April 15, 2009

Well, there is some news...but it doesn't have much to do with Lynn. She took Carlee in to see the doctor, an ears, nose and throat specialist, and it looks like she is going to have to have her tonsils out! Her airway is 70% blocked, and that explains all the gasping and wheezing sounds she makes when she is sleeping. Her adnoids are also probably enlarged, which also contributes to the problem. Lynn set up the operation for June 14. She will be in the hospital overnight assuming everything goes well. Before that, we have to have her get a sleep test. That will involve going to a sleep laboratory, having her hooked up to a bunch of sensors, and then trying to get her to go to sleep. This event will occur in the next three weeks. One of the parents will spend the night with her - as you can expect, Lynn will be in no condition to do this after only 2 weeks after having open heart surgery, so it is going to have to be Daddy, whether she likes it or not.

April 14, 2009

Things are moving right along - in less than a week, Lynn gets to experience the second operation. We all had a very nice Easter week-end. Mac had his soccer game on Saturday, then we went to church afterwards and attended the Easter Bunny Brunch. Christa came by that afternoon, and helped out with the Easter eggs. She also had to show off her latest acquisition - a 2001 Rio, which looks to be in excellent condition. I'm still trying to figure out why my 21 year-old daughter, who is in school, and only has a part time job, has a car that is 2 years newer than mine. Next day, we went to Easter service, then met up with my Mom's side of the family at my Aunt Mickey's. Due to the traditional failure to communicate, each family was under the impression that they were the only ones bringing Easter eggs, so we had about 10 times the number of eggs that we needed. If Mac and Carlee had brought along 5 gallon pails instead of baskets, they could have filled them four or five times each. The food was, as usual, excellent, and I, as usual, ate way too much of it and, once again as usual, was able to completely understand how Jabba the Hutt feels on a daily basis. The conversation was good, and, since we stayed off the topic of politics, no gunfire broke out.

Of course, we overdid it some, staying later than we should have, and Lynn got pretty tired out. She is definitely recovering well from the neck surgery, and it's easy to forget that she had the operation less than 10 days ago. She is doing so well, in fact, that it seems a shame that she'll have to endure the second one soon. And that one will be much harder on her, and require much more recovery time. The incision is closing up very well, and the swelling is way down. She still has a little bit of pain when turning her head certain ways, but it is getting better every day.

It looks like we know the schedule for family coming in to town. Gary and Sharon will arrive this coming Sunday, will be there when Lynn has the operation, then will stay on a few more days while Lynn is in the hospital. They are going to help us out with the kids, which will be a big help. Hopefully, after spending quality time with Mac and Carlee, Gary and Sharon will be able to also make a full recovery. The day of the surgery itself, Lynn's friend Rhonda is going to make sure that Mac and Carlee get to their designated destinations, while the rest of us are at the hospital with Lynn. Lynn's mother Jo will be in Thursday or possibly Wednesday, and will stay with us for at least a week. Lynn's sister Susan should be around on Monday as well, and Christa said that she'd be willing to skip school - I mean, get an excused absense, in order to be there with Lynn.

We're not all that sure about exactly when on Monday they will operate. However, the heart operations are typically done first thing, before other operations, so it will probably be in the morning. Right now, we do not have any idea on how long it will take either, but I am sure we will get some word on that later. Based on my personal track record, it will last longer than it should, and I'll be pretty frazzled by the time it wraps up. The one thing we do know is that Lynn will have to spend at least four nights in the hospital. She'll probably be going home on Friday, if all goes well. Of course, recovery is going to take a long time after she gets back, so she won't really be 100% for a number of weeks. We're just going to have to take it one day at a time, and take things as they come...nothing like some standard time worn adages to wrap things up.

April 7th, 2009

Lynn reached Dr. Blossom's office - they told her the date of the open heart is April 20th. Probably will occur in the AM, unless some pressing case bumps her. If all goes well, she'll be leaving the hospital four days later, on Friday. From what I can tell, this operation will be less dangerous. However, the recover will take much, much longer. Fortunately, it is only a double bypass. For triples, a second opertion is required, one to remove the third blood vessel from the leg in order to get the ones needed. For doubles, the two required can be found in the chest cavity. That means no extra incision.

One major problem: Lynn had to have a chest related operation when she first got cancer. She knows EXACTLY what she is in for. From what I can tell, recovery will be a long and difficult experience.

I guess that ignorance can be a blessing sometimes.

April 5 - Sunday - 5:10 PM

Lynn is continuing to improve. She's still tired, but not as much as before. Percoset (sp?) really conks her out, but takes the edge off of the pain. Yesterday, her brother Todd, his wife Lori, and their son Josh, along with his girlfriend Mary-Ellen came by for a visit. Cynthia Cassidy also came by as did Lynn's friend Mary-Ann. Mary Ann put together some chicken soup, which we dutifully inhaled for dinner. Barb, who is the mom of Katie, one of Mac's best friends, also swung by with some coupons for pizza. Leia Watkins was in on that as well. Marian Guzzo put together some really good cream of broccoli soup, which, unfortuately, Lynn really liked. I was hoping she wouldn't so I could stash it for my lunch next week.

Today, Li Wei and her husband Yung dropped by. They walked all the way from their extended stay hotel at Frantz and 161. Very, very thoughtful of them. They were not sure what kind of present to bring, in America, when someone is sick, but, knowing Lynn as well as they do, they figured wine would be welcome. They know Lynn WAY too well.

Lynn also was able to make it down to the neighborhood Easter egg hunt. She also managed to get a shower in, which enabled her to get the last of the antiseptic from the operation off her face. The incision still has a tendency to seep a little, but it is definitely starting to heal (I asked her if I could include a photograph of it in this blog...all I can say is that, based on her response, sometime in her past, she must have been a Marine drill sergeant.) In fact, she is feeling so well that I busted her for two violations of the "lift no more than 10 lbs." rule. First, she lugged one of the dining room chairs from the breakfast nook into the dining room. Then, she picked Carlee up. The Carlee one was a 5x multiplier, and should be counted as a felony in our household. I HAD been thinking about heading back to work tomorrow, but I may have to stay home and make sure she doesn't do something nutty, like trying to lug down plywood from the attic, or move my weights around down in the basement.

April 4, 2009 - 2:00 PM

Lynn is home! Carlee, Mac and I went down to pick her up. We got there a little after noon, and she was all ready to go. Mac and I went down to get the car, while Carlee and Lynn went down with the nurse and met us at the front entrance.

We then dropped off her perscription at the pharmacy, and headed home. Lynn was TOTALLY wiped out. She took a moment to get herself a glass of crushed ice, then went straight to bed.

You'd think that having a 5-6" gash in her neck would make you tired or something.

April 4th - 11:30 AM

Spoke to Lynn twice today - she is feeling much better. She said that she will be out at noon today. We are just getting ready to go get her. Her neck still hurts, but that is tobe expected when you have a 5" gash in it! She also has something of a headache - also expected and, ironically, welcome. That indicates that the blood flow to her brain, which had been choked back so long, is now restored. It takes a while for the brain to get used to the new flow, and the result is a headache that typically lasts about 24 hours.

Thanks to everyone for the prayers and the calls - first part looks like it's in the books. New step in two weeks. For now, everything looks pretty good though, and we'll take it!

Update - 8:00 PM April 3rd

I left the hospital around 8pm, and am home now. What a day. Totally wiped out. And, we get to do it again in 2 weeks. The nurse told me that almost every patient that undergoes this procedure gets out the next day, so that is a relief. Also, she will be allowed to go up and down stairs, so she won't have to sack out in the living room...also a relief. And, one last bit of good news: the sutures they used for her incision into her neck will dissolve on their own over time, so she doesn't have to go back and get them removed. I don't know exactly how they do it, but I'm sure glad that they used them.

Lynn was having some trouble with the pain in her neck...that is, I am referring to the pain from the surgery, and not ME! Anyway, she told the nurse that, on a scale of 1 to 10, she gave it a 7. After all, the surgeon cut right into the neck muscle, the cut looks like it's about 5 inches long, nd everytime she moves her head, it really hurts. Well, the nurse got approval to give her morphine. Lynn then asked if it will make her nauseous. The nurse, Molly, said, well, that's been known to happen. Lynn then said "OKAY! It's a FOUR out of 10!"

For someone who hails from Columbus Grove, a community with a per capita beer consumption that rival most provinces in Germany, it is amazing how much she hates to throw up.

Finally, the nurse gave her a reduced dosage, and promised to give her some anti-nausea medication if she started feeling sick. She then put the morphine into her IV drip. Well, in a few minutes, anyone could plainly see that Lynn was going to do just about anything but throw up, and that the concept of pain was clearly no longer an issue with her. With a goofy looking smile, she looked up at me and said "The morphine is working", then gave a seductive wink at the IV stand, and said "I'll see YOU later tonight!" and drifted off to sleep. OK, not quite that bad, but, needless to say, no one has to worry about Lynn being in pain tonight. Of course, I might have to beat the &%$#$ out of the IV stand tomorrow morning, but that's for later.