WOOZY

I received a text at about 6:15pm from Sam saying that she had literally just woken up from the anaesthetic (Did she go into the operation with her phone in her hand???) and that she was having a cup of tea. She still has 2 boobs, it’s just one has a 4-5cm cut running around the top of her nipple……..

11:10am Monday morning and we’re sat in a very busy xray department. There are patients on crutches, some holding their backs as they stand and wait to be called, some that are still in their beds (who have been wheeled down from the wards) and one man who has one leg on a chair (with no shoe on) with a very very swollen red foot that looks like it’s just been crushed (ouchie!). No signs are needed on any of these patients. Sam is called into the room to have the wire inserted into her breast whilst I’m left outside to entertain the kids and watch this guy squeeze his big toe on and off (nice). 20 minutes later and out she walks with a reel of wire strapped to the top of her breast.

“I’ve just got to go and have a mammogram to check that it’s in the right place”

To which an old lady (who is sat next to me) replies

“I’m waiting for one of those. It’s like putting your boobs in a sandwich toaster”

And with that, she gets up and walks away.

“Daddy, what’s a sandwich toaster?”

“It’s what Mummy’s about to put her boobies in babe….. “

Sam comes out of the room after her mammogram and sits down next to me. About 2 minutes later, the consultant radiologist comes out and says that it looks like the wire is in the optimum place and that everything should be good for the surgeon. He wishes Sam luck and we head off to the 7th floor to check in for surgery.

As we walk toward the lift, Sam says that the radiologist didn’t seem too optimistic about the lump. It’s almost as if he had his truth hat on. He said that it’s still quite a sizable lump and it changes everytime he looks at it. He said that they’ll do their best to take it out but, because it’s a big lump, they may have to do more than one attempt. It was almost like he was preparing her for whatever was coming her way.

As we walk into the surgical reception on the 7th floor we’re greeted by the head surgeon and some other staff who welcome Sam in and get her to start to sign lots of forms. I say my goodbyes and leave her in the waiting room.

So, here I am now, It’s 10:15pm and I’m sat looking at a woozy Samantha peeling off the dressings that she got scattered around her arm. She’s ok, just slightly light headed and not too sore…….yet. I picked her up around 9:15pm after they decided to let her come home. I’m actually surprised they actually let her out as it was getting late, but you know Sam, she probably used the force and made them believe it’s what they needed to do. Either that or she realised they’d run out of jacket potatoes.

So she’s got quite a neat 4-5cm cut around her nipple. It looks like the surgeon has done quite a good job. The only thing is, because it was late, everyone had gone home. The surgeon, the cancer nurses and anyone else who was involved in the surgery had gone, so we don’t know how it actually went. Did they get it all? Was it too big? Was it nasty? Was it fine? Will they have to try again? Most of these questions won’t be answered until tomorrow when we have spoken to someone (I think somebody is due to call us at some point in the morning) and of course most of the lab results won’t be back for another 10 days.

So it’s another waiting game I’m afraid. Another cliffhanger. We should get some important questions answered tomorrow, but the main answer won’t be until next week. That’s when we find out if there’s enough healthy margins surrounding the tumour that they removed. If there is then great, but if there isn’t, it’s going to be groundhog day all over again.