Saturday, March 13, 2021

Waiting For Info

This is my first full day off in 10 days. We had a big 3 day event at work this week and we've all put in a ton of hours! Needless to say, it's 1:30 on Saturday afternoon and I'm still in my pajamas. 😊

To continue on where my last post ended, we got home from Denver on Monday the 1st and on Wednesday Chuck had surgery to remove the cancer from a lymph node behind his left ear. We were there the entire day, the surgeon had an emergency come up so they had to bump Chuck's surgery from 10am to 5pm. Which I really didn't care about, those things happen. The thing that bothered me was that they didn't tell us.

When we checked in at 10am the lady in admitting was surprised we were there and told us, "But your surgery isn't until 5:00?" We told her we were told it was at 12:00 and we were to come at 10:00. After people who came after us kept getting called, Chuck went back to the desk and after a few minutes a nurse came out and explained the situation. It would have been nice to have gotten a call before we came to the hospital. Oh well, we settled in for the day. (I'm SO glad Chuck talked me into bringing a bag with some books and snacks, I brought some hot tea in my travel mug...)

After a while they took Chuck back to a private room with a TV and bathroom so he didn't have to wait in the waiting room all day. That was really nice. A few minutes before 7:00pm I got a call that surgery had started and they'd call again when it ended. All day long people in the waiting room were getting calls and visits from doctors and nurses but I never heard a thing about Chuck. Sigh. 

I kept watching the Patient Board and when it said surgery was ending I waited for a call.

Nothing.

When the board changed to Out of Surgery I thought for sure someone would call but no one did. I imagined the team was sitting for a minute (did the doctor have to go from the emergency situation right into Chuck's surgery?) I could definitely wait while they took a short break and maybe got a sip of coffee.

No one else was in the waiting room by this time and even the employees who were going home told me that this area was closing down for the night. I told them this is where I was told to wait. (I didn't know where else TO go.) Then a security guard posted himself at a desk outside the doors. I'm thinking okay, where is everyone?!

The Patient Board finally read, 'In Main Recovery' so that's when I called the number they leave on the desk if you're waiting for info about your loved one and the recovery nurse told me, "Oh yeah, I'm Chuck's nurse! He did really well. He's a trouper! Did anyone call you after surgery?"

"No." 

She literally gasped. "What? Are you serious?"

Well, to make a long story short, since his surgery was so late in the day they decided to keep him overnight. But I couldn't see him. So after sitting there for more than 12 hours I went home. 

I felt so abandoned and was crying by the time I got to my car. The doctor called me while I was still in the parking garage so I didn't have good reception and I didn't hear everything she said. Plus I was still crying.

She ended up calling again right after I got home and she did apologize for bumping the surgery to a later time and deciding to keep him overnight... She also said she found 8-9 more nodules than the original so she had to take out a lot more than planned. Everything went well but now they were going to do biopsies on those other nodules (we knew the original was cancerous) and we'd get the results at our post-op visit next week. 

That visit was on the 10th and I did get an opportunity to tell her why I was crying that night. That it was the silence after surgery that bothered me, the feeling of abandonment. She understood and apologized again. THEN... 

She said the cancer hadn't spread anymore and was contained in that one lymph node. They were able to take out everything in the cancerous nodule, and the other nodules came back negative!!

As of today, CHUCK IS CANCER FREE!!! 

Such a gracious, merciful answer to prayer! The Lord is so, so good to us!

11 comments:

Pamela M. Steiner said...

Praise God!! I am so sorry you had to wait all day like that and had no word until later, but then, God was saving the best news for you!! Praise God!! I know you must be exhausted after a hard week at work and Chuck's situation as well. Praying you can get some rest before you go back to work. I know you will relax now that you have this good news. God is so good. Praise God!!!

Mandy said...

Oh wow...I hate you had to go through that. I can imagine how awful that must have felt. I’m so glad it is over and rejoicing with you about the great news!,

16 blessings'mom said...

Oh my goodness, what good news!!!! So many trials and tests of faith, so glad to hear such good news!

ellen b. said...

Oh boy...so sorry for your ordeal. How frustrating. PTL that the Chuck is cancer free!!

Susan said...

I am glad to hear your hubby is cancer free! I could see you crying, I would too. That's a long time to wait without know and wondering. Go have that Shamrock share and celebrate!

Billie Jo said...

Praise God!
So happy for you and him and your family!
Bless your soul!!!
Hugs!

Jeanie said...

Oh, that's good news. YOu had to be just knackered after that long wait. There really isn't a good excuse for not letting you know -- especially about the post surgery. But that was good news so I'm sure it helped. (Me? I would have been a screaming basket case!)

Cathy said...

Praise the Lord! What wonderful news!!

Joyce said...

Well I'm so glad after that frustrating and stressful day that you at least received some good news!

onceuponatimehappilyeverafter.com said...

So thankful that after all of that you were rewarded with great news! Hallelujah. Definitely worth the wait.

Debby@Just Breathe said...

I am so sorry for the day you had and what you had to go through. ((HUGS)) I am so happy to hear the good news that the cancer has not spread and they got out the lymph node so he is now cancer free. Thanking God for his blessing over Chuck.