Thank you for all the good karma, well wishes

First thing I want to say is a big thank you to all who have wished me luck and sent good karma my way. I was touched by the letter that Mr. Johnson wrote, a sincere thank you. 

Some might wonder why I would have written about my cancer in the paper, well I am going to tell you. I have lived in Creemore for more than 20 years, and can’t imagine living anywhere else. 

I had a client in my hairdressing days, who I will call Mrs. A. I was going to the post office to check the mail when a person said to me that Mrs. A had prostate cancer. I shook my head and said, impossible, women don’t have prostates, only men do. The person said, well then I don’t know what the hell she has. 

By disclosing my own news I am keeping the information correct. I had my surgery last Thursday and it was an interesting experience. The first thing that happened was three very sharp needles about eight inches long (I think they were that long, but maybe only two inches) were injected into the affected area. The nurse was injecting gamma radiation that would then travel to the lymph nodes. I was taken down to the nuclear medicine room and placed in a large x-ray machine. The technician then used a little gamma ray attracter to pull all the radiation into a spot that she could mark with a big black circle on my skin so the surgeon would be able to locate them easily rather than digging around, therefore causing less trauma to the area. 

Ultrasound was next where a wire with a hook on the end was inserted into the tumor. The radiologist did a fine job, would have liked a little more lidocaine, but oh well. 

There is much preparation to get into the actual surgery theatre. IVs, full questions, making sure that I am who they think I am, warm blankets and generally trying to make you relax. 

It was all good till they put the big leather strap across your legs and you hear the big click. I then thought of Frankenstein as I drifted off to a deep sleep. 

Dr. O did a fine job of paralyzing me for the surgery and I didn’t even feel the effects of the breathing tube they put down my throat, it can cause irritation when you come to. 

I awoke to find that the tumor had been removed, and only the tumor and my lymph nodes. Glad that I was able to stay balanced in the chest area. 

I have this gross drain thing hanging out of the arm pit area but by the time that you read this it will have been removed. So now I heal and wait for the next step in this process… going to figure out how to make a cool turban.