Healing

Warning: this one is a little graphic

Things are a little rough right now for everyone. I came back home this afternoon because things had settled down with the recovery and I 

had a night class tonight. When Elsa came out of surgery she was pretty groggy, but she was stable so they brought her back to the room fairly quickly. We are not completely sure how big the incision is because of the bandage, but it looks like it only goes about half way to her belly button and around her side. The doctors attempted to give her an epidural to help with pain after surgery, but they were not comfortable with the way it was going in and after an hour of trying, they decided not to keep it there. There is a sore and some bruising around that spot on her back, and there is some fluid drainage, but they put a compress bandage on it, and they will check it again tomorrow. She has all sorts of cords and tubes attached to her right now, but they were mainly going to be used for the surgery if it had been more invasive (like taking out the whole tumor) and I'm pretty sure a lot of it will be removed in a couple days once she is more mobile and feeling better eg: the catheter and t

he Q ball which gives pain meds right into the incision.

It was really hard after surgery because Elsa was so groggy and she was in so much pain. I had to leave fairly soon after she came back to the room in order to get back to Fort Wayne in time for my class, and leaving her was really hard. She was awake enough that I explained to her that I was leaving, and she got a little bit upset and made a sad lip. Then she asked for a hug, but I couldn't really give her one because she was laying flat and she had the incision on her belly. I ended up having to go to the other side of the bed and kind of hover over her so that she could put her one free arm around my neck. It was really sad.

I guess after I left she continued to be in a lot 

of pain. The doctors said that she should be feeling better in the morning, so I hope that is the case. 

The doctors said that if the biopsy results come back tomorrow, they could put the line in her chest maybe tomorrow or over the weekend and then start Chemo early next week. The length and type of Chemo that they will give her depends on what type of lymphoma she has, so we will not know when exactly she is coming home for a couple days still.

 

I debated a little about whether or not to post this picture 

because it looks a little sad, but that's life and the truth is that she 

is strong and she is doing well considering everything she's been through.