The day after recovery day … and the day after that

We’re home. But it wasn’t as simple as planned.

We planned on leaving Houston at about 8:30 a.m. Wednesday and being home by late afternoon. But as we fought the morning rush-hour traffic near the Houston Medical District to the Interstate, Jenny was speaking to the triage nurse at the MD Anderson breast center.

She developed a rash on her face, neck, chest and torso. She spoke with the nurse and with Dr. Gainer. They both hypothesized that she had an allergy to one of the many medications she is on, so they recommended she have an appointment with the Infectious Disease department in Internal Medicine. One unplanned appointment? That’s and all-day thing, and we knew it.

They ‘fit us in’ at 1:30 p.m., which meant we weren’t seen until 2:30 p.m. — which, in turn, meant we didn’t get on the road home until about 3:30 p.m.

In the end, they changed one of her antibiotics, and said again that it’s time for her to stop antibiotics soon. It’s time to see if the expander will survive on its own.

Being the expert medical professionals that we are, Jenny and I think the rash comes from the special colorful soap they use during surgery. It’s all in that area and on that side of her body. It hasn’t really gotten worse, so we might be right, but the doctor yesterday didn’t seem to agree with our guesses.

How’s Jenny feeling, you ask? Still pretty good. She’s been sleepy today. But that’s to be expected, since she had to stay awake at the hospital most of the day on Wednesday. She’s sore (and itchy, because of the rash). She’s taking pain meds and Benadryl.

But the assessment still stands … compared to the first surgery, her recovery seems to be progressing well. She’s a tough one.

P.S. — Our fun story of the day on Wednesday came via a young 30-something brain cancer patient. As Jenny and I navigated the crowd near the hand-made sandwiches station in the cafeteria, the guy came up to Jenny to say: “You’re too young to be sitting in that wheelchair … too young and too pretty.” He briefly told Jenny how he’s been fighting brain cancer at MD Anderson since the mid ’90s — and that the doctors told him he had only six months to live (that was almost two decades ago).

There’s not much too that story, other than he seemed genuine and nice. He literally went way out of his way, fought the crowd in the line (a line that he wasn’t in himself) to tell Jenny how pretty she was.

Smart dude.

6 thoughts on “The day after recovery day … and the day after that

  1. She is the prettiest cancer patient I have ever seen! Glad you guys are home. Relax this weekend. Let me know if you need anything.

  2. Isn’t it about time she gets a break? I’m sorry to hear that y’all are still dealing with bumps in the path. Very nice story about the compliment from a stranger, though. Those are the best kind.

  3. Pingback: A time to heal | The Herzy Journey

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