This is an update on my wife's surgery.
It's been postponed until July 3rd.
11 AM
Thursday,
3rd of July,
2014.
Complete hysterectomy.
For those who are confused,
since you "didn't get the memo,"
I'll fill you in,
below the divider doodle.
And,
in case you want to know,
it is called,
in hypertext markup language,
the divider doodle.
You see,
when you know the secret word,
you can add more of them:
And another:
And one more,
just to be silly:
Anyway.
Now,
for the background behind,
the reason for,
my wife's surgery.
My wife, Tonia, has cancer, in her uterus.
The surgeon who will remove it said,
we have a 70% likelihood
that removing the uterus
will remove all the cancer.
The plan is to use what they call
robotic surgery:
http://www.mayoclinic.org/...
To prepare you for a robotic hysterectomy, your doctor will:
Make five small incisions in your abdomen
Insert slender surgical instruments through those incisions
Incisions for a robotic procedure are much smaller than those used for open surgery, so you'll have less tissue trauma and smaller scars than you'd have after a traditional abdominal hysterectomy.
During a robotic hysterectomy procedure:
Your surgeon will use control devices to direct the surgical instruments that remove your uterus
The robotic system translates your surgeon's hand movements into precise movements at the instrument's tip
Your surgeon may also remove one or both ovaries and your fallopian tubes, depending on your condition
An assistant at the operating table repositions instruments, adds or removes surgical devices, and provides other support to your surgeon as needed
Members of the anesthesia team continually monitor your condition and comfort.
Well,
that about sums it up.
Of course,
the surgery isn't happening in a vacuum.
We have a lot of other things to deal with,
such as,
fluctuations in our income,
handled to some degree by certain members of Tonia's family;
angry complaints from a neighbor,
that will result in our giving up
two of our three dogs;
along with the usual challenges of:
working very hard at my Walmart workplace,
doing laundry and hanging it on the clothesline in the back yard,
pulling grass and bindweed from our tiny garden,
where we have
onions,
tomatoes,
cucumbers,
and squash,
and cooking on the backyard grill,
using fallen logs,
to boil,
for example,
a turkey,
in a big, four gallon, stainless steel pot.
Oh,
one more thing:
If your hysterectomy relieves chronic pain or heavy bleeding, you may experience an increase in sexual satisfaction.
Old couples like us,
or at least Tonia and I,
have our little secrets,
when it comes to alternate sexual activities.
But,
in case you wonder how this fits into our sex life,
Tonia has,
in fact,
been experiencing
chronic pain and heavy bleeding.
So,
not that it's a big part of the big picture,
but,
in my fondest daydreams,
we might start having a better time
in the making love department,
some time after the surgery.
Thanks for reading.