Post Surgery Week 2
- 2 minutes read - 375 wordsPathology Results
The first week post-surgery wasn’t too bad. I was mostly looking forward to the post surgery check-up because that’s when I would get the results of the lymph node biopsy. The great news there is that there is no cancer in any of the lymph nodes they removed. That means it hasn’t spread and I won’t need to have any chemotherapy.
I do have to go back in for more surgery though. They have to go back in to take out more tissue, because there was a “positive margin” in one part of the tissue they took out. That means that there was no border of clean tissue in that area.
They won’t have to do any of the pre-surgery stuff they did last time - no wire and no dye - and they won’t have to take out any lymph nodes, so it will be a much shorter day.
Recovery
I was surprised to find how easily I got tired. I would do something like take a walk, or clean, and then have to rest a bit. I was good for about 3 rounds of any activity. I wasn’t allowed to row, so I would take walks or ride my bike on the trainer set up in my basement.
Today was the first day I rowed. I took it easy and only did 20 minutes at 20 strokes per minute at about 60% effort. I’m going to try to keep up with movement so that I don’t fall too far behind where I was before surgery.
As I said in my first post about my cancer, I’m going to work with my body to heal. I’m going to have another post-surgery recovery period, and then after 4-6 weeks, I’ll have 3-4 weeks of radiation treatments. I’m going to be tired and I’m probably not going to be able to improve my rowing times and distances, but I will do what my body allows.
That’s where we are today, and I continue to be grateful. Grateful for excellent medical care. Grateful for my health. Grateful that the cancer didn’t get to my lymph nodes. I’m also extremely grateful for all of my family, friends, and coworkers who support my spirits. I’m very blessed.