Standing Room Only

I woke up at 6am on the day of my surgery for a 7:30 check in. We arrived to find out we were already registered and sent to a room where I proceeded to get into my hospital garb. After watching TV with Aharon, anxiously waiting the next few hours until surgery my friends Nira and Larry arrived to be with us. I was then told I would be taken to the other end of the hospital for a sentinel lymph node biopsy before surgery. I was told that this would be very "uncomfortable" (that's hospital for painful). They would need to put 4 needles into my right breast with a dye that would burn. We all made out way as I was being wheeled over the second floor bridge of the hospital and taken to the breast center. After going through more paperwork and questions about allergies by the nurse specifically sulfur I had told the nurse that I had overdosed on sulfur several years ago and wasn't sure if I was allergic but did get blood poisoning from it. The doctors conferred over this and decided to cancel the procedure not wanting to take a chance on an allergic reaction from sulfur. They would do it another way during surgery with a blue dye. We were then given another volunteer in her 70's to wheel me back. So my entourage and I was escorted to the other side of the hospital again, except this volunteer did not seem to know her way around this hospital and instead of taking the bridge she wheeled me through the lobby of the hospital. My friends and I were laughing hysterically as we were given the scenic tour of the hospital. I asked the volunteer why she didn't take me over the bridge and she claimed that after working there for 18 months she had never been on the bridge. We had a new driver.... we laughed so hard I was grateful not to have any stitches in me yet.

We were taken right into the pre-op area and I never even got to say good-bye to Nira and Larry. They started with the usual IV and introductions to my medical team. Thankfully I don't remember anything after being wheeled into the operating room.

With all of the love and prayers that I knew and felt were with me I kept thinking that it would be standing room only today and hoped you would all leave enough room for the medical teams to do their work. I think Englewood Hospital levitated a bit that morning with all the positive energy emanating from it. I sailed through the surgery successfully in record time and came out to recovery looking as good as one does after surgery. I was told by my family that my skin was glowing and I looked great.

I can not tell you enough how much all the emails and text messages I read helped me relax and allowed me to keep myself in a positive place.