Cancer Watch 08 :: SICU Day 2

As day 2 dawned in SICU, the construction noise fired up outside my window to make sure that I wasn’t going to get any more so-called sleep. I was exhausted from my tortured night and still hadn’t eaten. The oncoming nurse brought in my breakfast: a bowl of yogurt with granola mixed in. I normally detest yogurt, but I hadn’t eaten in nearly 36 hours so I chose not to be picky. She was kind enough to stay and spoon feed me as I could not lift my arms far enough to bring a spoon to my mouth. With the granola in it it wasn’t all that bad, but that could have been the starvation talking.

Soon the doctors came around on their rounds to check on me. They checked my drainage from my neck incision and the results of my calcium blood tests that had been drawn all night long. The levels were low and my responses were not good. You normally have 4 parathyroid glands in your neck, 2 on each side, attached to the back of your thyroid gland. During the surgery they were only able to find one that still seemed to be healthy. The parathyroid gland is responsible for calcium uptake in the body so it’s very important to keep functioning for obvious reasons. No calcium = brittle bones, teeth and other issues. My muscles still felt like lead weights with the Dantrolene IV. They left orders for that to be pulled after 24 hours which was going to be at 4:00 that afternoon.

(Author’s note – I set about writing down everything that happened to me to work out my frustrations with the process. Along the way I realized that I had nothing to be angry or frustrated about. Everyone did their job to the best of their own ability. I’m alive and happier now than I was before this all happened. There’s really nothing left to write about. Sorry if you were looking for any further chronicles about my experience, but there won’t be anything further from this point.)