checkup with dr. lee...

its been 9 days since surgery, so it was time to head back to stanford to see trish's plastic surgeon, dr. lee.

dr. lee and his staff examined trish, and felt she was healing up perfectly, there are no signs of infection and overall they are very pleased with her progress.

trish came home from the hospital with five (three on her right side, two on her left side) subdermal fluid drains. these are rubber tubes inside trish's body draining any excess fluid in her chest and back areas. there is a small incision under each of trish's armpits where the drains exit her body. these drains typically stay in 7-14 days post surgery.

the drains are bulky, and hard to make comfortable with while sitting, laying down and walking. she basically has five pieces of two foot long rubber tube hanging out of her, each will a rubber bulb attached on the end. even though she has a special tank top with internal pockets to hold the drains, they are still a pain in the ass (and the side... and the back)...

dr. lee felt trish was doing well enough not to warrant all the drains, so he removed four of the five. immediately trish felt more comfortable. the drain bothering her the most was the one placed in her back, once it was removed, trish had a much easier and comfy time sitting.

trish's next appointment is wednesday 10/21, and dr. lee will remove her last drain, and begin the expansion process of filling up trish's tissue expanders with saline.

the pain is slowly going away, and with four drains out, it should be much easier for her to sleep and get around. each day she gets a little quicker at getting up and moving around, and by this time next week she should be feeling great.

trish is resting up right now, but later this afternoon trish has a second job interview with Myriad, the company who makes the breast cancer genetic test, BRACAnalysis, trish took last year. trish looks forward to going back to work, but she has been very particular with the type of company she wants to work for. when this opening came up she was quick to apply for it, as she feels she can be very successful selling this product... hopefully Myriad will feel the same.

trish and i would to thank everyone that has dropped off food, flowers, cards, etc... it really has been appreciated, and has made it a lot easier around here the past week



one last note...
many of you know, after 10 years with HP i was laid off in late april, and spent the summer actively interviewing.

its ironic how life chooses to time things...

while i was in the waiting room during trish's surgery, i received a call from a company i've recently interviewed with, and they gave me a verbal offer!
i signed the written offer on tuesday, and will begin work at Greenplum (a small database startup) on november 16th.

talk about an emotional swing...
sitting there worried about trish in surgery, and i get a call that i dont need to stress over trying to find a job anymore. im really looking forward to starting next month, and who knows... maybe both of us will be employed by years end...


thanks for checking in..