Hello to all of you! The first surgery of 2010 is now behind me. Phew. They kept me overnight (the last 2 were same day surgeries) this time. My neurosurgeon removed all hardware - the plate, the screws, and mesh and did all he could do to clean things up. They attempted to put in a PICC line in my right arm during surgery - but failed. Since my PICC line was in that arm last Feb., they wanted the left arm, but can't go there because of the left side mastectomy on Jan 14th. So, I came out of surgery with my head shaved in the back for the 4th time, lots of sutures and ugliness, and my right arn is unbelievably black and blue - the doctor who attempted (multiple times) for the PICC line apologized over and over to my husband afterwards and said that my veins kept collapsing and clotting. Of course!
So, the next day, they took me to radiology to do a central line guided by ultrasound. It is in the upper part of my chest on the right side and looks rather wicked. But, the IV antibiotics are in my system 24/7 and if it gets rid of this infernal infection, I guess it will be well worth it. The infectious disease specialist has spoken with my neurosurgeon's office several times over the past few days and he called me today to check on me. He said after dealing with this infection for a year, he was going to be extremely & overly aggressive, making every effort to eradicate the infection once and for all. In his heart of hearts, he said he thinks the infection must have been in the bone, although at a level that is not detected through blood cultures or sight. He said that he wants the line in for 6-8 weeks and not to let anyone remove it without talking with him first! I love his insistance and I am more than willing to adhere to his rules.
So, I am trying to rebound from this one and get ready for next Thursday. My appetite is not great and my system has not fully gotten back into rhythm, but I feel better today than yesterday, so that is something. Trying to keep my chin up and your posts and prayers are really helping. My husband has been trained again by home health care to change iv bags and flush my central line. He cleans my wound/incision 2 times a day, and this time we have to keep it wrapped for one week. I'm telling you, he is quite the man.
I report to the oncology surgeon on Tuesday to be cleared for surgery on Thursday. Assuming that I pass this assessment, I'll go in at 7:00am Thursday morning with surgery around 11:30.
Well, that's the next passage for my AN/BC novel. Thanks, again, for your presence in my life! Not everyone would have hung on this long!!
Love,
Kathy
