mission accomplished

today was mission accomplished.

the above picture is right before i went into the surgery room.

i had an iv in my arm (which you can see sticking out from my arm), answered all of the questions, and got the overview from the nurses one more time on the port. the picture below shows what a port looks like (the purple gadget, not the water bottle top;)) but it is just a teaching tool so the actual catheter inside me is longer than that one.

once i got into the room they gave me the sedative and i was conscious throughout the procedure but i don't remember much at this point. after the procedure was done, they wheeled me into a room for a chest scan to make sure that the catheter was placed where it was supposed to be.

the doc inserted the port on the left side of my collarbone area since the right is already scarred from my first surgery. so now i have scars across that whole area.

i then spent about half an hour in recovery, and finally got to have a little bit to eat and drink.

i still had the needle in my port as expected and i was so sore already that i chose to just wear my surgery gown around scca under my coat because i knew that i was going to need it on anyways for my treatment. yes, i know, pretty great fashion statement.

i hung out in the café with my mom and dad and barrett for a while and had some more food. and of course i had a green tea.

then we headed up for the infusion. that took about 2.5 hours when all was said and done. i slept through most of it because i was - and am - so tired from the sedatives they gave me this morning. oh, and the lack of sleep last night might be adding to that as well;)

here is what things will look like in treatment for me from now on with my port (minus some of the extra bandages from the procedure today).

that yellow device is the type of needle that they will put into the port to do the infusion, draw blood, etc. before going in for infusions, i will have a numbing cream on that will minimize the pain from the needle being inserted through my chest to get into the port.

obviously, i am going to take it very easy tonight and will likely sleep through most of it. but i will stay awake from 8-9 to watch the "stand up to cancer" event even if i have to keep my eyes open with toothpicks.

i will be sore for the next couple of days, have restrictions on what i can lift, still can't drive for a while, and still can't make any big decisions (i tried to convince barrett that i should retire but he doesn't seem to be going for it) due to the meds.

have a great weekend all, and thanks for all of the good vibes, prayers, and support. we felt them and carried them with us through this long day.

we made it through another round.

anywhere i fight, you fight.