appointment-hell-day redux

Last night, I slept over my friend Marcy's beautiful house in Mt Airy. We got up early and she drove me to Hahnemann hospital for doctor-appointment-hell-day. She asked the security guard to order us a wheelchair and I took the elevator upstairs to wait for my appointment.

Dr. Junkin examined my leg again and said that the pathology report showed no signs of infection. He said that he was planning to excise the cyst on Friday. He said that I'd probably be overnight or admitted for 23 hours (an insurance thing) following surgery. He also said that the scar would be big because the cyst is so gigantic. Dr. Junkin suggested that it'd be a 2 - 4 week recovery time and said that I probably wouldn't need physical therapy, since my normal movements would probably be "enough" to strengthen the muscles again. He also said that I would be in a knee immobilizer to keep my knee straight for a few weeks. I think it is kind of funny that I haven't been able to straighten my knee for so long and now I won't be able to bend it either.

Dr. Junkin added that I'd use crutches or a walker (if the crutches irritated the scar from the sentinel node biopsy). He seemed to think I'd be put off by the walker. This year has been a sort of timewarp for me: I've lost my hair, entered menopause, walk stooped with a cane, and spend more time resting on the couch than socializing. Using a walker wouldn't be worse than any of that.

After that appointment, Marcy and I got some food in the cafeteria and ran into Maureen, the art therapist. We chatted until my next appointment, for pre-surgery screening. I answered the same 100 questions that I always do and gave a urine sample to prove once again that I'm not pregnant. The nurse got a needle to get some blood. I got a little nervous, but she had no trouble getting a vein. Yay!

We left that appointment with enough time to get a quick cup of tea and snack before my next appointment across the street. Dr Lind, my surgeon, examined my breast and said that it looked like it was healing beautifully. He pulled off the surgi-tape that was left, which left a bigger scar than I imagined. He said that it was still swollen, but would be fine in a few more weeks. Dr. Lind also examined my leg and noted the areas of numbness and swelling. He said that he's "never seen anything like that in 25 years of practice". That's not reassuring. Dr. Lind promised he'd check on me after surgery. That's very reassuring. I love that man.

After all of these appointments, Marcy brought me home and I rested. I can't take ibuprofen before surgery and I don't have any tylenol here, so my only painkilling options are Vicodin and Percoset. Mostly, I'm going to be resting and sleeping for a few hours at a time until tomorrow's appointment at noon.

needle count: 62
touch count: 21