postprandial conversation
Feb. 13th, 2009 08:09 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
constanceSometimes, I want to write about something big and important, but I'm not sure what I want to say, or how to say it or maybe even how I feel about it, and in the meantime it's Big and Important and I feel a little weird not mentioning it because a lot of my time is taken up with it and it seems as though I ought to mention it, especially in a place like this which is all about my preoccupations. And I feel equally weird talking about other more trivial or self-indulgent things with the Big and Important thing hanging over me.
But I guess the time has come to talk about this latest Big, Important thing, because I have a question for you. The thing is this: after several years of increasingly nerve-wracking scares and biopsies and precancer growths, the doctors are warning my mother that breast cancer is more a matter of time than a possibility, and she's decided to get a prophylactic mastectomy to reduce her risk. She's scheduled the surgery for April 1, which is kind of a tasteless cosmic joke, but we're finding it a little funny because we're tasteless that way.
Mom is okay, I think. When the surgery was first recommended a couple of years ago, she was upset and resistant, but the intervening time's changed her perspective, and she seems to be getting ready now without too much trauma, though obviously that could change as the time draws nearer. My dad's being great too. Not so much with the providing a sounding board or a shoulder to cry on, but he is rock-solid, going to every doctor appointment, setting up services and caregivers now so that when the time comes Mom won't have to worry about anything getting done while she's in recovery.
And the rest of us are chipping in where we can, where they'll let us. Which is where the question comes in, because my sister-in-law and I are coordinating to try and get supplies together that she might need, pillows and baby monitors and loose lounge clothes and stuff, and the question is this: if you know anyone who's had a mastectomy, do you have any recommendations about things to buy to make things easier?
But I guess the time has come to talk about this latest Big, Important thing, because I have a question for you. The thing is this: after several years of increasingly nerve-wracking scares and biopsies and precancer growths, the doctors are warning my mother that breast cancer is more a matter of time than a possibility, and she's decided to get a prophylactic mastectomy to reduce her risk. She's scheduled the surgery for April 1, which is kind of a tasteless cosmic joke, but we're finding it a little funny because we're tasteless that way.
Mom is okay, I think. When the surgery was first recommended a couple of years ago, she was upset and resistant, but the intervening time's changed her perspective, and she seems to be getting ready now without too much trauma, though obviously that could change as the time draws nearer. My dad's being great too. Not so much with the providing a sounding board or a shoulder to cry on, but he is rock-solid, going to every doctor appointment, setting up services and caregivers now so that when the time comes Mom won't have to worry about anything getting done while she's in recovery.
And the rest of us are chipping in where we can, where they'll let us. Which is where the question comes in, because my sister-in-law and I are coordinating to try and get supplies together that she might need, pillows and baby monitors and loose lounge clothes and stuff, and the question is this: if you know anyone who's had a mastectomy, do you have any recommendations about things to buy to make things easier?
no subject
Date: 2009-02-17 02:26 am (UTC)I think you've covered a lot of the bases, and a lot of it is going to be combating boredom. I asked my mum re: her mastectomy, and all she could think of extra was try and make sure everything is below shoulder height, so your mum won't need to reach up for anything. Also, you'll need a detachable shower head so she can wash her hair - or have someone wash her hair - without wetting her upper body, and getting in and out of the bath can be a pain since your upper body strength is compromised. In the long term, the drugs my mum is on affect her joints and make them sore, so that might also be something to consider. Best of luck.
no subject
Date: 2009-02-18 12:01 am (UTC)We are all grateful, believe me. I'm glad we're doing this now and not later, when things might be so much worse.