Fresh, Hot Wastes of Time

On request from JenBen, here’s the synopsis on the boob thing.

10/01 – discover a little bump on the bottom of my left boob. Since I’d just had a baby, I thought it might be a plugged duct or something.

3/02 – bump still there. I ask my OB about it who sends me to see a surgeon. Get a mammogram and an untrasound which show a nodule. Surgeon says there’s less than 5% chance it’s malignant, suggests we wait 6 months and see how it looks then.

early 9/02 – mammogram, ultrasound, etc. Bump still there, surgeon suggests removing it in a procedure called excisional biopsy. I have the surgery on the 10th. Pathology says tissue is benign.

mid 9/02 – the wound isn’t healing well. There’s necrotic tissue in the middle and dying tissue all around the incision.

early 10/02 – surgeon suggests that I have another surgery to remove the necrotic tissue, clean up the edges of the wound, and bring them together. I agree and surgery is done.

mid 10/02 – some of the steristrips start to come off and I notice the incision is repoening. There’s a dime sized hole in the bottom of the scar that looks deep. I call the doctor at night and he tells me to come in the next morning. Later that evening I put the 1 year old in bed and got tangled up in the blanket and crib rail and feel a sudden pain. The next morning the wound is about 2.5 inches tall and 1.5 inches wide and so deep I literally expect to see my rib bones.

The doctor said that we need to have a wet to dry dressing, which involves packing the wound with saline soaked gauze and changing it daily. I go in to Wound Care every day to have this done.

Last week – the surgeon said I’m a good candidate for a Vacuum Assisted Closure and asks Wound Care to evaluate me for that purpose. They concur, and tomorrow I will hopefully be fitted with my little portable suction device. It will hopefully greatly reduce healing time.

That’s all so far! I’ll post more when I know it.

Oh hey, here I am. Where the hell have I been?

We were supposed to go hunting this weekend but ended up not going because it’s flooding at the ranch. Again. Some more. This is the third time in the last 4 months.

The older daughter turned 3 this week. I can’t believe how quick she’s growing up.

Next week they’re going to put a vacuum cleaner thing on my boob. Film at 11.

Heard at church tonight:

Head choir singer: No way! When did I hit a D natural?
Choir leader: demonstrates what he did.
Head choir singer: And that was because I didn’t reverence the altar?

Need help remembering how cooties worked? Look no further.
Major political platforms from the 1800s on. See! how they’ve changed! Watch! as they contradict themselves! Gape! as they grow from a couple of paragraphs to the size of War and Peace!
I bet you’d never thought that rocks are sexy before, had you?
…Or flies…
…Or cake…
Learn about the disfiguring ailment that is guitar face.
O.J. isn’t sure he’s innocent anymore. No, really.
How to stay safe in the D.C. area: tips on how to act when outdoors, and a decoy to help you gas up safely.
Oh, deer.
And on a serious note: if you’ve never encountered someone with mental illness, you probably have no clue what kind of world they live in. Here’s a glimpse into the mind of one lady who is extremely troubled.

I just found out what a “wet-dry dressing” is. And apparently it’s nice and painful during dressing changes. Yippee!

Lookie, I finished the king-sized quilt top that I’m making for class. I still have to put on the borders, and then quilt the whole thing. If I wasn’t certifiable before I started this project, I will be afterward.

A thousand thanks to that certain blogger who sent me the Trainspotting CD from my wishlist. It totally and completely made my day!

I knew it was going to be a bad day when I went out to the car and saw a badly mutilated squirrel, at least I think it was a squirrel, with yellow jackets and flies all over it, lying on the ground right next to the car.

So I went to the doctor who said that I would have to have a wet dressing for the next month. This means that every day I have to go to the Wound Care office at the hospital and have them pack the huge hole my boob with saline-soaked gauze and tape it closed. Isn’t that gross?

The hospital is having some sort of drill today and they have all but the main entrances locked. There is a cop and a guy with a Geiger counter at the main entrance, checking badges. The hospital people claim it’s a drill for a Code White, which is a major catastrophe like a bomb or a plane crash.

All in all, an unnerving day.

My stitches came loose. Gaping wound. Gaping. What kind of damned doctor’s office doesn’t open by 8:30, anyway?