Monday 19.5.26
Had the consult with Dr RW in the morning.
Talked to Mum in the early afternoon. Talked about a few things, and she suggested I watch last night's Compass (which I did on iView some time later).
A little bit later got a call from Rachel, a pre admission nurse, about the plan for Friday. I need to get them to update Dr LH's practice details (they still have that she's in Civic). Also if I get any symptoms of walking pneumonia I should let Dr RW know. I'll get a text on Thursday about admission time for Friday and fasting instructions. You go to level 1 admissions, then once Canberra Imaging opens you go down for a scan and markers. They suggest bringing an overnight bag with your medications, toiletries, change of clothes etc.
I also filled out all the admissions stuff on the Calvary private website.
Tuesday 20.5.25
Got super upset in the morning seeing EK415 flying over Western Australia without me on it.
Karen, one of the nurse care advocates called me in the afternoon. She suggested going to Colleens in Garran to get a Post-Op Bra (~$30). They're front opening for easier access and opening/closing and provide a lot of extra support. She suggested calling beforehand to make an appointment (but you can make an appointment on their website). She also suggested coming into the walk-in clicic (which is on every Wednesday 12:00-15:30 at North Canberra Hospital Outpatient Clinic) where they offer a free one (assuming they have one that will fit). She said they'll call me again next week to see how I'm travelling. She gave me a bit more detail about what they're likely to do on Friday too. On Friday I'll need to go down to Canberra Imaging Group before surgery. They'll be doing a wire insertion to guide the surgeon. This will hang outside and be taped down, so will need to be careful not to move too much. They also suggest wear a front opening top so you don't have to lift your arms as much. They'll also be doing a mapping test where they inject slightly radioactive dye which I may need to massage in so it'll travel to the lymph nodes so the surgeon knows were to go to get the lymph nodes. On the Saturday the physio will be on the ward to go through exercises I can do (edit: this didn't happen).
13:52 Got an SMS from Calvary Bruce Private Hospital telling me to pay the $500 excess.
13:57 Got an email Little Company of Mary Health Care telling me to create an account and access their online portal - which had an email from WD telling me to pay the excess.
14:38 Got an SMS from Dr FT (the anaesthetist) telling me to fill in patient questionnaire (pretty much the same as the hospital's).
14:54 Got an SMS from Medicnet telling me anaesthetist fees have been emailed to me (don't think so? maybe it was part of the email stuff above?).
Last week Dr LH gave me a certificate to take this week off as sick leave. I was already going to be on holiday leave so I wasn't really planning to take it as sick leave. But with all the stress and all the appointments and phone calls and just STUFF, this week certainly hasn't felt like a holiday. In the end I did decide to take this week as sick leave instead.
Wednesday 21.5.25
Got an SMS that the radiology appointment will be 7:30am Friday.
I was going to go to the walk-in clinic at Calvary to see if they had any free post-op bras but that was too stressful, so I ended up just going to Colleen's in Garran. Relatively painless experience, although the bras were $85 each not $30 as indicated they might be.
Got home and found a huge bunch of flowers had been delivered to us from Stu's work - so lovely!
Thursday 22.5.25
Someone (didn't catch her name) called from Medicnet asking if I'd received the email from the anaesthetist. Um.. no..? Turns out they'd written up the completely wrong email address - heath instead of health and gu instead of au. WTF?? So she sent it through again. It says to pay by bpay but keep the receipt and send it to them since it won't go through for a couple of days. She also says there's usually three payments - one to the surgeon, one to the hospital (paid I think) and one to the anaesthetist (paid!).
Also in the morning Dr FT the anaesthetist called me. He says to fast from midnight tonight. I can have a glass of water in the morning to prevent dehydration. He indicated there might be a choice to stay in overnight or go home in the afternoon !? I will get some antibiotics/painkillers during surgery. I later wondered whether the antibiotics I'm taking as a prophylactic for the walking pneumonia would interact with the ones given during surgery, also I didn't know going home same day was an option, or does that depend on surgeon? I think I'd rather stay in overnight for observation anyway.
Got an SMS from the hospital after lunch to say checkin time is 6:00. Stu is going to love that. Not. It also included some other information about fasting and where to go.
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