It's good to be home

Just a brief note as my right side is not cooperating as it usually does.

I got home late Wednesday afternoon and went right to bed. Slept for four hours, was up for an hour, and went back to bed until 6 a.m. Yesterday I basically rested, although I did do my mile, and I had a visit from Lydia G.

This morning I had my first shower and we removed the pressure bandage that was over the chest drain incision. It feels good to have that off, because it was very tight. Now I just have steri-strips, over what I am assuming are dissolving stitches. My follow up appointment isn't until November 4, which seems way too long if there were stitches to be removed.

Needless to say, I am very disappointed that the tumors could not be removed. I'm also more than a little surprised that with all the modern imaging machines in use today, no one knew that there was a tumor wrapped around my superior vena cava nor that two of the tumors were sitting on/next to major blood vessels. Don't get me wrong: I'm very pleased that Dr. Flores made the decision to close me up rather than remove what he called a very healthy lung (other than those tumors). I just wish he hadn't had to open me up in the first place if there was nothing he could do. I still have to go through the recovery period, take the pain meds and miss work, and I'm not really getting a payback from that.

I'll try to get back tomorrow to write more, but I need to go stretch out for a little while right now and take a nap. Thanks so much for all of your e-mails, calls, cards, prayers and positive thoughts. They worked!