Time at Forbes Hospital with Jayne

July 24, 2007
Jayne did some laundry and kept busy doing her word search books and reading the paper. Kathy made some yummy meals. Will worked in the yard, mowing, trimming and then played lots of Fate.

We had visits from the neighbors; all wishing Jayne well on her upcoming surgery; she has breast cancer at 90 years old.

We got up at 4am and prepared for the trip to Forbes Hospital, about fifteen minutes away. We left the house at 5am and arrived on time. After registering and waiting she was taken to the preparation rooms and readied for the surgery. We joined her when the nurses got all their doings done. Jayne was in good spirits and joking with the nurses. A team of doctors and students came in to give her a check over; reminded us of hospital scenes on the Soaps. Dr. John put a purple smile face on the left breast so they would know in surgery, which was which. The doctor came in when she got up to use the bathroom so missed her, but greeted us. He is the same doctor who removed the first tumor a year ago. We gave Jayne kisses and sent her along with the nurses at 7:30am.

With her two bags of belongings in tow we went out to the car, dropped them off and came back in to pick up a pager from the receptionist. “Oh, she is a patient of Dr. Naman. You had better be back in half an hour incase the operation is faster than he thought.” We knew that he ass not one to wait around to talk with family. He usually made a phone call from the operating room area and spoke with family. In the hospital cafeteria we grabbed a bagel, orange juice and bacon and were back up in the waiting room reading magazines with the other thirty or so people. We waited. And we waited. Just before 10am we were called to talk with the doctor. We were expecting a phone call from him, but he was standing there and took us into the hallway around the corner. The operation was successful. He found more lumps and so also removed the lymph nodes. He wants her to see an oncologist and maybe radiation will be a good idea.

The receptionist said it would be about two hours before Jayne came out of recovery and into a hospital room. We left and went to our Yoga class. Breath; find your breath. Moving and muscle toning, breathing and balancing, and stretching all ends with a relaxation exercise. Jackie, our instructor, took us to the beach where we swam in the ocean with her calm voice. After we made and enjoyed a little lunch at the house we went back to the hospital, found her room and waited. It was just minutes and Jayne was in her room resting. We became well acquainted with Sean, her male nurse, and Lynne, her aide. We read, worked on puzzles, took turns walking the halls, and talked and helped Jayne as best we could. Her IV came loose and blood spotted over the blankets. She dozed and her water spilled over the blankets. Sean said he was going to charge us next time! Jayne ate a little between naps and Lynne brought us a meal too. Jayne was a little dizzy; her blood pressure dropped and they got the doctors in. More IV fluids brought it back to normal. They decided not to get her up today; to let her rest and stabilize the blood pressure. We stayed till almost 9pm.

One the way home we stopped and got flowers and a bright happy balloon to bring with us tomorrow. At Jayne’s Kathy went to bed while Will played Fate and then watched some TV.