waved, and went back to the car, as I turned back to the table.

"Thank you," said the woman helping me.  Beside us, the unhappy man was being unhappy at volume.

I answered the questions put to me, "Pureled" as requested, and was released to seek my doctor's suite on the third floor.

I was the only one in the waiting room, save the receptionist.  The magazines had been cleared off the tables, the coffeemaker had an "out of order" sign on it, and also the refrigerator that had, on my last visit, been full of bottles of water.

In good time, I was seen by a nurse practitioner, who inspected the drain, removed one layer of dressing from the incision, and did a quick examination.  I am pronounced to be doing Well, though I still need to keep the drain for another week.

We then went over the pathology report, which is not at all clear-cut with respect to the lymph nodes.  I am promised that the surgeon will call me today to discuss options, which include the possibility of another surgery.

We talked a little about the surgical camisole I had been given in the hospital; and I gave it as my opinion that I had been fortunate enough to be able to raise both arms directly after my surgery, which made getting the camisole on fairly easy.  Someone who was not so fortunate, however, would have had to pull the thing up over her hips, which didn't seem viable to me.  Maybe a camisole that fastened up the front would be better.  The nurse said they were looking into that, so, yay, I got to participate in Research.

Released, I called Steve to tell him I was on the way down, and rejoined him at the car, passing the red car where the young man was still punching the interior, and yelling at his cellphone.

Steve and I drove home through traffic not much increased, admiring the scenery, and spotting a herd of turkeys off the side of the road.

And that catches us up again.

So, it's been a couple days since I've updated, but don't worry -- you haven't missed anything except me sitting over there in the Command Chair, mostly sleeping between exercises, and doing Small Science with the drain, which I will be Very Happy to See the Back Of, just sayin'.

To give you some range on exactly how much I've been sleeping -- I took Emma Bull's The War for the Oaks to the hospital with me and also Patricia Briggs' Moon Called, and was concerned that I might not have enough to read for an overnight stay at the hospital.  For those following along at home, I chose these two titles precisely because they are frequent re-reads, so I wouldn't lose the train of the story, if -- if!! -- I fell asleep in the middle of reading.

So!  I have not yet finished (re-re-re-re-&c)reading The War for the Oaks.  Maybe today.

I can say that things (Things) are progressing.  Last night is the first time since coming home from the hospital, and despite all the sleeping I've been doing, that I felt like I got real sleep, as opposed to induced rest.  So we can hope that the last of the anesthesia has evaporated.

This morning, I made my own breakfast!  Scrambled eggs and toast, yeah, but I did it myself, though Steve does have to fetch bowls and mugs and various things down from the higher shelves for me.

If I have my way, I will make lunch today -- something lentil stewish, depending on what we have in the freezer and pantry.

Plenty of rest, three-times a day exercises, and drain maintenance are still the backbone of the day's agenda.  Steve is doing all the heavy lifting until I'm cleared, which I'm hoping will be Tuesday, during my first follow-up, but which will, in sober reality, probably be withheld until my second follow-up, the week after.

Still no word on the lymph node survey, which -- let's just say that I'd really like to have that nailed down, too.

Fans of the cats will be pleased to know that they are doing their usual exemplary job of nursing, while also keeping tabs on Steve.

And, there!  That catches us all up.

Everybody stay healthy.

So, this is a catch-up post, and a distant early warning.

First, the warning:  I may be radio silent for a few days next week.  Maybe not.  But maybe.  It could happen.  If it goes that way, this is why.

I have breast cancer and will be having a unilateral mastectomy during the week of March 16.  I'm in good hands, and aside the fact that I have breast cancer (argh!), I'm fairly sanguine about the surgery, which will be what's called a "simple mastectomy" -- i.e. without reconstruction, which was my informed and freely-made choice.

Right now, it appears that I've drawn a card from the top of the deck, as the surgeon believes that I will not require either radiation or chemotherapy, though I will have to take an aromatase inhibitor to be named later.  I'll note that this news is a little previous, since my sentinel lymph nodes still need to be surveyed.  This will happen concurrently with the larger surgery.  If there's any funny business discovered at that point, then more extreme therapy will be necessary.  I won't know that for sure until after results come back from pathology, but I'm hoping the better outcome continues to maintain.

For updates until I'm back online, check in with Steve on Facebook, which is where he hangs out most nowadays.  Here's the link.

. . .I believe that catches us all up.

Everybody stay healthy.

Today's blog post title is brought to you by Aladdin.  Here's your link