Gan Ainm

The love of my life got her tumor removed today. We went in at 8:00 a.m. and got out around 3:00 p.m. Everything went well -- no sign of it spreading. In a few weeks or a month, once her wound is healed, she'll get radiation treatments (5 days a week, 5 weeks).

We're exhausted, of course, and she's wiped out from the anesthetic. But a big chunk of the fight is behind us now, and we have time to rest up for the next chunk. Our daughter is with us for the week, pitching in.

If you need to have this kind of work done, I'd recommend Kaiser Oakland. All the doctors and nurses were open and forthcoming about what the situation was, what the standard of care was, and what her options were. Not once did I see any "Doctor God" attitude. There was even playfulness -- in the operating room, just before she went under, the surgeon did the last of three or four checks -- who are you, what are you here for, which breast is it -- and when all of her answers checked out said, "You got every question right, so you get a prize: an operation!"

There was more waiting around than we would have liked, but that's not a big thing. When you're going in for surgery you pretty much clear your calendar for the day anyway. And some of the admitting nurses were bitchy, but you don't spend much time with them.

Of course, if you'd rather not need to have this kind of work done, if you're female and over 40, go ahead and schedule that mammogram, OK? If the radiologists hadn't caught this one as early as they did, we wouldn't have got off so easy.