The Wonders of Super Glue

Do you remember that man in The Graduate who extolled the virtues of "Plastics" to Dustin Hoffman?

Well, here I am doing the same thing for Super Glue.

My surgery started on time at 10:30 Tuesday morning. The first thing I remember after that was waking at 3:00 PM in my fourth floor hospital room with my surgeon standing by. She explained that the surgery took twice as long as expected because the tumor (and my uterus) had spread to every available space in what was supposed to be my abdominal CAVITY. All my other organs had been squished by the "Fibroid That Ate Maya." The two surgeons had to cut both the tumor and uterus out in pieces. She said, "You are going to feel soooo much better."

And she was right. Even with an incision across my body, I feel better today than I did before the surgery.

I have no bandages at all. All the sutures were internal and my external wound (a bikini cut) was sealed with something called DermaBond. It's Super Glue for the skin and simply wonderful! I can climb into the shower and bathe without worrying about getting my incision wet (as long as I pat it dry afterward). I'm seriously considering buying Johnson & Johnson stock again.

I was on a morphine drip that first night, but it made me so dopey, I asked them to remove it, the oxygen tube and the catheter the following morning.

I was in the woman's wing of Presbyterian Hospital. It was more like a luxury hotel than a hospital. My private room looked out on a wide atrium. The nurses told me that nine times around the atrium was one mile. On Tuesday night, I managed to make two laps around. I was incentivized. Walking was less painful than the anesthesiologist's gas that still filled my abdomen. On Wednesday and Thursday, I made my nine laps each day. The gas is gone, but coughing (or laughing) still hurts.

By yesterday morning, I'm sure I resembled a demented Dorothy in a muumuu and sock slippers, demanding to be returned to Kansas. "I want to go home" I told anyone who would listen.

I took my last pain pill at 5:30 yesterday morning, opting for two Motrin every four hours instead. By noon, I was sitting, surrounded by my luggage and all my plants, looking like I was on Platform 9 3/4 waiting for the Hogwarts Express to come and carry me off.

Didn't actually get home until 4:00 PM yesterday, Friday. Bob the Cat's greeting was heartfelt. We released him into the backyard while I ran for the bathroom. He circled the house, figured out which room I was in and jumped up on the window, screaming to be admitted. I let him in, and he sat in front of me, complaining of his treatment over the past three days.

We climbed into bed together and fell into an exhausted asleep for two hours.

It's now almost 7:30 on Saturday morning. I slept a solid six and a half hours, waking for about five seconds at 4:30. That's the longest block of time I've slept in six months.

I'm so grateful to the Lord for guiding me safely through this time.

My plan for the next few days is to sleep and walk and get my strength back. I'll report in again next week.

Thanks to everyone for the kind wishes. I appreciate you more than I can say.

Lots of love,

Maya