It's been another very long day. We arrived home about 6:00 PM after seeing Dr. Cole her primary doctor. He did a routine exam and ordered a chest x-ray and we just talked. He was quite impressed with Janeen's attitude towards her up coming surgery and he believes with this positive attitude she is displaying her recovery will go smoothly. Dr. Cole is the best and it is through him we were introduced to the other doctors on Janeen's surgical team. He wrote her Rx's he wants her on the morning of the surgery and he even threw in a couple scripts for me. Then up to the penthouse we went where we were greeted by Ana Marie who manages the office of Dr. Orringer. Ana Marie has been my quarterback in the scheduling of all the appointments. She's just wonderful and without her I don't know how I would have done it all. If I ran in to a problem with an office I called her to straighten it out. Dr. Orringer spent over 3 hours with us today. I said we had a long day. He pinched every ounce of fat on Janeen's stomach he could and was a little disappointed she had lost weight since he saw her 7 months ago. She is to eat, eat and eat some more up until her surgery. The more tissue the better the breasts. See, all you skinny mini's reading this, you would not even qualify for this proceedure. You need meat on your bones! He went on to explain every thing that could go wrong which we all realize doctor's have to do that but it does scare the crap out of you. They neatly put all this information in to a notebook and Janeen had to initial each page. He explained the need for additional surgeries should the transplant not take or only a portion of the breast survives. So many unknowns still but you know what, no tears from Janeen and I'm telling you SHE is ready to roll! The surgery has gone from 12 hours to 18 hours and today Dr. Orringer says 15 hours. At this point it doesn't really matter, she has to be at the hospital at 5:00 AM and her surgery will start at 7:00 AM. I will receive up dates every two hours and of course with my new lap top I will keep you all informed as the day goes on. Darren bought me a new little notebook PC so I can stay in touch. Janeen doesn't know anything about this either. Darren is teaching me how to download pictures from my camera to the notebook but I have already forgotten. He will be with me throughout the day and I'll take another lesson. I will be able to stay with Janeen that night but she will be so drugged I might just go back to the hotel. They want her up and walking the next day and I want to be there to help her.......I have put in the mail a calendar that will show those of you who have inquired where she will be. It is color coded and also says when she will have her ipad and her cell phone with her. It will give you her transfer day to Serenity House where she will continue to recover before she is left to my nursing skills. I'm also in charge of all her meds....she has some good stuff. I told Dr. Orringer the meds bag might be empty by the time she goes to Serenity House. He didn't think I was very funny. So folks.......Janeen is READY!!!!!! Only three more appointments to go. All of those are scheduled for the 23rd. I'm so proud of my girl, she did this her way and I'm confident she will have a wonderful outcome. If any of you see Janeen before we leave for Santa Monica ( Fab 4 ) remember do not elude to the blog.
Thanks and goodnight!
Barb
