Prayers requested. kinda long.

[retired]

Beardman, our family's hopes and thoughts are with yours on the success of the surgery and your mom's swift recovery. Take care.

[beardman2]

man what a day. got home about an hour ago finally. Surgery went well. The main doctor (she had three for different parts of the surgery) didn't find it spread anywhere else. Although he admitted we would have to wait for lab results it looks like they got it all without spread which is the most important part.

From my understanding she got the colostomy. Which she was prepared for. There were alternatives that he was willing to try but with a 60% success rate she just didn't feel like it was worth the risk of having another surgery. She hates the anesthesiology part. Which is understandable.

So we got to the hospital a little after 2:30. They had just taken her back. Finally got to see her and wish her well 4ish. Surgery was originally scheduled for 3:30. We thought it had started about 4:30. OB/GYN came out around 6:30 to say her part went great and they were continuing on with the rest. Main surgeon came out around 10:30 to say she was done all had gone well etc and that she was in recovery. about 11:30 we saw her being wheeled to the ICU. We knew she was going there for the night so it wasn't a concern. Finally got to see her about midnight.

She was in a lot of pain. Which was really hard to see as I'm sure everyone would understand. Really sucked to leave here there knowing she was in pain and alone. My dad stayed for a while and is now home as well. The nurses there were great in the ICU. they seemed to genuinely care so I know shes in a great place. however, no one wants to know their loved ones are in pain. She was getting pretty dopey by the time we left to let my sister and BIL have a visit. So I'm sure they will have her knocked out soon.

So I think she will get a room of her own some time tomorrow and then it could be up to a week in the hospital before they let her go. Only real concern now is infection with the amount of work she had done today.

I'll give you guys updates as we get through the process.

I really appreciate the amount of responses and well wishes we have gotten. This board is truly a class act...Most of the time!

[Powerman]

that's really good to here. Stick close. Keep putting one foot in front of the other. You guys will get through it together. Don't forget to sleep. Peace.

[SLCDave]

Glad to hear things went well. Good luck and God bless in her recovery.

[retired]

Thanks for the update and I'm glad everything went well. I know with what you are going thru, updating us is not the most important thing on your mind and nor should it be.

I believe I can speak for all when I say we appreciate you taking the time to do so and rest assured we are here for you to vent when needed. As was said, take time to sleep so you are at full strength for your mom.

You are so right about seeing a loved one in pain. I'm sure, unfortunately, most of us have been there at one time or another; I know I have and it is very difficult thing to experience.

I hope the worst is over and she will swiftly recover. The love of her family and friends will surely help in that endeavor. Sounds like that is certainly covered. Take care.

[Majk]

She'll be in our prayers. She's got a great son looking out for her.

Thanks for keeping us posted.


God Bless.

[beardman2]

so todays update:

Got up early to call the ICU desk and check in. No one answered and I decided they probably had better things to do. Dad called a little later to say he was with her already. She was doing ok but was in pain and didn't want anyone to come up. She called my sister later and said the same thing. Although she did go for a walk! she finally called about 2:30 and asked if we were coming up today. Anyway it was fairly obvious she had changed her mind so we said yup we were just leaving. She was actually in great shape. The hospitals these days all ask the patients to rate their pain 1-10. 10 being the worst pain they have ever felt. She said all the surgical stuff was a 2-3 but her back, knees etc were a 9. Laying in bed like that is really hard on her old back and knee problems.

Other that she's in much better shape than I expected. Her health has been going down for probably 15 years. It really seems like the scare of this really put the spurs to her. She went in with the best attitude I've seen in years and it looks like that is going to carry her right through this.

She was still a bit loopy on the drugs but she is on a 5 minute pain medication activation. she gets to push a button when she needs pain medication. Only works every 5 minutes though. So she'd push and take a 60 second power nap and then start talking again!

anyway the moral is she is doing great. Doctor wanted her to stay in ICU for the duration with her health history but I think he decided two nights was enough and then she'll get a normal room.

[tec]

Glad to hear that she is doing better!!!! Tell her that she and your dad are still in our thoughts.

[retired]

Great news!! Ditto to what tec said.

Trust me, her morale will go up once she is out of that ICU and in a regular room; I speak from experience. I did that power nap too when I was in there. They had a clock on the wall opposite my bed; I'd fall asleep for what I thought was hours (due to the meds), wake up and 2 minutes had gone by. That went on all day and it was frustrating. She will do much better once out of there.

Take care.

[beardman2]

I think thats why she called us to come up. She kept trying to read and felt like it took her half a day to remember a page.