Popped My Cherry

Medical technology is so interesting. This robot was really amazing and because it's all computerized, they can measure down to the millimeter. This was always an advantage for my case because we needed to get all of the cancer out, but not take too much uterus. I still need something to carry the kids around in.

They used an experimental dye. I never want to be a lab rat for doctors who are trying out new stuff, but in this case it seemed to work out pretty well. The dye follows blood vessels. The uterus is full of blood vessels. We were betting that the tumor would NOT be. Therefore, with the dye, it would be easier to tell what parts were healthy uterus and which parts were nasty tumor.

It turns out the tumor didn't light up. It was a cherry sized tumor that they scooped right out. I think there are a lot of things that are probably "cherry" sized, but I thought it was hysterical that the doctors would chose a cherry as a comparison for a uterus surgery.

The doctors also cut that fucker open when they got it to the lab. It turns out it had three foci - like three different hotspots still alive inside it. Plenty of nasty cancer cells that could have started up again at any time. It's just more proof that they cherry needed to be popped.

I have five little holes on my belly including my belly button. Dr. Gargiulo was so excited when he first saw my belly button, saying it was nice and deep. He said it would be perfect for a robot arm. I had never been so proud of my belly button before! We'll keep everything wrapped up for a couple of days. But let's be honest, when this shit is over ... I better start doing some sit-ups!

Hospital Heels

It's finished and it was a success! What a crazy, anxious couple of days this has been. It's amazing the sense of relief I feel now that the surgery is over.

Chris and I arrived Tuesday and had several pre-op appointments. We felt calm and confident with the surgical plan. In layman's terms, this was the plan as far as I could tell:
1) don't get dead during surgery
2) get rid of tumor
3) keep uterus
I think that's pretty straightforward, right?
Well it worked just like that and now I get a little R and R for the week.

I'm also a little bit of a surgery rockstar. I am so special and so rare that I required two specialized surgeons in the OR. Dr. Gargiulo used the robot to do the cutting and Dr. Goldstein, the oncologist, was in the room to take a peek at what this mass really looked like and to help Dr. Gargiulo make sure we were cutting the right parts. Dr. Goldstein cancelled his clinic appointments for Wednesday just so he could be in the OR for my case.

In addition to that, I rocked my heels. Now I know many people go to a hospital to heal. But in my case, I brought my own hospital heels.

For several weeks I've been walking a little taller and strutting a little bit more when I wear my newest pair of shoes. Now I'm no Carrie Bradshaw, but i've been coveting a pair of Christian Louboutin heels for about two years now. I can rationalize anything, but after 6 months of chemo treatments, I decided I would be happier with the shoes.

It was my wonderful neighborhood girls who encouraged me to wear them when I put my feet in the stir-ups!! At least then everyone in the OR could see the red soles!!

They didn't pass the germ test for the actual OR, but damn did I class up the joint while I was wearing nothing but a hospital gown and my hospital heels.

If you are going to have surgery, you might as well have fun with it, right??

The Tractor Ate my License

Likely excuse, right?! Remember we traveled on September 11th. Well, we really had to cross our t's and dot our i's before we got on the plane that day.

It was 9/11. It was a Tuesday. We were flying to Boston. And the sky was blue and crisp, just like Sept. 11th, 2001. While security was strict, it was predictable. And this time we used our passports.

A week ago, when we flew to Boston for the consultation, Chris had a panic attack in the airport. We had checked in, printed our boarding passes and were standing in the security line. He opens up his wallet and looks up at me with wide eyes. He only had half a license. It's his only real form of identification.

So, about a month ago, Chris was mowing the lawn on our 7 foot ride-on mower. It's loud when it's running and it vibrates a lot. Chris likes to have a beer while he's mowing the lawn and we tried at one point to mount a cup holder on the tractor to hold a Miller Light. While it was a good idea, the vibrations from the tractor just made the beer super foamy.

The same type of vibrations did a number on Chris' wallet. The bumping around shimmied his wallet out of his pocket and it fell on the lawn. Chris saw it hit the grass and then one second later, he ran over it. The blades of the 7 foot tractor did a number on everything in this wallet. The AMEX card was shredded. His health insurance card - gone. The YMCA membership tag - in bits. The cash was wrapped up in dollar order - the twenties in the middle, the fives and ones on the outside. The singles were shredded - pieces of currency confetti all over the lawn. The fives were cut in 4 piece strips. The twenties split in half. I was thrilled to match up some of the twenties with their other half according to the serial numbers. Nothing a little scotch tape couldn't fix. I traded them in for undamaged 20's at Turkey Hill. They didn't care about taking half a twenty. So we didn't lose too much.

But that driver's license was a problem. Chris would have had to go to the DMV and get a replacement license. God knows how much fun the DMV is. Needless to say, Chris didn't get a new one ... and started panicking when we were in the security line.

Thankfully, he looks like an upstanding citizen and pulled out his Lancaster General Hospital ID badge. It has his smiling face and says Physician in big letters. Between that, a funny story about a tractor eating his license and a kind smile, TSA let him through. Thank God.

Barry Manilow Can Lift Anyone's Spirits

There's nothing better than seeing a 70 year old man strut his stuff on stage to make you feel alive!! Chris' sister, Hilary, turned 41 last week and Chris bought her tickets to her favorite singer's concert ... none other than Barry Manilow! Leave it to Chris to get seats on the floor of the Sovereign Center in Reading, in the 5th row!! I've never been on the floor for any concert, no less the 5th row. Barry was sweating on us - that's how close we were. IT. WAS. SO. MUCH. FUN!

 

You don't realize how many Barry Manilow songs you know until he starts singing them and you are singing right along. He showed one clip on the big screen of him on American Bandstand in 1975. I wasn't even born yet and 35 years later the man is still performing. It's enough to get your ass off the couch. If Barry can do it, so can I!!

 

Meredith, Chris, Marcia and Hilary at the concert

 

Ever the performer, Barry even had three costume changes!