Home Again!

Hello, again, Friends,

Matt and I arrived home from our journey in San Francisco on Wednesday afternoon, stopping first at Safeway for the many prescriptions and other vitamins that will be a part of my immediate future. We have been blessed to have a high school friend of Matt's, named Greg, who works there, and he helped us work through the list with all of the specific instructions, and has made himself personally available to us. Again, God is watching out for us.

My stay at UCSF, as Matt shared previously, was very successful. The surgery lasted longer than expected, but the surgeon, Max Meng, was able to do it all laparoscopically. I have four incisions, three just under my bra line, and one at my belly button. Perfectly placed to allow me to wear all of my garments comfortably! I remember being in recovery, and the kind nurses there repeatedly reminding me to breathe, as I seemed to keep slipping back out, and forgetting I needed to do that. My next memory is of being in my room, and Matt, my parents, and my brother, Gary, being with me. I know I felt sick a couple of times, but was spared that. I had a fair night's sleep, and the next morning I began to meet the many different people that would take care of me for the next day or so.

My surgeon was very pleased with the outcome of the surgery, saying that the tumor they removed with the adrenal gland was just a little larger than a golf ball. There was still some unsurety as to whether I still had my left adrenal gland, so Matt and I got on the phone and called Peter Garbeff who had performed my first surgery. He graciously called us back and read verbatim from his surgical notes. We now know that I do indeed still have it-he did not remove it with the kidney. Shortly before this, we met the clinical professor for endocrinology, who talked with us about adrenal replacement therapy. He outlined what would be necessary for me to survive without my adrenal glands and has agreed to personally take me on as a patient. (Since then we had our talk with Dr. Garbeff, so we know I still have one gland, but are not sure if it is fully functioning.) I immediately began to take hydrocortisone, and am continuing that at home, adding fludrocortisone in a couple of days-both are steroids I must take every day for the rest of my life, or I could die. That was putting it very plainly and bluntly. I will go back in a month and there is a test they can perform that stimulates my pituitary gland that will see if my adrenal gland responds; then they will know if it is functioning and can sustain me, rather than needing to be on the steroids.

I was allowed to stay in the hospital one additional night, as my electrolytes were off slightly, and I needed to take additional phosphorous (I hope I'm getting all of this correct-it's a lot to remember). They also took into account the fact that by the time they coordinated everything, we would be leaving the hospital at rush hour, so would have a good three hours in the car, which might prove to be very uncomfortable. The extra night was wonderful. I rested well, considering, and I had a wonderful night nurse, Deb, who followed on the heels of a great day nurse, Carlos. They both were patient and understanding, and I felt very well-cared for.

Since we've been home, I have felt very well. My incisions, overall, have bothered me minimally. I can shower without covering them, which is great. The pain I've felt comes from the displaced air they pump you with when you have laparoscopic surgery. It must eventually make its way from your body, so it heads upward, usually into the shoulders and neck. This is rather like having a horrible shoulder and neck ache for awhile, until those wonderful pain pills set in! I also seem to have the hiccups and burp easily, also releasing the air. In the meantime, I feel rather bloated and, well, big.

I have to tell you something else that I forgot in my last post before the surgery. I have been off of the chemo meds for three weeks now, and for the first time since I started them last November, my feet do not hurt. I can walk and not limp or compensate with walking on the sides of my feet or curling my toes. I walked across the marble today with just my socks on, and my feet did not hurt at all. This is an incredibly wonderful feeling, and well worth the rest from the meds!

We will return to UCSF in a couple of weeks to meet with Dr. Meng regarding the pathology of the tumor and the lymph nodes, and to find out from Dr. Ryan what will follow as far as chemo.

Thank you to all of you for your prayers, your good thoughts, and your encouraging words. I know many of you are going through your own journeys, and Matt and I have been praying for you as well. God is with us. Isn't that a wonderful thought? Whatever each of us is experiencing, He knows and meets us at that need, eager to love us and care for us, and fulfill the promises of His Word. You know, Jesus experienced much pain and suffering of His own when He was on this earth. Who better for us to turn to in our pain and suffering but the One who knows what we've been through, and took it all on Himself, conquering it's hold over us?

Love to you all, Danene
March 19, 2009