Hi all, thank you so much for the well wishes, and thanks to Sean for providing updates. I returned home yesterday (5/31/05) around 3:00 p.m. I'm up now for reasons I don't have to explain to the rest of you! So, I thought I'd let you know how it went.

I went into surgery the morning of 5/23/05 at the OU Medical Center in Oklahoma City, OK. My husband and my aunt along with a couple we know went with me to kick this all off! Surgery went well, took about 8 hours, and they provided updates to my family every 1-2 hours. They removed 1/3 of the tongue, replacing with a live graft (vessels included) from the inside of my left arm. Skin to cover that area was removed from the front of my left thigh. They also performed the jaw split, and neck dissection removing 20+ lymph nodes (haven't gotten an exact count yet). I was surprised to find they didn't remove any teeth, and am keeping my fingers crossed none were compromised and I get to keep them all.

Woke in the ICU. Remember vaguely something about there being a lack of rooms, but I got in. Glad I wasn't in a hall somewhere. :-) I stayed the rest of Monday through early evening Thursday in ICU. They did a good job of keeping the pain under control, and I have to say...care in the ICU there was exceptional. Had an AWFUL couple of episodes with the tracheostomy where the "cuff" got clogged with mucous and I couldn't breathe. The second time was Thursday afternoon. I couldn't breathe, and they ran my husband out of the room. He said he knew things were "escalating" when the ICU nurse didn't leave the room and just stood and yelled for another nurse to help. By the end of the episode, I had 4 ICU nurses in my room. I don't think the whole thing lasted longer than 5 minutes, but seemed like hours to me. I ended up shooting a blood clump about 15 ft. and hitting the far wall. I probably would have been grossed out by that, but I was too happy to be breathing again. :-)

Anyway, after moving to a regular room, I just tried to work on getting off all those tubes. I'd set my sights on another tube, and once it was gone I'd work on the next. Not sure how many "Star Trek" fans are out there, but I felt like a member of the Borg. I never saw so many tubes. They removed my feeding tube on Saturday which pushed me into having to eat again. The worst part was having to take all those medications orally that had been going in the tube. Was tough to find something for pain that didn't burn my tongue and didn't make me want to gag!

So, I'm home now, and should probably go rest before any of my family finds me up.

Thank you again for all your advice, well wishes, and relating previous experiences. They all have helped so much. I'll get on more in the next few days and will gratefully add my name to the list of survivors.

Glad to be back!
Jennifer

Jennifer

Glad to have you back, you have been thru alot but you sound great. Go back and get some sleep, and as often as possible. Give yourself lots of time to heal. May God Bless and keep you well

Jennifer
Knew you would do good lady!!!
You will feel tired for a few weeks don't push yourself to hard, bet it's good to be back in your own bed!!!!!!
Sunshine... love and hugs
Helen

Jennifer,

Welcome home. You are a trooper. Sounds like you have a great attitude and that is so important. Take it easy and don't be too proud to ask for help. Get as much rest as possible and before you know it, you'll be feeling GREAT.

Great having you back.

Jerry

Welcome home Jennifer

You have done well and have a fantastic attitude as well as a sense of humour which helps. Sound like you have the support you deserve at home and of course you have it here also.

Love and light from Helen

I'm glad to hear you're home, it's such a relief to leave the hospital. I can relate to the trach story, I HATED having that thing. Keep in mind that if you hold your finger over the bandage on the trach hole while you talk, the area will heal faster. Take care when changing the dressing as it can be rough on the skin of your neck.
Hoping the next few weeks see you feeling more like yourself.
Minnie

Hello Jennifer,

Reading your post brought back some ugly memories of my post-op. Time seemed to crawl by before I was able to eat and sleep normally again. Glad this part is over for you. Remember to measure your progress in weeks not days. Hoping you heal fast and have great follow up's.

Danny Boy

Jennifer, I was in the mood to whine tonite- that is until I read your post. What GUTS you have Lady! You Go Girl! Amy

Oh, heavens Amy. Whining is always allowed. :-) Thank you for the kind words! I'm off to read up on how your husband is doing and will post over there too. I know you were looking at a long commute for treatment...hope everything is working out okay.

Things here are going fine. My family gritches at me to get more rest, but it's so nice to be home...and being involved around the house makes me feel "normal" again. :-) I can tell the trache hole is healing up...less air going in and out when I forget to hold it when I speak (thanks for the reminder!!). Also, got a home care service in to change the dressing on my arm so I don't have to worry about that for a while.

Took my first shower yesterday. ahhhhhhhh..what a relief...probably to my family too. :-D So nice to have a truly clean body again and not just a sponge bath. The graft site on my leg tolerated the shower well, and I "double-baggied" my arm to keep it dry. I also got to eat a half-way decent dinner. Cream of Brocolli soup, small amount of mashed potatos, and some Boost...Butter Pecan. I know all of that will get old fast, but sure tasted good now.

Daniel, thank you for the reminder to measure in terms of weeks instead of days. My biggest weakness is I am really impatient.

SO NICE TO BE HOME.

Jennifer

Jen,

Great job.

Danny, great words of wisdom as usual.

How does it feel to have part of a new tounge anyway? Just curious.

Stay on track. God bless. Attitude is everything.

Robert