"Yes"

Waiting for surgery was somewhat comical.  Different workers entered the room at various times, all asking the same questions.  I felt like it was a test to see whether I was sane enough to give the same answer each time.  Must be a teacher thing!  Eventually Dr. Hills, the surgeon, entered along with the anesthesiologist.  Even though I had holes and wires in my left breast, hospital policy requires that the surgeon label the breast with the word “yes” to make sure the correct one is operated on.  Whatever.  Might as well take a picture of that tooJ.  The anesthesiologist gave me medicine to relax me, and that’s all I remember.  I didn’t even get to enjoy my ride down the hall to surgery.

 

Three hours later, it was over.  I think it was probably a harder wait on Rick than it was for me, being that I was sleeping like a baby.  During the groggy stage of waking up and trying not to vomit, I immediately took my right hand and felt for my left armpit.  A critical question was about to be answered.  I knew if there was a drain and tube under my arm, then the cancer had spread to the lymph nodes and they had been removed.  If there were no tubes, then the lymph nodes were clear of cancer.  Fortunately for me, there were no drains.  I had overcome one obstacle.  I closed my eyes and went back to sleep.

"The marvelous richness of human experience would lose some rewarding joy if there were not limitations to overcome.  The hilltop hour would not be half so wonderful if there were no dark valleys to traverse."

Helen Keller