Monday, May 12, 2008

happy, happy, happy...

Happy Mothers Day, to all of our favorite mom's, you know who you are...
Happy Anniversary to my wife of 29 years...
Happy Biopsy over Day!
We arrived at our 8am prep & check-in, at 7:45, for my 9am CT guided biopsy. Dad always said " you never can be too early", apparently that was way back in the day, of someone noticing and actually caring. We waited and waited and waited until 8:45am to which my advocate, Jayne, got up and started whispering something to the check-in gal and you guessed it....at 8:47 we were on our way to the prep room.
We were greeted by nurse Rita, she explained the procedure from start to finished which included some instructions to my wife about what she might do while the test was being done, don't go there, nurse Rita.... I gave Jayne a kiss and sent on her way to wait some more.
Get this visual, middle aged, overweight man, half on his stomach, half on his side balanced on a 18inch wide, moving table. Fortunately, 12 inch wide, velcro strips ( yes, velcro ) are strategically place over my body to keep me perched on the 18 inch table. Right arm up over your head with a blood pressure cuff, left arm strapped down to your left side with an IV and sweet nurse Rita asked "are you comfortable, honey?" Well, after some really good la la drugs into the IV, a BB pellet, a black sharpie, a band aid strip and an hour later, I was whisked up to recovery. Shortly after arriving, Jayne came into the room to do some more waiting. She just couldn't get enough. The darn recovery nurses kept yelling at me from their station that was about 10 feet away, DEEP BREATHES, MR. FLETCHER, DEEP BREATHES apparently the oxygen saturation sensor kept registering Low and alarming with this beeping noise. This went on for at least an hour and yes, I was annoyed. Lunch showed up and two bites into my roast beef sandwich the annoying alarm went away, FYI roast beef brings out the best in me. 30 minutes later we were on our way home.
My pain hovers between 7 & 8, 10 being the worst and the pain is primarily on my right kidney and side. I am not able to sleep laying down but have made a really good dent in my new recliner. Nurse Jayne suggested I take the pain meds every 3 hours as the bottle states, instead of waiting until the pain gets out of control, she also suggested I write down the time I take the pill because CRS has set in, I am turning 50 next month. I also started putting ice on my right side off and on, something about that seems like it's a good idea. I am really not sure if it is or isn't helping but I feel like I am doing everything possible. After all ice makes any kind of boo boo better, right? I think I remember my mom saying that and we all know that "mom knows best".
We are hoping to hear some results from Dr. Josephson tomorrow at our 10am appt and you guessed it we need to be there 30 minutes early... until tomorrow.

2 comments:

Kathy & Bob Cason said...

Brent,

Thanks for the update. It is so good to be able to keep up with what is going on each day. Your positive attitude is awesome! God has blessed you with a wonderful wife, but I know you already know that! Bob and I continue to keep you and Jayne in our thought and prayers daily. love...Kathy and Bob

Anonymous said...

May God bless you as you conquer this!

All the best, from an APU colleague
A. Robinson-Neal (Inland Empire Regional Center)