” I AM a cancer warrior goddess”, I declared as they wheeled me in to surgery to remove my unwanted thyroid cancer this past week. “You are a what?” laughed the anestheologist junior doc. And those were the last words I remember saying out loud for the next eight hours. Little did I know that while getting a nice and uninterrupted sleep, I was indeed going in to battle.
Now I can bore you with all the blood, guts and gruesome details of my week at Johns Hopkins Hospital. Or I can just give a short blog about dos and don’ts when you are faced with a hospital stay. I prefer the latter.
So, here they are….
1. Pack hubby a snack to take. My amazing hubby, Marc, went mealess as he thought I was the short surgery, but ended up being the long one. Poor guy ate butterscotch krimpets for dinner. Shame on me. Really- should have brown bagged it for him.
2. Don’t forget phone rechargers for when you do a lot of chatting pre- during and post surgery. Again, this was more for hubby and I who loves the phone should have put a recharger in a bag for him, next to his lunch.
3. Insist on fashionable hospital gowns and cute socks. Need I say more.
4. Have your hair braided before surgery if it is long. If not, you risk looking like the bride of Frankenstein. I apologize to all who needed to hang out with me this week. Not my cutest hours.
5. Pack mints and comfort items from home. I loaded my iphone with podcasts and a book on tape. Really helped to block out the night noises that could make you insane.
6. When you can wash up, get dressed and walk, walk, and walk some more.
7. Never leave home without your sense of humor.
I close with a public thank you to the countless number of people who connected with me. And more importantly took a few minutes out of their day to read about thyroid cancer from http://www.thyca.org. Also, to the medical specialists from Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore a very heartfelt thank you. I know I was a challenge- it is not everyday you operate on a cancer warrior goddess.
Thanks again, all. Back to rest in front of the TV I go…..
