Friday, April 3, 2009
April 3 - continued
Lynn's carotid surgery finally go underway at 3:15. This was about 2 hours later than what we were told, but this is not unusual, I hear, when the surgeon has heart operations scheduled. Dr. Blossom came in and initialed her neck...I guess there may be circumstances where more than one surgeon may be involved, so they have to "tag" their turf. The anaesthesiologist also came in and talked to her. She had problems with nausea with her first surgery back in 1991, and he wanted to hear about that. Susan came in and sat with us for a while. She finally left so she could sit with Dale, and then called back just as Lynn was on her way out the door.
Now, it is almost 4PM. She is still in surgery. Procedure should take about 1 hour. After that, there is some time where they get her into recovery. One of the nurses said that it might be quite a bit longer than that, since the hour time line only applies to the surgery itself. The waiting room here has a number of monitors scattered around that keep people apprised of the patient's status. Each patient gets a number. Lynn's is 59229. When she gets out of surgery, hopefully they will update the monitor and I'll know that she is done. Then, it will just be a matter of hooking up with Dr. Blossom and hearing how things went.
One of the things I really pushed was that I wanted them to know that Lynn is deaf in her right ear. They will wake her in the operating room, and will ask her a series of questions to answer that will help them tell if she has had a stroke. If something in there is up against her good ear, and she can't hear them, they could think that something is wrong, when it really isn't. Of course, our big joke is that, with all the increased blood flow, wouldn't it be weird if she got hearing in that ear back after all these years???
4:03 - still in surgery, according to the monitor
Now, it is almost 4PM. She is still in surgery. Procedure should take about 1 hour. After that, there is some time where they get her into recovery. One of the nurses said that it might be quite a bit longer than that, since the hour time line only applies to the surgery itself. The waiting room here has a number of monitors scattered around that keep people apprised of the patient's status. Each patient gets a number. Lynn's is 59229. When she gets out of surgery, hopefully they will update the monitor and I'll know that she is done. Then, it will just be a matter of hooking up with Dr. Blossom and hearing how things went.
One of the things I really pushed was that I wanted them to know that Lynn is deaf in her right ear. They will wake her in the operating room, and will ask her a series of questions to answer that will help them tell if she has had a stroke. If something in there is up against her good ear, and she can't hear them, they could think that something is wrong, when it really isn't. Of course, our big joke is that, with all the increased blood flow, wouldn't it be weird if she got hearing in that ear back after all these years???
4:03 - still in surgery, according to the monitor
April 3rd - Surgery Prep
Right no it is about 1:15. Lynn is still waiting to get in for her surgery. She has the IV in and will be next in line for Dr. Blossom. He'll come by to see her just before he takes her in.
Neither of us got much sleep last night. However, the morning went well. Kids got up and were in a pretty good mood. (Lynn's friend Rhonda is going to have them stay at her house tonight, along with her kids Jami and Evan.) We got Lynn all ready to go, plus packed the kids stuff. Then, we took Mac to the bus stop, and then we took Carlee to day care. She was very upset when we left, and didn't want Lynn to leave. We called daycare later, and found out that she was back to her usual gregarious self a few minutes later, though. And, since Lynn had not had anything to eat or drink since 10PM last night, naturally, we went grocery shopping. We had about 2 hours to kill and we couldn't think of anything else to do! Finally, it was time to head off to the hospital.
We got her in and registered, and they got her into surgery prep. Putting the IV in turned out to be pretty hard. Lynn's veins are already pretty small, and since she was dehydrated, they were really shrunk down. Had to put it in her wrist which they hate to do. She'll be in overnight and the wrist setup makes it harder to sleep, since it is such an awkward position.
I'll write again soon - still waiting to get started. Although the surgery itself will only last an hour, with all the prep and such, it will be between 2 and 3 hours from the time I leave her until I hear how things worked out from the surgeon. So, if she gets in at 2PM, it could be 5PM until we hear how things went.
Neither of us got much sleep last night. However, the morning went well. Kids got up and were in a pretty good mood. (Lynn's friend Rhonda is going to have them stay at her house tonight, along with her kids Jami and Evan.) We got Lynn all ready to go, plus packed the kids stuff. Then, we took Mac to the bus stop, and then we took Carlee to day care. She was very upset when we left, and didn't want Lynn to leave. We called daycare later, and found out that she was back to her usual gregarious self a few minutes later, though. And, since Lynn had not had anything to eat or drink since 10PM last night, naturally, we went grocery shopping. We had about 2 hours to kill and we couldn't think of anything else to do! Finally, it was time to head off to the hospital.
We got her in and registered, and they got her into surgery prep. Putting the IV in turned out to be pretty hard. Lynn's veins are already pretty small, and since she was dehydrated, they were really shrunk down. Had to put it in her wrist which they hate to do. She'll be in overnight and the wrist setup makes it harder to sleep, since it is such an awkward position.
I'll write again soon - still waiting to get started. Although the surgery itself will only last an hour, with all the prep and such, it will be between 2 and 3 hours from the time I leave her until I hear how things worked out from the surgeon. So, if she gets in at 2PM, it could be 5PM until we hear how things went.
Thursday, April 2, 2009
April 2nd
One day to go before the first surgery. Lynn wrapped up (or tried to) things at work. Might not be back for a few months...unless she sneaks in and does some under-the-radar programming out of sheer boredom. She was told the time for the procedure, and it ran into Carlee's doctor's appointment. We had thought that she would have to report to the hospital late afternoon. Well, they told her to come in at 9:30. So, she changed Carlee's appointment to later next week, and, of course, you know what happened... the doctor's office called and changed Lynn's time again. This time it was for 11:20am. Instead of changing Carlee's appointment back, we just decided to leave it where it was. No sense in rushing around right before she has to go in.
Right now, like I said, Lynn will go in at 11:20. They estimate the procedure will begin at 1:20. It is supposed to last an hour. Of course, I am sure it will run longer. I'll be taking the laptop in with me, and will catch up on the blog as soon as I can get time to write. The first part of it will be the trickiest - the surgeon will need to close off the bad section of the artery. But first, he has to provide a bypass for the section that will be worked on. Then, he has to close off the damaged section of artery, so he can work on it. The trouble is, he doesn't know how stable the blockage material is. It could be possible that parts of the plaque could break off, migrate into her brain, and then get lodged into place, blocking arteries providing blood flow to parts of her brain tissue. When that part of the brain is damaged by this, she will be having a stroke. Of course, this is not a good thing. However, the surgeon was obviously well aware of this situation, and mentioned that he was going to have to take a great deal of care handling the artery during that part of the operation. So, at least he knows what that he has to deal with it.
Lynn and I are going to run around taking care of chores after Mac heads off to school at 9am. Of course, she cannot eat ahead of time, so a meal is out of the question. As convincing as I can be, even I don't think that I can swing a brunch at "First Watch" with her in a purely observer's role!
Right now, like I said, Lynn will go in at 11:20. They estimate the procedure will begin at 1:20. It is supposed to last an hour. Of course, I am sure it will run longer. I'll be taking the laptop in with me, and will catch up on the blog as soon as I can get time to write. The first part of it will be the trickiest - the surgeon will need to close off the bad section of the artery. But first, he has to provide a bypass for the section that will be worked on. Then, he has to close off the damaged section of artery, so he can work on it. The trouble is, he doesn't know how stable the blockage material is. It could be possible that parts of the plaque could break off, migrate into her brain, and then get lodged into place, blocking arteries providing blood flow to parts of her brain tissue. When that part of the brain is damaged by this, she will be having a stroke. Of course, this is not a good thing. However, the surgeon was obviously well aware of this situation, and mentioned that he was going to have to take a great deal of care handling the artery during that part of the operation. So, at least he knows what that he has to deal with it.
Lynn and I are going to run around taking care of chores after Mac heads off to school at 9am. Of course, she cannot eat ahead of time, so a meal is out of the question. As convincing as I can be, even I don't think that I can swing a brunch at "First Watch" with her in a purely observer's role!
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
April 1st
Not much new to report. Neighbors have been over to hear about what is going on. Lynn tried to talk to her family physician to see what he thought of her surgeon. Dr. Conaway was not available, but the receptionist said that she heard he was excellent. Now THAT is a referral! Lynn signed up for 12 weeks of short term disability. Hopefully, she will not be out that long, but the word was that you can always overestimate and then come back early, but extending is pretty near impossible. Sounds like Lynn's sister Susan will be down along with Dale for the Friday event. We're still hoping Lynn can come home the next day, and we can start to get ready for the big one two weeks later. I have no doubt that the carotid artery cleaning will go fine...what still worries me is that some nasty chunk of plaque will bust loose and will give her a stroke. Once the section of artery causing the trouble is closed off, the rest will be relatively easy...well, for a surgeon, that is.
Carlee has been picking up that something is wrong. She woke up at nap time at day care today and was crying. Guess she had a dream that something bad happened to her Mommy. She was also pretty quiet all day. Fortunately, she perked up when she got home...and it certainly hasn't changed her appetite.
Carlee has been picking up that something is wrong. She woke up at nap time at day care today and was crying. Guess she had a dream that something bad happened to her Mommy. She was also pretty quiet all day. Fortunately, she perked up when she got home...and it certainly hasn't changed her appetite.
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