December 4 (when I last wrote) seems like light years ago! So much has taken place in the world at large and in my world near at hand. While the wider arena of our national election has resulted in “historical moments” of giant proportion, in my neighborhood we have been getting Mom to the doctor, through the holidays, and eventually to a hospital stay of five days. No wonder there’s not much time to blog! (And thank Goodness, there are five of us daughters!)
To begin with the catching up, a few weeks ago Mom began complaining of itching and some discomfort “down there.” Pop did not know what to do except ask his daughters. The one he mentioned it to advised him to get Mom to her gynecologist as soon as possible. So off they went, only to come home with a report of a “growth” in the vagina that needed to come out.
Our (the daughters’) first impression from the report of that visit was that Mom had a small growth, self-contained, that could be removed, and there was nothing to worry about. The second bit of info we were given was that the biopsy showed the growth was malignant. We later found out from the surgeon (on the morning of the surgery) that the growth was actually on the vulva and was quite involved. That morning was the first time we heard the words “lymph nodes” mentioned!
Pop asked the surgeon for reassurance that he would “get it all.” The doc said, “As we discussed earlier, I will not know until I am able to check the lymph nodes. We hope the cancer has not spread, and we will look at the lymph nodes carefully.” Meanwhile Mom’s daughters stood with mouths agape! That was the first we heard of the possibility of this much involvement with the growth.
To end with a happy report, the surgeon came out several hours later to report that Mom came through the procedure very well. The “growth” was quite large, as he showed us his fist to illustrate its size, and much more involved than he expected. This required an inordinate number of stitches and caused quite a bit of swelling which lasted several days. The best part is he believes he “got it all,” and the biopsies he took of the lymph nodes came back clear. Praise the Lord!
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