Charleston Bound, part 2

Martyj,



Thanks so much for the information. Best of luck with your surgery.

Beth - cautiously optimistic for you! Very glad you're about to get discharged. O e day at a time.



Thinking of and praying for your absolute success!

Beth, I'm so excited for you! I followed your story and I'm happy things are looking up this time. Sending prayers up for you!

Beth,

So happy for you! Healing prayers are coming your way.

Beth.... I am SO sorry.... I am speechless.... Hugs hugs hugs....

Oh Beth, I am so very sorry.  Let me know if I can help or you need a visitor.  Remember I am just around the corner and down the block.

I am heartbroken for you, Beth! Praying for your strength to get through this.

Question about flying home...as of right now,my friend says she can be there the day I am released from the hospital and will stay and fly home with me a week after surgery.I am going to make plans accordingly,but if something changes at the last minute (her dad is having some major health problems)and she can't come,will I be OK flying home alone? I have verified that I will have assistance and a wheelchair at the airports and my flight is only 4 hours including a one hour lay over.I feel like I can handle it,but wanted to know what you all think.

I will fly from Charleston to Washington DC and then to my local airport.I will be at Sandpiper after surgery,I can eat in the dining area or they will bring meals right to my cottage.I plan to have an aide come in,even if my friend goes with me.I am hoping I will not be on any major pain meds,I hate them.In the past I have switched to Tylenol during the day with something stronger at night pretty soon after surgery....this is a bigger surgery than my mastectomies and te removal though.

Panda... I promised all those things to my doc and they would not let me fly alone.... And mine was direct... I even suggested first class... Answer was no..

Oh no Beth! I am so sorry, and can only imagine the emotional pain you must be experiencing. Please know that we are all here for you when you are ready. I am glad that you have family with you. Continued prayers to  you.

Hi everyone.  It looks like I will be hanging out at East Cooper until Thursday, and then going home with a wound vac from there which I will have for about 4-6 weeks.  This plan leaves my 76 year old mother (the rest of my family left after I was discharged) to pack up the room at Homewood and handle checkout.  Since I am usually the perons in charge of everything, this leaves me out of control and very much out of my comfort zone.

 Despite my good nutrution and feeling very healthy before surgery, I still had significant radiation damage which apparently was just more than the flap could overcome.  I think the damage caused the main arteries to become twisted the branching veins started to get inadequate blood flow and could not be repaired.  Dr. Craige again spent the entire night in OR working with the flap, I have nothing but good things to say about him! 

I don't want to be a downer for everyone, please know that I am not the norm, and the majority of ladies do not have the experiences that I have had.  Thanks to you all for your continued support, good wished and prayers. It really does help knowing we can lean on each other in the good times and bad.

I will probably resume my lurker status for a while.  Call me superstitious, but it seems like everytime I publically post a good report, things go south. 

It has been a tough day, but I am in a better frame of mind now than I was earlier.  I'm not sure what's next for me.  I don't have a lot of donor sites left, and am not sure I could handle scheduling something else just to have another failure. 

Take care everyone and please keep in touch,

Beth

Panda... Yes, I understand... Just saying that worst case scenario, they may still insist you have someone to fly with... I had to return to NOLA for wound surgery and DIEP and needed to get home... But they would not let me go without an escort.... So they flew in my friend to get me home.... And this was no small feat. It was during hurricane Irene and my first friend couldn't get there, so we swapped out the ticket for a second friend... So if it were me, I would be candid with them... Or have a plan b.

Beth,

My heart goes out to you and sending prayers for your physical and emotional healing.  Prayers to your mom and family and Dr. Craigie, they care about you and hard on them too. 

Panda - you could sleep in worse places .  A changeable ticket may be a lot more expensive than paying a change fee.  What you need to be aware of is that release date is an estimate, not a given.  You might be released from the hospital a day later or whatever your body needs.  Just breath for a moment or two.  I totally understand - we all know deep down that this is something we can't control so we try really hard to control what we can. 

I would suggest that there are plenty of hotels that do not get booked full in June.  Especially those a bit further from the Historic District and beach.  Really good options are near the airport - Embassy Suites, Crowne Plaza, Aloft, Hilton Garden Inn.  Often a direct call to a hotel will yield a free room that doesn't show up on a website.  It might helpful to get a surgery notebook where you can keep details on all your travel arrangements, a list hotels with phone numbers if you needed back-up, questions you have for your surgeon (both before and after surgery) and notes.

I am getting ready for Stage 2.  Thankfully, this will be done right here in Charleston so I am not going through the travel planning.  That has me being a bit crazed in my house - I just re-arranged the locations of numerous items in kitchen drawers (my husband needed a map) and then decided to re-arrange furniture.  Still have a large chair just sitting between the living room and dining room - where it does not belong.  Can't decide where to put it.  Spring cleaning fueled by pre-surgical planning.  A dangerous combination!  Thankfully, no nerves at this point.  Probably next week.