Surgery went extremely well, and I am back at home in a room with a view of the garden. Hospitals do an amazing job of managing pain these days, so most of the time all I feel is the discomfort of dressings, drains, tubes, and various other appurtenances of surgery that now hang from my body like particularly unattractive Christmas ornaments. I’ve learned to avoid the type of movements that cause pain. If I hook my foot under the bedrail, I can use my leg muscles to raise myself to a seated position. I can call on Steve to pick up anything bigger than a small paperback. He is also on call to open any screw caps. Oddly, opening a screw cap is the most painful thing I’ve tried to do thus far. Those muscles are simply not available for use at the moment. My mug-lifting muscles are apparently also impaired. I keep spilling things.

I feel incredibly lucky. The tumor was benign and well encapsulated. They found nothing in the lymph nodes. I have good health insurance and access to wonderful, caring nurses and doctors. The medical facilities were clean, modern, and conveniently located. So I end my breast blog with a moment of silence for all of those who are not so lucky.