We’re back from the first big excursion post-surgery. Bob and I flew into Miami, had a lovely Colombian dinner, and then got on our first big commercial cruise ship for a 3-night sail to the Bahamas, celebrating Bob’s mom’s 80th birthday.
I haven’t been on a plane for more than two months, and it’s amazing how fast my travel skills deteriorated. Friday morning, in the hotel in Miami, I went to take a shower and Bob was surprised to come into the bathroom fifteen minutes later to find me standing in the corner of the shower, water running, yet still dry. Waiting for the water to warm up. I felt like we were getting close, and it was about to be warm. I finally got out of the shower and made Bob call down to the front desk. A service guy was sent up, he adjusted a dial that I didn’t realize was a dial, and steaming hot water emerged immediately. If I knew how to be apologetic and say “I’m a fucking idiot” in Spanish, I could have used it then.
When we boarded the cruise ship, we were issued our “SeaPass” cards that serve as our IDs, charge cards and room keys. I read in the promotional material that for the first day only, we all had a $2 credit on our SeaPass cards that we could use to play the slot machines in the casino. Two whole free dollars! The opportunity to win tens of dollars, if not millions! I picked a machine and fed my card into the slot. As the card disappeared, I realized I’d poked my card into a random opening on the slot machine, and it wasn’t coming back out. I was eventually able to locate a confused technician to open up the machine and retrieve my card. Another shining moment.
I’m feeling good, six weeks after bilateral mastectomy. A couple weeks after the surgery, my chest developed some weird deep folds and ridges around my armpits. They weren’t squishy, like fat rolls, but oddly hard. My armpits looked like blobfish. Or a Shar-Pei. The left side has now smoothed out, the right is still lumpy, but getting better. Not having drains is SO GREAT, but my sides are still tender. If I roll onto either side while I’m sleeping, the pain will eventually wake me up. The area just feels quite bruised. Like all of it, that’s also getting better with time.
My mom is recovering nicely from a successful lumpectomy last Friday. I will get my chemo schedule when I see my oncologist on Thursday. I have an appointment with my surgeon this Friday, and I assume he’ll admire his handiwork one last time and tell me to have a nice life. His job will be officially over, and I will advance to the next level.