Hi! Sue has had another good day She was able to get out of bed and sit in a chair a few times. She is feeling really good, except her shoulder really hurts. It is the location where they took a portion of her scapula. I'm not complaining, however. She is doing a great deal better than when she had her big surgery a couple of years ago. She can't really type much, but she is looking at Facebook and her e-mail.
I told her this afternoon that I am ready to hand the blog back over to her. Yet, here I am giving today's update. I really hope that she will be ready to take over tomorrow.
The doctors are all still very pleased with everything. They are all still monitoring the dopplers closely. I think they'll fell a lot more confident with the health of the transplanted veins after another 24 hours. Her graft looks good, as well as her closure sites. They did start to discontinue a couple of drugs today. She also has been able to have some clear nutrition; jello, broth, flavored ice, etc. She also did comment that she would like some McDonald's french fries. If she is craving those, it definitely means that she is hungry.
So, I'm happy to report that it was an uneventful day for Sue. She should be moving out of the ICU tomorrow and into a regular room. It doesn't feel like as big a change as it did the last go around. This ICU is quiet, and pretty laid back. Sue is accustomed to more noise and interruptions in the ICU setting.
Please keep praying that her veins and arteries continue to stay open, her swelling begins to subside, and the pain in her back starts to fade. We hope that you all have a great weekend!
Jason
Thursday, March 29, 2012
Wednesday, March 28, 2012
A slow day
Sue felt that the day dragged today. As the day moved along, she started to feel a little antsy. After everything her body was put through yesterday, she was surprisingly comfortable today, from a pain perspective. She is just struggling with being comfortable on her bed. She should be sitting in a chair some tomorrow, and then hopefully out of the ICU on Friday. She is looking forward to it, but she definitely wasn't ready for it today.
A number of doctors came through today and all are are pleased with her current status. It's very evident that they are most focused on her veins and arteries that were transplanted. They are hooked up to Doppler monitors and being listened to constantly. Dr. Khariwala apparently has phoned the nurse a number of times with sole purpose of listening to the Doppler in the background. One of the nurses wanted to hook him up with a baby monitor that he could listen through. They wil continue to keyed on these for another 48 hours or so.
Sue is continuing to see additional swelling in her face. This should stop late tomorrow, and then hopefully start to come down a little a day or two later. Her eye is completely swollen shut and that is a little aggravating for her. She also seems a bit uncomfortable with the sutures in her side. Hopefully, she'll do okay when they start weaning her off of the pain meds.
I wouldn't be surprised to see Sue do a short update tomorrow. I would be more than happy to hand the reins back over to her. Thank you for all of your ongoing prayers and support. We cherish you all.
Jason
A number of doctors came through today and all are are pleased with her current status. It's very evident that they are most focused on her veins and arteries that were transplanted. They are hooked up to Doppler monitors and being listened to constantly. Dr. Khariwala apparently has phoned the nurse a number of times with sole purpose of listening to the Doppler in the background. One of the nurses wanted to hook him up with a baby monitor that he could listen through. They wil continue to keyed on these for another 48 hours or so.
Sue is continuing to see additional swelling in her face. This should stop late tomorrow, and then hopefully start to come down a little a day or two later. Her eye is completely swollen shut and that is a little aggravating for her. She also seems a bit uncomfortable with the sutures in her side. Hopefully, she'll do okay when they start weaning her off of the pain meds.
I wouldn't be surprised to see Sue do a short update tomorrow. I would be more than happy to hand the reins back over to her. Thank you for all of your ongoing prayers and support. We cherish you all.
Jason
The day after
Hi everyone. Nothing but good news to report so far in post surgery, day 1. Sue was moved to the ICU early this AM. She was resting comfortably until her blood pressure started dropping. This was due to her sedatives. They tried to get a balance that would work so that they could keep her sedated through today, but it didn't work. So, they gave up mid-morning and let her wake up.
When I arrived, they were yanking out her breathing tube. Pretty good timing on my part. Historically, it's been frustrating for both Sue and me to try and communicate when she can't speak and is medicated...imagine that. All things considered, she seems to be feeling okay and is resting fairly comfortably. As expected, she was a little confused to wake up and find a long row of stitches going up her forearm. As I said last night, it wasn't in the plan.
Dr. Khariwala was through this AM and is still very pleased with everything. He has been calling her nurse every half hour to check in with her. He is an incredible doctor and has the perfect demeanor for Sue. He and Sue just click, and that is such an important piece of the whole process.
Keep praying that the vessels and arteries keep on flowing and that Sue's recovery is speedy. Have a great day.
Jason
When I arrived, they were yanking out her breathing tube. Pretty good timing on my part. Historically, it's been frustrating for both Sue and me to try and communicate when she can't speak and is medicated...imagine that. All things considered, she seems to be feeling okay and is resting fairly comfortably. As expected, she was a little confused to wake up and find a long row of stitches going up her forearm. As I said last night, it wasn't in the plan.
Dr. Khariwala was through this AM and is still very pleased with everything. He has been calling her nurse every half hour to check in with her. He is an incredible doctor and has the perfect demeanor for Sue. He and Sue just click, and that is such an important piece of the whole process.
Keep praying that the vessels and arteries keep on flowing and that Sue's recovery is speedy. Have a great day.
Jason
Positive Day
Hi everyone,
Sue's surgery was a great success. Just about 10 minutes after my last entry, Dr. Khariwala came out and said that things were closing up. You could tell that it had been a long day for him, but he was excited about what was accomplished. He said that reconstruction went very well, maybe a bit better than they had even hoped for. They were able to do some work on Sue's eyelid that I believe they thought would occur in a later surgery. He also thought that they got a few more implants in than what had been planned for today, but he couldn't recall for sure.
The one slight hitch they had was with the vein harvest. He wasn't confident with the veins he first looked at, so he ended up taking them out of her forearm, which she'll be a bit surprised at when she wakes up. That had not been in the plan, and we had thought the back up site would be from her leg. He believes that it will be a better 'fit' in the long run. One of the big things to pray for over the next few days is that the veins do not clog. That is one of the bigger risks with what she had done. Obviously, this is key to the blood flow for the area, and the health of everything in that region.
I am now at home and just received a call from the ICU. She just arrived there and will be kept sedated tonight. They are reconsidering when to bring her out of sedation. Originally it wasn't going to be until Thursday. But now, it sounds like they may consider doing so tommorrow afternoon.
Again, I want to thank you for all of the prayers and support that you've given Sue and me through her surgery. Time for some sleep.
Jason
Sue's surgery was a great success. Just about 10 minutes after my last entry, Dr. Khariwala came out and said that things were closing up. You could tell that it had been a long day for him, but he was excited about what was accomplished. He said that reconstruction went very well, maybe a bit better than they had even hoped for. They were able to do some work on Sue's eyelid that I believe they thought would occur in a later surgery. He also thought that they got a few more implants in than what had been planned for today, but he couldn't recall for sure.
The one slight hitch they had was with the vein harvest. He wasn't confident with the veins he first looked at, so he ended up taking them out of her forearm, which she'll be a bit surprised at when she wakes up. That had not been in the plan, and we had thought the back up site would be from her leg. He believes that it will be a better 'fit' in the long run. One of the big things to pray for over the next few days is that the veins do not clog. That is one of the bigger risks with what she had done. Obviously, this is key to the blood flow for the area, and the health of everything in that region.
I am now at home and just received a call from the ICU. She just arrived there and will be kept sedated tonight. They are reconsidering when to bring her out of sedation. Originally it wasn't going to be until Thursday. But now, it sounds like they may consider doing so tommorrow afternoon.
Again, I want to thank you for all of the prayers and support that you've given Sue and me through her surgery. Time for some sleep.
Jason
Tuesday, March 27, 2012
Overtime
Okay, I'm sure everyone is in bed, but thought I would give another update. We've now gone into overtime. We've now surpassed the 14 hour mark. I really hope that the surgeon's don't charge time and a half. It's now 11:15PM and they are still going.
Last call from surgery was a little before 10PM and all was still going well. I'm sitting here thinking of how incredibly strong Sue is and how proud I am of her with all that she has been through. She is incredible!
I will catch up with everyone in the AM. Good night.
Jason
Last call from surgery was a little before 10PM and all was still going well. I'm sitting here thinking of how incredibly strong Sue is and how proud I am of her with all that she has been through. She is incredible!
I will catch up with everyone in the AM. Good night.
Jason
Still Waiting
Good evening everyone. It is nearly 8PM and they are still at work in the OR. Sue's Dad, sister, and I were having dinner at about 6:30PM when I got the last call. All is going well and they had just started with the microvascular surgery, or reconnecting the harvested veins and starting blood flow. This is a tedious portion of the surgery, as you may probably imagine. This is all so amazing to me.
The report from the suite, at that time, was that they still had a good chunk of time to go. I believe that anything before 10PM would be a great surprise for the team. I can only imagine how long a day it has been for them. I'm pretty much wiped out from sitting in the lounge.
I'll try and update again later tonight when everything is done and we've had a chance to sit down and talk with the surgeons. I appreciate everyone's prayers and thoughts for Sue today. We are truly blessed to have such a wonderful support system...family, friends, co-workers. You are all awesome!
Jason
The report from the suite, at that time, was that they still had a good chunk of time to go. I believe that anything before 10PM would be a great surprise for the team. I can only imagine how long a day it has been for them. I'm pretty much wiped out from sitting in the lounge.
I'll try and update again later tonight when everything is done and we've had a chance to sit down and talk with the surgeons. I appreciate everyone's prayers and thoughts for Sue today. We are truly blessed to have such a wonderful support system...family, friends, co-workers. You are all awesome!
Jason
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