Closing In on Surgery Day

I think that I am starting to get an idea of what lies ahead for me, once I am out of surgery.  The thought of my upper body draining out fluid for days or more afterwards seems a bit gross.  Not sure why this happens and why it goes on for so long, but it does.  A fairly new device that the surgeon wants to use is called a surgical compression vest.  This is to help with the draining plus lessen recovery time overall.  It is meant to wrap the entire upper body and hold it firmly in place.  There also will be a time in which I will not be able to shower.  It will be interesting to see how I manage to feel clean, especially with my hair.

My father still is not handling this well.  Regardless of what anyone tells him, he seems to think that I am in pain.  He seems to think it strange that I am working – even up to the day before the surgery.  He seems to have the idea that his family is too good to be plagued with things like Sharon’s MS and my cancer:  we did not do drugs; we were not immoral people; we were good kids.  It seems odd that I am having to try to re-direct the thinking of a minister.  Actually, all of us “kids” are.  Granted, a lot of this is probably due to his age (88).  He just does not process things well anymore.  I  am the one comforting him, not he comforting me.  He calls every day, and he cries.

The cyst on my back decided, after years and years of just being there, to flare up.  It has left me, all week, wondering what to do.  It does not seem infected.  It does not seem to be growing.  It is rather sore, though.  This is the cyst that is on the “To Do List,” and was pushed down the list because of my cancer issues, which surfaced.  The cyst is eventually to be removed.  Now, it presents a dilemma, as my surgeon has been out of town the past two weeks.  I was told that if it really did look like it was infected or had grown to go to the ER at the Cortland hospital.  Explain my situation.  They probably would lance it to get me by until I could see my surgeon.  The records would be there at the hospital for reference, since I am about to be processed for my surgery.  If I can, I will wait until my appointment Monday afternoon with my surgeon.

The other bugaboo is that I seem to be fighting off a cold.  A cold is another thing I do not need at this time.  Dennis went to Cortland this morning to get me some zinc.  That plus Vitamin C I hope will ward off a cold – or have it run a short course, as I am in it on the fringes.