May is Melanoma Awareness Month – My Story, Part 4

I didn’t manage to finish my Melanoma Story in May, but I will definitely finish it. I mentioned it here first.
The long story can be found here
May is Melanoma Awareness Month – My Story, Part 1
May is Melanoma Awareness Month – My Story, Part 2
May is Melanoma Awareness Month – My Story, Part 3

Then it was time to begin my inpatient treatment. On admitting day an ECG was performed, the lymph node nearest to the tumor was detected and the lymphatics were marked. Because this hospital was an university hospital, often many doctors-to-be were in the same room, learning about the procedures. I didn’t mind that, doctors have to learn as well. What I did mind was that the doctors-to-be often didn’t take the time to say Hello. I felt absolutely objectified.

Later in the day the surgeon visited me who would perform the surgery on the next day. He wasn’t talking much, but he drew lines on my leg instead.

My husband and I shared concerned looks. The consent form for the surgery,  that mentioned “death” as a possible side effect, didn’t help either.

At the evening a pair of antiembolism stockings was adjusted and I was giving an antibacterial shower gel for the next morning. The night was ok, due to a sleeping pill.

On the next morning I learned that I my surgery was scheduled first, so I didn’t have to wait long. I was given a sedative, and my room neighbor and I watched some TV. My room neighbor’s surgery was scheduled after mine, so she was nervous as well.

The surgery itself went very well. The epidural and the sedative worked beautifully. I listened to music, and everybody gave me the feeling I was really looked after. In recovery I alredy felt the feeling in my legs coming back.

A few hours later, I was able to walk again. The surgeon came along at moon and told me that they were able to get everything out and that the lymph node “looked well”. But he couldn’t answer my most urgent question: “Why?” He suspected that the cancer had been growing for about a year. That explained why I had felt so worse in the last few months.

But another question began to grow in my head: What now?

~ To be continued ~