Surgery Re-cap

So Momsie & Dadsie took me to the hospital on Friday. Anton (my cabbage patch kid) & I were ready. We all waited in the waiting room. Good thing I brought a book. Can't Wait to Get to Heaven, Fannie Flagg's new book. Oh my gawd I love her. Daisy Faye & The Miracle Man is one of my fav books. Finally, after an hour I was called. I changed into my johnnie... it was enormous! Put on my hospital issued socks, gave a urine sample, then I hopped onto my guerney with Anton.

Everyone that walked by asked me about him. He is a cutie. Then the anesthesiologist can by. Well, my mom arranged to have a family friend do it. Jeff has served as anesthesiologist for my brother's surgery, some for my mom & for my breast reduction. He is great! I told him that I have full faith in him. But, he needs to make sure that I stay asleep & wake up when I need too! He smiled!

Then Dr. B came and spoke to me. I told him I was fine & ready. Bring it on! I also told him I wasn't worried & that I had full faith in him. Then jokingly I told him to make me proud. He laughed and said I sounded like his dad! I asked Dr. B if I could take home any souvenirs from the surgery? He said he would send me home with some of my stones! I was all excited!

Next was the fun part. Trying to start my IV. Marla had/has no veins. I had bad veins before chemo. However, chemo killed whatever veins I had left. Only my left arm can be used. And, my veins have a mind of their own. I swear, that they roll out of the way of the imposing needle. Joan wrapped my arm in a hot towel for about 20 minutes. This helped. After a bit of waiting she found a vein. She injected some numbing stuff so I wouldn't feel the sting of the needle. She got the needle into the vein on the first try.! Wahoooo.

Then it was time to go into the ER!

I woke up in recovery very nauseaus! I was more nauseaus after GB. However, this was not a fun feeling! And I had some pain. I found out that I had no hernias and I only had 4 more little incisions! The nurse showed me my 2 stones. One seemed enormous! There is a reason I wanted to take them home. Will share that in a future post. After, a bit of time in recovery it was decided that I would spend the night at the hospital as I wasn't feeling well & looked a bit pale!

They brought me up to my room. I had a couple roomates. Then my parents came up. I gave them the container with my stones to take home. They were surprised by the size of the large one. I dosed a bit. Then went for a walk around the hallway. That felt good. Watched some tv. Then I called Molly (my bestest buddy) to let her know I was spending the night. Then it was time to call Buffy!

I was feeling pretty good. The morphine was working and I felt like chatting on the phone. So we chatted for a bit. I wanted to know how her medical stuff went! Then I asked for some apple juice and some crackers. They brought me some graham crackers. I felt better after I ate then drank!

I went for another walk around 12:30 am. Slept for a bit. In the morning the Dr. came by. Dr. B was off so one of the guys that works with him stopped by to see how I was doing! Then my IV was taken out. Which was nice since the site was starting to get sore. I gave myself a towel bath in the bathroom. Then I put my clothes on myself. Then I hung out till breakfast, watching tv. My parents came and hung out with me. I then found out I was going to be discharged after lunch to make sure I could keep down food. More tv watching and chatting with Momsie & Dadsie. Ate some lunch, then was cleared to go home!

Oh, I almost forgot. Anton got a hospital bracelet too. And he has steri-strips on him in the same spots as mine! I love that!

Prelude to the multi-part series on Marla's heros

So I decided to post about my heros.

Mommie
Grandma Gladys
Golda Meir
Kaye
Kim
Gloria Steinheim

And last but not least, ME!

So over the next few days each of the aforementioned people will have a post decicated to them about why I consider them to be one of my personal heros!



Artist: Mariah Carey
Song: Hero Lyrics

There's a hero If you look inside your heart You don't have to be afraid Of what you are There's an answer If you reach into your soul And the sorrow that you know Will melt away

And then a hero comes along With the strength to carry on And you cast your fears aside And you know you can survive So when you feel like hope is gone Look inside you and be strong And you'll finally see the truth That a hero lies in you

It's a long road When you face the world alone No one reaches out a hand For you to hold You can find love If you search within yourself And the emptiness you felt Will disappear

And then a hero comes along With the strength to carry on And you cast your fears aside And you know you can survive So when you feel like hope is gone Look inside you and be strong And you'll finally see the truth That a hero lies in you

Lord knows Dreams are hard to follow But don't let anyone Tear them away Hold on There will be tomorrow In time You'll find the way

And then a hero comes along With the strength to carry on And you cast your fears aside And you know you can survive So when you feel like hope is gone Look inside you and be strong And you'll finally see the truth That a hero lies in you

The list

So knowing I am going to have my gallbladder out got me thinking about all my other surgeries I have had in my 26 years on this planet!

1984 (4 yrs.) - Eye surgery. Had a mucle cut in my right eye I think. So it wouldn't turn in as much!

1985 (5 yrs.) - Tonsils & adenoids removed. Ear tubes put in.

1989 - 1991 - (9-11 yrs.) - Numerous operations on my right arm, due to my tumor!

1991 (11 yrs.) - My port for chemotherapy is removed.

1996 (16 yrs.) - Scar tissue removed from my elbow

1999 (19 yrs.) - Breast Reduction

2002 (22 yrs.) - Wisdom teeth removed

2006 (26 yrs.) - Gastric Bypass

2006 (26.5 yrs.) - Upcoming gallbladder removal

That is a pretty big list. Oh well! Nuthin' is worse then Chemo!!!!

I'm coming out - as sung by Marla's Gallbladder

Howdie this is Marla's gallbladder writting to you.

Marla had her appointment with Dr. B. yesturday. Well, since I (Marla's gallbladder) am sick... I will be coming out! Dr. B.
thinks the issues with Marla are either gallbladder/ stones, a internal hernia, or a combination plate of the 2 - without the rice & eggroll! So Dr. B. is going to remove me from Marla's body & while he is in there he will check her insides (around the site of her GB) for hernias & if there are any, he will repair them!

Hopefully, I will be coming out next week. Marla is waiting to hear back from Nancy with the date and time of her surgery. She should know by the end of the week. I will make sure that Marla keeps y'all updated with all the details about my removal! Marla is glad Dr. B. is able to repair her! And she is happy that Dr. B. is confident that all can be repaired laproscopically!

Although, surgery is second nature to Marla @ this point in her life she is still just a wee bit nervous. She knows
that it is routine & she will be fine... I keep reminding her that nothing is worse then chemotherapy! I, the gallbladder of Marla will find a way to cheer her up! Don't worry about her, we have it under control!

Anyways, I should end this as Marla doesn't know I am using her laptop and she can get vicious when she gets mad!

Toodles,

GOM - Gallbladder of Marla

Gallbladder, what is it good for...

I now present my ramblings on my Gallbladder...

So I spent last Wednesday night at the emergency room. I was in major pain. I did for a short period of time think that I was was dying. Turns out it could be my gallbladder. I was given morphine & anti nausea stuff too. I have had 2 other episodes like this one. Fun fun.

Well my bloodwork & CT scan came back a bit inconclusive, but good. I meet with my surgeon tomorrow (9.20.06)! So far the doctors I have talked to seem to think it is my gallbladder based on all my symptoms. I still have discomfort amongst other things but not nearly as bad as last week. But, I really feel like something is wrong with my body.

I know I have gallstones. I had an abdominal ultrasound 9.05 as part of my pre-op testing and it showed I had gallstones. Well, I begged my surgeon in NYC to take out my gallbladder but he didn't think it was necessary. He didn't' put me on actigall after my surgery either. When I moved back home & wound up in the follow up program at Salem Hospital I found out that all of the patients get put on actigall for six months post-op to help prevent gallstones. But, since I already had gallstones I wasn't put on it. Wahooo. Wish me luck. Join me later when I fill you in on the excitement of my appointment with my surgeon.

The NYC Trip

So in the middle of August I went to NYC! I met up with 2 buddies from Purchase (The Leah's). To make this post easier When I refer to Leah, that is NY Leah. When I refer to Tex, that is Texas Leah. They are best friends and 2 of my closest friends from college.



So we decided on the NYC trip because Tex was taking the test to get into Med School & much celebrating would be in order after the test. So I went down on a Saturday morning. I met up with Leah @ the Hilton on sixth. From there we checked out the room & then went to get a bit to eat at the diner. We don't have diners in Massachusetts... So you can imagine that I get alittle excited for diner food. There is something magical about eating an egg white omelette with spinach & feta cheese in a NYC diner.



So after food, We headed over to Fifth ave. Marla needed to get a bag & we wanted to go to St. Pat's Cathedral. I had to go see my bag guy. But, I didn't really like his stuff. So I found the better guys & found me an off the truck Christian Dior Bag for $60. It is a candy apple red doctor style bag... kinda sorta. I love it.



Then Leah & I went to St. Pat's Cathedral. neither one of us had been. We lit candles & looked around. The architecture is amazing. I love cathedrals! The place is massively huge!



We then went to MOMA (Museum of Modern Art). Of course I dragged Leah to the Dada exhibit. Kurt Schwitters rocks my world. Then there is my love of LHOOQ, the piece Marcel Duchamp did of the Mona Lisa with a moustache. Good stuff, good times. We then went back to the Hilton to shower & relax.



Since we were upgraded to the concierge floor, we decided to check out the cocktail hour. They had appetizers, so we had a nosh (snack in yiddish). Then hung out in the room & waited for Tex. I hope she passed her test. Anyways, after a bit of relaxing Tex showed up, We finished getting ready & then we went out. We went Over to the Heartland Brewery @ the Empire State Building... but they stopped serving food and it was only 10:45pm. So we walked over to Stout by Penn Station. They had good stuff & they were playing great music. After Stout, we went to Siberia. A hole in the wall bar. A total dive. I felt sooo cool being there. I loved it.



We then called it a night. We needed to be weel rested as we were doing brunch at Lips the next day. Lips is the drag restaurant in the village that we used to go to a great deal. We all became pretty friendly with the Drag Queens there. One of my buddies works there so we went to see him. Good times were had by all. The last time I was at Lips was a month before surgery. So it was so great seeing my buddies who hadn't seen me since surgery.



Going to NYC again in January with Leah & Tex for my 1 year suriversary. We are doing 3 broadway shows & Lips wahoooo! Can't wait to have that frozen cosmo. Well, 5 sips of it cause I will never be able to drink a whole one again...tooo darn large!



And now for the other stuff. I took Greyhound Buslines there and back... I fit in one seat. We walked all over & I was fine. I felt like I belonged in NYC. I fit into the small booth @ the diner. While eating I got ketchup on my shirt. We were only a block away from the hotel, so I told Leah I was gonna change and would meet her at the bank across the street. I never would have done the extra walking before no matter how short a distance even to change my shirt. Too much effort. But, this time it was just second nature... I am gonna run & change my shirt. It was sooo great!

What are you going to do?

Marla, you have lost 117lbs since your surgery & 127lbs from your heaviest weight... What are you going to do?

I AM GOING TO DISNEY WORLD!!!!!

I leave tomorrow morning & come back thursday night!

I am so excited. I will be going with Momsie, Dadsie, & brother Ethan!