Everything hurts, and I'm dying...literally!

Want to know what it's like to have a hemiarthroplasty of the hip? On Tuesday, I had my second surgery in 18 months, to the same leg. In May 2018 an intramedullary rod was put in my right femur to stabilize a fracture. This was done urgently by the on call surgeon. Because of the bone tumors and the radiation and chemotherapy I received for my cancer, the femur never healed properly and in September this year I managed not only to fracture the leg again but I broke the top of the rod. This time around my surgery was done by the pathologic orthopedic surgeon (he specializes in broken bones caused by cancer), he's the expert! His plan; remove the hardware and perform a hemiarthroplasty using a cemented bipolar implant. Surgery went mostly as planned, though removing the hardware proved to be more difficult. The surgeon said he had to "bring in the muscle" in the form of a second surgeon, and use vice grips to remove the rod. This, he says is why I have so much more pa...

...we're ready to go! Big girl Ellie helped pack, she loaded up her Minnie suitcase with toys for her and her baby brother.  She even stuffed her boots full of toys (5 finger puppets, a fire truck for her brother, and a bottle and food for her dolly), funny kid! :) It looks like we're ready for a fun family vacation but that's not quite the case. Today we made the 3hr drive to Sudbury, for the next week Mike and the kids will stay with family while I have surgery to repair my broken leg/hip. If all goes as planned I should be able to go home in 3-5 days, and hopefully once healed I will not only have better range of motion but I should be in a lot less pain.  Fingers crossed! I don't usually get nervous about surgery but two separate doctors have cautioned me about bleeding, the need for transfusions, and what my wishes are should I die during surgery...So this time around I'm a bit nervous. Positive thoughts though, all will go well and recovery will be quick. ...

...I've forgotten how it felt before the world fell at our feet. It really seems like another lifetime, to think just 2 years ago I was an active, able bodied, go-getter. Work, a sweet baby girl, and fun doing a multitude of outdoor activities, those were the things we thought about. No need for anxiety inducing thoughts of what will happen to our family when I die. We didn't have to plan for weeks of radiation, or plan for surgeries. Perhaps the simplest thing but one that affacts our everyday life is that I didn't need help with anything, and for me this is hard to come to grips with, not being able to do things that I once did without batting an eye, it's frustrating and demoralizing. I wish I could go back to the life we had, before I was diagnosed with terminal cancer in my bones. But alas! We can't turn back time, so we forge ahead. This past week was a long one! I left home Sunday and drove to Sudbury. I had radiation Monday through Friday, to treat the new...