I can't keep up with who I've talked to and who I haven't, so some of you may already know these things and some of you may not.
I had 11 inguinal-femoral lymph nodes removed on November 20. We knew going into the surgery that at least one of those lymph nodes had cancer, and per pathology, none of the others had cancer. That was fantastic news, and I'm so very thankful that it had not spread to additional lymph nodes.
My recovery has been going well so far. I have a drain coming from the groin area which I have to empty a couple times a day. It clogged yesterday and I had fluid spilling out around the drain. I was able to get the clog cleared and it's back to normal now. But y'all - the drain stuff grosses me out! I've been dealing with it myself since I came home from the hospital and blech!!!!!
I have a lot of numbness in the groin, hip, and thigh, which I think helped me with the pain level. I've never been one to take many pain pills after a major surgery, and this one was no exception. I've only had 2 or 3 of the prescription pain meds, and I've taken Tylenol a couple of times to take the edge off. (talked to my mom today and she was expecting me to be in agony, as she reminded me of how I complained and whined so badly as a child when I would get a cut or a scrape! LOL)
I have my post-op appointment coming up on 12/5, where I hope to have this drain removed. I'll have my next oncology appointment on 12/6, and I would imagine that this appointment is to set my radiation and chemo schedule.
On December 18, I'm scheduled for a high resolution anoscopy. This is done under general anesthesia, and there will be multiple biopsies taken. For those that don't know what this is - it's an examination looking for anal cancer. The regular anoscopy hasn't shown anything for concern, so they're doing this to make 100% sure that there's nothing to worry about.
All of the providers I've seen (oncologist, general surgeon, colorectal surgeon, gyn oncologist, and dermatologist), are baffled as to the source of this squamous cell carcinoma in my lymph nodes. All of them have said that for cancer to have spread from a primary location to the lymph nodes, the primary tumor should be of some size. And yet I have nothing that anyone can see that's of any concern, anywhere.
I appreciate the prayers and positive energy that all of you are sending my way so very much. I have no doubts that I will beat this and be well. Keep sending the prayers, mojo, juju, and all the positivity that you care to share with me, it is a definite help!
