Surgery Day --- All Went Well, Real Well

Here is a picture of mom taken while Marcia and I were on out last trip.  Her and dad went out to eat with my Aunt and a few cousins, and someone took this picture of her and posted on Facebook…where I took a copy for the blog.  Today was mom’s surgery day, which I wanted to share with everyone.

Above is a Google map image of the Sutter Roseville Medical Campus.  The outpatient surgery is the white building at the bottom.  But her day started in what they call “Building Two”, which is where they do their  mammograms.  They  placed a wire into the breast exactly where the doctor was to go in to remove the tumor. They call this procedure a Wire-localized lumpectomy.  Thank goodness there was a friendly face there to welcome us….

My niece, mom’s granddaughter, Robin works in the Radiology area, and came out and said hi to us all, and gave mom a big huge hug. We needed to be there by 11:15, which to mom means before 11, and by11:30 they took her in to place the wire. 

By noon she was over at the surgery center for her 1:30 surgical procedure.

By 1:30 she was all prepped, they kicked dad and my sister Sandy out of the room, and we all waited in the waiting room for the procedure to be over. They have a nice system where they give you a card with a private identification number on it, and a display screen shows the update as to what is going on.  It is all color coded…blue means prep time, green means surgery is taking place, orange means they are closing the surgery down, purple means she is in recovery.  By 2 pm Dr. Kim came out and said, “All done…she (mom) said she had a nice sleep and dreamed about Carmel.”
 

By 3 we were pulling onto the freeway for the ten minute ride home.  Called all my brothers, texted my other sister and my kids, called my aunt Florence, and texted my cousin Don.  As soon as we got home I got on mom’s facebook and posted a message to everyone to let them know she was fine, at home, and it all went well.

We are so thankful for the prayers, precious thoughts, and the advancements in the technology which produced todays results.  We all feel very blessed.  All is well…but I am sure mom will be a bit sore tomorrow.


Definition:  Wire-localized lumpectomy/ Segmentectomy/ Segmental mastectomy

In cases where the tumor cannot be felt by the surgeon (not palpable), a radiologist can help by placing a thin wire into the abnormal area to guide the removal of the affected area.  This is generally done several hours before surgery under local anesthesia by the radiologist.  The surgeon then removes the segment of the breast containing the tumor (or “lump”) and some of the normal tissue that surrounds it (called a “margin”).