Not a very exciting post really. Had my first visit to David Glasson this morning. Not really much to report. They checked to see if the wound is healing ok and changed the dressing and emptied the drains. It looks like I am in for the long haul with these buggars as there is still quite a lot happening. The lymphatic fluid is apparently supposed to be clear but mine is milky so I have to have a very low fat diet for the next couple of days. If the liquid goes clear by doing that then it means that they have probably nicked the node that is connected to the digestive system. They didn't really say what they would do if that has happened. They haven't started filling up the skin expander yet. That will probably happen in a couple of weeks when the drains come out. I have been given the go ahead to drive again, wahoo!! My next appointment is with the surgeon, Burton King. That is next Wednesday. We will found out from him what the findings were from the lymph nodes. Fingers crossed there was nothing and I won't have to have the dreaded chemo!
I feel really fortunate to have been able to have all this done through the private system and am so glad I talked Darren into taking Surgical Insurance out a few years back. He really wasn't that keen on paying out for something that we may never use. After my experience in 2005 when I went through the public system, I had to wait 6 weeks before I even got an appointment at the Breast Clinic at Wellington Hospital. I then had to wait another 4 weeks for my results....you can only imagine what that does to your head.Then when I did go back for the verdict, they had lost the mammogram films. I can't help but wonder if there wasn't something there way back then but being in the public system, they just didn't investigate it further. It took exactly one month privately from diagnoses to surgery. If I had not held up the MRI it would have been three weeks.
Whilst I was going through surgery I had met online, a woman who was going through the same thing, only she was going through the public system. She was from Greymouth and had her surgery in Christchurch which is a four hour drive from her home. We kept in touch by text and boy, what a difference in the service we both had. It became a joking point at every meal time when she would text me to see what I was having. The first day she asked what was for breakfast in private. I told her, cereal, fruit, yoghurt, two slices of toast, choice of spreads and perked coffee. She replied they had a choice of porridge, cornflakes or cold toast and a mug of tea made with a tea bag. She shared a ward with five others; I had my own room with my own bathroom. The care was exceptional and made what was happening to me easier to cope with. On our discharge days I was sent home with drains in, prescription for pain killers and antibiotics and a visit from the district health nurse daily. She was sent home with drains taken out, no pain killers, no district nurse. The night after she got home, she ended up in A & E in terrible pain from where the lymphatic fluid was building up and draining back into her body. So far the cost of my treatment (without reconstructive surgery) is about $17,000. So, there is my plug to take out Surgery Insurance. You never know when you might need it. A month previous to my diagnoses I discovered lumps on my thyroid gland and am going through the public system for treatment. I have only just received a letter to say that I will have an appointment made with the specialist within the next six months. Lucky it's not life threatening!
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