TUESDAY, MARCH 25, 2008 07:00 AM, PDT
PET SCAN at TRA Imaging I was advised to dress warmly because the room would be cold. I did so, with my own warm chemise blanket. My appointment with Dr. Norman was immediately following which he had specifically asked that someone accompany me. Mom and dad did. We soon called Wayne to join us. I was in big trouble and Dr. Norman had just moved 'heaven and earth' to get a neurosurgeon in Seattle to do an emergency ommaya port placed in my head to facilitate testing on my brain and to use the port for chemotherapy. I called Kieran in Hawaii to tell him the news. He started working on getting himself back here right away for a 30 day leave. The actual surgery didn't take part until late that night. And, unfortunately, the anesthesiologist determined that he could not access my throat. So, the doctors, without my knowledge, opted to do the surgery with just a local anesthetic. BAD idea. I was probably asleep for the first few minutes but soon was startled by feeling myself being shaved, cut, dabbed and the port being placed and shoved into its place and then...the horrific 12 staples. I just cried. There was nothing else I could do. The rest of the night was pretty miserable.