Well op day was eventful! I booked into same day admissions dept at 7am, saw surgeon and anaesthetist at 8am. So far so good!
Walked down to nuclear meds for 9.30am appt to have radioactive isotope injection and imaging. Staff there were very apologetic as they explained that the courier hadn't arrived yet with the radioactive liquid.
He was caught up in heavy traffic. Apparently my local hospital doesn't have the space needed to make the stuff, so a bigger hospital 40 mins drive away makes it and courier delivers it every morning.
He finally arrived, which meant I didn't have injection until 10am, then I had to massage area to encourage liquid to drain through to lymph nodes. Staff said it was beginning to drain through, but very very slowly. Eventually I.had to lay on special table for 30mins in the position technician manouvered me into. Then a further 7mins in different position. i got back to admissions dept about 11.20am. Apparently my op had been booked for 11am and my surgeon and anaesthetist were fuming that I was late back! Nurses rushed me to cubicle to get changed into gown and socks, identity bracelets were put on my wrist and ankle, reckon it would make it into the Guinness book of records, it happened that quick! I checked clock in pre-op room as I was being anaesthetised and it was 11.30am. I found out that nuclear meds staff forgot to phone admissions dept to explain why they were running late. Oops!
So skip to after op, and I'm now in recovery room. I came round to a male nurse asking me if i felt ok. Yes i feel fine i told him. I looked around and saw a senior nurse looking at me. Then another nurse asked me if i definitely felt ok. I'm fine i said, and could do with a nice cup of tea!
i was having my obs done every 10 mins, which was odd.
At 1.30pm I was taken up the ward, and the male nurse accompanied me. He told me that I'd caused a bit of stir after my op, I was a very grey colour and wouldn't come round. They did my obs every 10 mins and let me wake up in my own time, watching for change in my colour. All that took long time he said. Got to ward and had headache and high blood pressure. Ive never had high blood pressure, its usually 120/70 or lower.
Even when I was discharged Thurs afternoon I still had headache and high BP. I'd had paracetamol every 4 hrs, and oral liquid morphine during the night, nothing worked. Back home I slept 11hrs straight, and that did the trick, I woke up headache free!
Surgeon removed lump and two lymph nodes, and biopsy on first node shows provisionally its clear. In two weeks time at post op appt with surgeon I'll get full results. My discharge forms state lump is invasive carcinoma NST (no set type). So its back to the waiting game..... 😞
