Stepping Stone

"One of the secrets of life is to make stepping stones out of stumbling blocks." ~Jack Penn

*My new beginning, my port*

With Rosh Hashanah right around the corner, I went into the surgery thinking "this is my new beginning." This will be a sweet year for me. I thought to myself, "if I go into the surgery with a positive outlook, instead of being filled with fear, I will have a smooth surgery." Rosh Hashanah is a Jewish holiday which is celebrated at the end of the month, on this particular year. The holiday signifies the start of a new year on the Hebrew calender. I went into surgery yesterday with hope that my port might come to signify the start of healthier chapters in my life. Sometimes, in certain situations, grabbing onto faith makes tough times easier to get through.

Hunter took me to the Winter Park Memorial Hospital, Wednesday morning, at 6:30 am to prep for surgery. 8:00 am was the point of no return, as I took a deep breath and readied myself for the port. Hunter did not leave my side until it was time for the actual surgery. He is the most amazing man. He is my sailboat that keeps me afloat and sturdy in this wavy ocean of life. I was consciously sedated throughout the whole surgery and I kept on hearing voices around me, but I did not know what was going on or feel any pain during the surgery, as a result of the drugs they gave me. The nurses, RTs, and radiologist involved in my surgery made the port placement an overall calming experience for me.

Dr. Mansilla placed the port on my chest (left side). He sewed the port into a pocket of my skin, from the inside, to place the port correctly, and then sutured the port in place so that it would not float. He used dissolving stitches and left the port accessed so that I could start I.V.'s immediately, per my request. My Bronchoscopy results came back and I grew Pseudomonas and a mucoid Pseudomonas strain. The game plan is: Meropenem (1gm vial, every 8 hours) and Tobramycin (40mg vial, once a day) to be administered intravenously via my port for two weeks. Thankfully, Stina (my BCF), gave me advice and helped me to get prepared for the surgery. I am so grateful to my Cysters and Fibros that had shared their port stories with me. Their experiences, some positive and some negative, gave me the knowledge that I needed to go into surgery with confidence that I was making a good decision for myself. Dr. Mansilla decided that the Xcela Power Port, which requires saline and heparin flushes, would be the best port for me. I was glad because that was the port that I had been leaning towards getting as well.

Now, I am so pleased that I got the port. I'm so happy that the surgery went well and that there were no complications. The only thing that hurts is my neck and chest when I cough, but hopefully that pain will subside as the area heals. Tylenol has been my best friend today. I have not really seen the final port result because the area is heavily bandaged, but this Tuesday, I have an appointment to follow-up with Dr. Mansilla, in order to make sure that I am healing well. I hope my purple port is pretty. I have a feeling that it will be. :)