Slice Biopsy, Bone Biopsy and Port Insertion

On January 27th I had the slice biopsy. They simply cut open above my collar bone and took a slice from the lymph-node that started this whole thing. This hospital surgery situation was easy and smooth. I got checked in and all my IVs going and etc. They wheeled me to the second pre-surgery room where the anesthesiologist who looked just like the oncology doctor in the TV show New Amsterdam. She was beautiful! Then my regular doctor came in and talked to me about how she was going to slice the spot right where there are already wrinkles forming so the scar will be less noticeable. That made me laugh! But it also made me happy because I can honestly say I don't want a noticeable scar on my neck. I was thinking it would be the end of tank tops for me. However, I now see hope in the end. The first picture was the day after surgery. The second one was taken 9 weeks later. Not too bad!

On February 11 I was scheduled for two surgeries on the same day, the bone biopsy and port insertion. They were hoping to do one right after the other so I only had to do the anesthesia once. Unfortunately that was not the case.

The first surgery was a bone biopsy to be sure there wasn't any cancer in the bones. This was the one I was most worried about. I had heard how painful it was. So with nervousness, they took me into the OR on time. I laid on the table and fell asleep. It was great. I had no pain during or even after the surgery was done. Later I discovered all the horror stories I had heard was from people who had this done in the doctor's office and they were awake the whole time. I am so glad they chose to do it as a surgery in the hospital!

The next thing I knew I was in the main pre-surgery area waking up. I was supposed to go right in for the next surgery and not wake up in between. Unfortunately they were very delayed. I didn't get wheeled in until a few hours later. By the time that surgery as going to start I had the worst migraine. I had not eaten food or had anything to drink for about 17 hours (and no coffee for almost 29 hours)! They gave me some meds in my IV, and then a few minutes later I was sleeping again. 

When I woke from that surgery it was because I turned my head and the migraine was at an all time high. I'm not sure if it was the lack of food, lack of caffeine, all the knock out meds or a combo of them all. But it was AWFUL!! I drank a little water and promptly threw it up. I knew that was due to my migraine, but they refused to give me any Tylenol until I had eaten. Even the beef broth made me throw up. The nurse finally asked if I normally suffer with migraines. That was the first time she was willing to give me a Tylenol. That did the trick and I was able to eat some saltines (salt with a migraine is helpful, if you didn't know). 

We got home and I slept for hours. The next 4 days were painful. The bone marrow incision was nothing. But getting the port was really painful. It is a heavy chunk of metal and the gravity on it really hurt. I had to wear a bra constantly for several days in order to keep the pain at a minimum. It was that way for the next week or so, but my body is slowly getting used to it. 

Chemo number 1.1 started 3 weeks after this port insertion. Things are going fast. I hope we can kill this Hodgkins fast and I can have a semi normal life starting this summer.