Déjà vu (“already seen") is a French loanword for the phenomenon of feeling as though one has lived through the present situation before. Well, this week it wasn’t a phenomenon- it was reality.
In any surgery there can be challenges, and those are often outlined in advance. My amazing medical team did just that and after 9 days of healing, my lead surgeon had some concerns my skin that was touch and go, wasn’t going to make it.
What does that mean?
Necrosis is skin that loses its blood supply and simply dies. Despite testing and doing all of the tricks to help it, by Thursday morning it was official. So, the call was made- back to surgery in an emergency appointment Thursday night.
In many ways I am still processing, because once again, going in I was given a list of risks… but I am now happy to say we are healing well.
It was by far the weirdest surgery I have ever undergone. Due to an HVAC breakdown in the surgical suite, all surgeries at the hospital were cancelled on Thursday. So arriving on Thursday late afternoon I was the only person there… it was post apocalyptic!!!! The nurses were amazing, but with just a tiny team of us, it was like being in a movie!!!!
You know everyone always worries about the toll this stuff takes on me. But the unknown and risk of having a person you love under another general anesthetic takes it’s toll on everyone around me more. I just get to have a super nap!!! Thankfully, it was shorter- 3 versus 6 hours - but honestly, in some ways it’s easier for me. I'm oblivious to the time and the procedure compared to Joel sat waiting.
It was also the first time we have told very few folks in advance that I was going in. Part of this was just the timing, partly to reduce worry, and mostly, I was still processing what it could mean if there wasn’t enough skin left to “close the gap”. No amount of British “mind the gap” jokes were going to get me through that one. I needed, wanted, a good news story to share!
So here we are; back to day 2 of recovery… But healing well!!!!
Everyone needs a bit of time to recharge, as the clock is also ticking on the other side counting down the weeks to radiation. But for now, just a really big (non-anesthetic induced) nap for all!
Can’t wait for cofffeeeee to be back on the menu.
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