Well, it has been too long since my February post. A lot has happened. I did go into surgery back on May 3rd to drain the cyst. Once they got in there they found that it was not a cyst after all. It was a tumor. The doctors biopsied it and closed me up. When I came to, it was obvious to me that something was wrong. My doc was standing in front of me and she was not looking very happy. I knew this meant that things were as I had dreaded and I had a tumor. I just said frankly "lets bring it on!" meaning that I knew there would be more surgery. They then rolled me to the Intensive Care Unit.
When I got to the Intensive Care Unit, I realized that my right hand was having motor issues. Later when I was allowed to get out of bed we noticed that my right foot wanted to go to the right and I was not able to walk well. I was scared that it would be permanent. To my amazement I quickly got better, with the exception of my neck. It took a couple of months to heal.
Due to having to wait, the next surgery did not happen until August 15th. When I was admitted to the hospital, they told us that I would be kept under for 24 hrs. I woke up almost 3 days later to find that I was paralyzed in both legs and my right arm! Little by little, I began to wiggle my fingers and twist my wrist on my right arm and hand. I began to put pressure on my legs and found that they were weak and I could not stand on my own. They had to use a lift system that was attached to the ceiling to move me in and out of bed.
The room I was in was quite large as far as most hospital rooms go. It came to be known as the penthouse suite as it was equipped with a refrigerator and microwave that were tucked hidden inside a cherry wood cabinet. To the left of my bed was a full sized couch and to my right was a table with 4 chairs. The right side wall was all windows from one end to the other. From my bed I overlooked the Ross Island bridge and Mount Hood. It was an amazing view. It was the topic of most visitors. At night was my favorite time to look at the view of te city lights and the enormous thunderstorms that we had the pleasure of viewing.
The food was what I worried about. You hear people condemn hospital food all of the time. I was pleasantly surprised to find that I was able to order anything that was on the menu. It was just as shocking to find that I was supposed to eat a lot of food, I mean a lot! I was always worried that I was ordering too much but then they came and said I was not eating enough and needed to increase the protein.
For breakfast I would eat an omelet with vegies and cheese, yogurt, cottage cheese, toast, milk and juice. They also had this plate called an Artisan Fruit and Cheese Plate. It was so mouthwatering good! I would never have thought that cheese and fruit go good together. I would snack on it with my visitors throughout the day. I later would have bacon strips added to breakfast due to having a salt deficiency.
Lunch consisted of what they called pot roast. I soon discovered that it was actually a very tender, perfectly seasoned, melt in your mouth steak! Since I was a one armed bandit, I would pick it up and just bite off a piece. I savored every ounce of it. I would have some brown rice and a double order of spinach as my side dishes and cheese cake for desert.
Dinner came a lighter meal of Salmon, double order of spinach and brown rice.
They still said I was not eating enough! I simply told them that I couldn't eat anything more. However, I noticed that the meat and spinach portions grew in size. To my amazement I lost 30 lbs in the 3 weeks that I was there.
While I was still in the hospital, the nurse had put up a sign that said "no free water". Why in the world would they say that we had to pay for water? I was confused, as were my guests. So, I asked why I and my guests were no longer allowed water? The nurse laughed and said that it just meant that I was no longer allowed plain water. I had to drink liquids that had salt in them and that the nurses could no longer fill my water jug with water. My sodium had dropped so much that rather than give me salt pills, they had me drink Gatorade and eat bacon! lol.
Once it was no longer medically beneficial for me to be at the hospital they sent me to a convalescent center to learn to walk and use my hands better. I was there for about 6 weeks. Then I was sent home.
Once home the struggle truly began for me. The reality that I was no longer me.
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