I suspect not many people will get that reference.Anyway, here it is, in a jar of formaldehyde (the port, that is.) Dr Lim gave it to me to keep for posterity.
The procedure was quite nerve wracking. Although the area was heavily anesthetized and my head was averted the whole time, there's a certain amount of discomfort associated with having someone dig around your chest wall to cut open the sutures that keep a port in place.
Glad that's done. And now I have something really good for Show & Tell tomorrow at work :)
6 comments:
wow - congratulations on the final-final step!
are you keeping it in your kitchen? next to your plates??!!
So THAT'S what it looks like. I always wondered. That sounds rough -- I was out when it went in, and if it ever comes out (doubtful) I will be out again.
LOVELY to spend some time with you (and Rhett, and all of your great friends). We will make it not so long next time.
xxoo, Melissa
Of course one should keep it tucked in with the dinner plates: posh indeed.
And "Port-O-Cath" is so very jaunty, too. Makes you wonder if one's pacemaker will be stenciled Beat-A-Long or The Patented Tub Thumper.
Anyway, a lovely treat for the cleaning lady. Well done.
P.S. I'm sorry we kept you up so late. We were having too much fun.
Thank you for teaching me where "posh" came from.
Glad to see you made it to Sanctuary and got that thing taken out so they can't find you again.
So happy to see you the other night, Sinead.
xoxo
h.
from Chitty Bang Bang, yes?
we're extremely happy to hear you're getting there.
Hi Rebecca,
I wanted you to know I've read all of your blog and it touched me so much that I passed it on to my mom to read. (She is a cancer survivor too.) This is how my mom responded to me in an email.
My Dearest Daughter, Marcia,
You have no idea how touched I was to receive this email from you about Rebecca's grade 4 cancer, and how she dealt with it...
I felt so very alone in my personal battle of cancer, except for your Dad who was with me every day but ( who could not be there during the daytime hours ) but was there for me every evening. I had to drop your Dad off to work every morning then I would drive myself down to Good Sam, get radiated then drive myself home, spend the day burning from the radiation, spreading Aloe Vera on the burned area and lay on the couch also ( like Rebecca ) trying to concentrate on movies on the TV...never really remembering what I watched. I would then have to get up off the couch get myself dressed and go pick your Dad up from work and let him drive us back home because I was by that time a wiped out....only to have to do the same thing over the next morning, for 5 weeks. During that time Dad did all of the cooking, cleaning, and taking care of Breeze, Abby and me. I have never been so frightened of anything in my whole life than I was during those days... I am a survivor as Rebecca is... but once you have lived through the battle like Rebecca, myself and many countless others have you never see things the same way again...in your whole life.... however long that may be... Any bruise, lump, bump, ache, pain, feeling tired all the time etc. you feel sends a shiver down your back and you find yourself thinking " I better get myself in and get checked " this may be " the second attack..... You also find later and ( the doctors say about a year ) that turns out to be sometimes longer you have no energy, and you find you can't remember how to do things that you used to be able to do easily before... For me it was quilting and anything to do with math or equations and that has a lot to do with quilting....
Dad and I made some dear friends in Brookings a few years ago now who own the RV park where we stay in Harbor.. the bay in Brookings. Loretta has battled THREE different types of cancer and this last one is bone cancer... Our dear friend is on oxygen now and has only months left of her life and that is why we were there in November.... Roger ( her husband ) is very brave, and has kept the park going and still takes care of Loretta almost every waking moment of his day.... I have been told the Lord gives us only what HE feels we can handle but DEAR GOD just how much does one have to go through... I have to ask myself "why children" especially... So now you know just a little bit more about your mother and the fact that I never was a tough cookie I just had to keep going because what else could I have done... I am a survivor...by the blessings of our Lord...
Love, Mom
I just thought you should know Rebecca how much your blog has really meant to people who are cancer survivors.
Also, congrats on getting past that hurdle of getting the port removed finally. :o)
~Marcia
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