Cancer Surgery

Todd had his second tumor removal surgery on Friday, October 11th, 2019 at Orlando Health as a two-part operation. A lymph node dissection was done by the surgical oncologist and a lymphovenous bypass by a plastic surgeon. This was the fourth surgery Todd has had and the first that I was alone in the waiting room.

On the day of surgery, I was completely anxious and I think having a later operation time contributed to that level of anticipation. We rushed around to arrive “on time” that went from 12:30 to 12:15, to 12:00 and we arrived at 12:20 which I considered a win. They took Todd back to pre-op and after about an hour I was able to go back and sit with him in space 18 which made me feel better. Todd and my birthdays are on the 8th and Kloey and Sampson our Yorkie’s birthdate is the 18th, so anyway a lucky number. Little did I know we would be sitting together for over an hour. ORMC is a trauma hospital and surgery times I’m sure are frequently rearranged. His nurse gave him some pre-operative medications that included some Versaid that made him a little loopy and sleepy.

He was taken back to the OR at 4:20 (two hours late), the nurse let me know to add 1-1 1/2 hours to the scheduled 2 1/2 hour surgery for pre/post timing. As I walked out I would have normally been balling my eyes out, instead, I was covered in the new doTERRA essential oil blend, Adaptiv all over me, so I only had a few tears. I immediately took the supplement and no joke felt the tranquil effects throughout my whole body within 15 minutes. This stuff is a miracle blend and I highly recommend it to anyone that deals with anxiety or any other mental issues! What do you have to lose? I was able to focus calmly and even talk on the phone without getting choked up. You guys I even did a video on social media! Seriously, I don’t even like to post selfies and thought I would never be able to overcome the fear of posting a video. I had enough courage to do that and I am giving the oil all the credit.

The hospital has an app you can download to receive updates while the patient is in surgery, but for whatever reason, my app was not working, go figure. But I did receive calls from the OR, the first from the nurse anesthetist that was providing the anesthesia just to let me know they were still working but everything was going ok. The second from the surgical oncologist to notify me that he was done with his part of removing the lymph nodes successfully and some nerve branches from the latissimus muscle that had to be sacrificed, but there should not be any nerve or muscle compromised and may even feel some nerve pain relief. He was able to remove the skin that was adhered to the pertruding tumor and that the plastic surgeon should be able to finish soon with a skin flap.

When the surgery was done the plastic surgeon came to talk with me in the waiting room and explained that he accomplished rerouting 5 lymph vessels into Todd’s veins. There was an exception of one vein not being long enough and he had to borrow a piece from the left forearm where he will have an additional scar. The concept of any microsurgery is hard for me to comprehend but absolutely phenomenal that it’s even possible. He was confident in how the surgery went as was the oncologist. Both of these surgeons took their time explaining the procedure to me and that gave me peace of mind. I am so thankful that they were the ones performing this operation.

Todd was finally brought up to the room around 10:30 and because it was so late and he was admitted for the night. They brought in some chicken noodle soup that turned out to be from the can and was super salty compared to anything we had eaten lately. Unfortunately, Todd ended up throwing that up soon after he ate it. He was able to get down some apple sauce (which had syrups in it) and get some medication put into his system. At that moment it is great for him to eat anything provided, but why the heck is there not healthy choices?! I “slept” on a single murphy bed that pulled out from the wall, but if you have ever stayed the night in the hospital you know we did not get much sleep with the constant checks and noises throughout the night.

The bandaged up incision looked fairly large covering from his armpit down his side, then the drainage tube sticking out. That thing just kind of creeps me out, I have gotten used to it all week, but still gross. You have to drain it and measure the fluid and track it along with the color. After each drain and sometimes in between you have to stretch out the tube…as in hold the end of the tube next to your body and with your other hand squeeze the tube down. I am so glad that Todd is able to do that himself because it makes my stomach upset and not only that but because I am so accident prone, I am so scared that I would accidentally rip it out. For the record, I would do it if I absolutely had too.

The next morning we were anxious to be discharged as they attempt to have that done after breakfast. Although there were some issues with having the prescriptions filled, we were able to leave around noon and took the prescriptions with us to be filled instead of waiting. We were tired and by the time we got home and settled, we were exhausted enough to go to sleep early.

Sunday was all about keeping Todd as comfortable as possible, but that afternoon he had a migraine that was more painful than his incision even after taking the Percocets that were prescribed to him. That night we took his bandages off to change out the dressing and get a peek of the incision. The gauze was pretty gross but the incision underneath looked good despite our surprise by the size of it! The flap that was pulled over was much bigger than we thought it was going to be. We knew to expect more than his previous incision that was a single horizontal cut. Once we saw it we knew this was going to be more of a recovery journey for him. And let me tell you how hard it is to try and cover an armpit incision, it doesn’t work very well at all. That night was a rough one, he was up often unable to sleep or get rid of the pain from a migraine.

His headache continued on to the next morning and Todd thought for sure it was because of the pain medication. We called the nurse to notify them and see what he could do. She stated that the migraine was not normal, then suggested that it indeed could be from the pain medication, and asked him to stop it and replace with Tylenol and ibuprofen as needed. Within a couple of hours, the pain subsided. Yay, no more migraine! It is a very hard tough situation when you are doing your best to care for someone and feel lost on how to support them. Then, of course, he was completely frustrated and rightfully so.

The rest of the week went pretty well for him with some burst of energy and probably doing more movement that he should have, resulting in more soreness the next day and some extra drainage (gross). It took a few more days for the steri-strips to come off on this forearm. For me, the week was a little rough emotionally because a lot of my anxiety comes after the fact and I need to prepare myself for that better. It kind of creeps up on me out of nowhere on the spot. In the moment it feels like nothing will help, my brain has a hard time getting positive and I feel overwhelmed with negative guilt. So yeah basically it sucks, but I made it through and I’m making sure to take care of myself too. Thank you to everyone that called to check on Todd but also asked how I was doing because being a caregiver is not a walk in the park.

Both of the surgeons’ follow up appointments are on Tuesday the 22nd, we are curious to get some details! Todd if very swollen I’m assuming where they had to lift up his muscle, I hope that we get some clarity that healing is going as expected from their point of view. Also, the hospital was able to locate the pathology from the previous surgery and sent it off for the BRAF testing. We would love to have them remove the stitches and/or drainage tube, but maybe too soon. Next blog…post op appointments.

Todd will be continuing the treatments from Mexico as soon as he feels up for it, right now he cannot imagine if the Coley’s toxins were to send him into chills with a fairly fresh wound. He will also be receiving vitamin C and ozone treatments in the near future. Please continue to share our story and funding page for these additional treatments that are not covered.

https://www.gofundme.com/manage/todds-stage-4-cancer-journey