Sunshine Journal

April 12, 2026 If you need a quick catch-up you can skim CaringBridge first. Coming Home: Comfort and Reality This is my real experience during the first week home after SMAS surgery , including pain, medication changes, and recovery challenges. Surgery was March 2, 2026 in Blacksburg, VA. I was in Virginia for five weeks. I have been back home in Minnesota almost a week now and it has come with many challenges, but also lots of comfort. I, of course, enjoy being able to sleep in my own bed. But even more than that, being surrounded by my family is the ultimate comfort. Ben's family came for a visit and belated Easter meal the following weekend. Managing Pain and Medication Changes after SMAS surgery I am still dealing with a lot of pain. When I was in the hospital, I was on a lot of medication and since being out that has been decreased significantly. So I am trying to find a better middle ground through trial and error. There is also a nervous system and mast cell component th...

CLEAN MARGINS & CLEAR PERSPECTIVES Surgery was a month ago, and I couldn’t imagine things going much better.  As expected, the first week was the roughest.  Ashlee & I were grateful my parents stayed a couple days post surgery, then Miki took Otis for a few days so I didn’t have to worry about lifting him.  The swelling & pain never got too bad and I was able to manage with ibuprofen and an antibiotic to prevent infection.  It drained serosanguinous fluid from day 7-28 or so, but that’s to be expected.  We’ve now had 3 follow ups with the surgeon and the nearly 8 inch scar on my back is healing well, but very numb.  The cut under my left armpit is looking great, but both are tight. Ready for surgery! One month scar progress! There were a couple spots on my lymph node that the pathologist wanted an expert to look at, which took an extra couple of weeks.  But we got the report, and both the margins around the mole and the sentinel lymph node ...

What day is it? I've been a bit MIA lately, so my blog is a tad behind. I'm going to try and incorporate some dates so we can all follow along better... myself included! Venogram/Ovarian Vein Embolization 4/5/2024 (a Friday!): We left off here. I wrote two whole blog posts about it. I'm a bit long-winded. We can't miss a detail though ;) Part 1 Part 2 X-ray of dye in my right ovarian vein X-ray of dye in my left ovarian vein X-ray of ovarian coils that were placed Post-Embolization 4/6-4/7 (the weekend): My main thought was, 'oh my word I'm in so much pain'. I think it hit me harder because I just had not anticipated the procedure and was still trying to wrap my head around it. What it meant going forward. How long would the pain last. Would I feel better than before. What will Dr. Warren think. Things like that. There was absolutely nothing I could do though, so I tried to stay in the moment and not dwell on it. I did find some FB groups on pelvic congestio...