« More good news that I forgot to mention earlier | Main | Morning update »
April 25, 2006
Post surgery update
I was finally able to see Courtney after her surgery. I was a bit mistaken in my previous post. When Dr. Park called me it was to tell me that all of the plates had been replaced and that things had gone well. What I misunderstood was that she was still "open." Two hours of stitching later, she was out of surgery. The surgery took a total of 6 hours. So, 2 hours after THAT we eventually saw her at 7:15PM. Her room and/or nurse wasn't immediately available, so I sat with her (only mildly conscious) for about 2 hours before her room was ready. She got into her room sometime after 9:00PM. During transfer to the room, she awoke fully and was quite alert for the last few minutes that we were with her. She is breathing exclusively through her trachiostomy. In order to administer the anesthetics, they installed a "cuffed trach" which has a balloon that occludes the airway to the mouth/nose forcing all air out of the trach, and hence all of the anesthesia into her system. Prior to the surgery, she had been using a capped cuffless trach which essentially forces most air out of the mouth/nose, with the exception of air that leaks out the edges of the trach hole.
In order to be discharged tomorrow, her swelling will have to be reduced to the point where they can install a capped and cuffless trach, and be convinced that she can breath through her upper airways. She'll also have to be able to drink enough sustenance through a straw as there isn't a NG feeding tube this time. Finally, she'll have to be able to controll whatever pain she has through liquid form (ie. not iv narcotics). If her swelling doesn't get worse over night (I'm not sure if it will or not), she should be able to see. She opened both eyes reasonably well despite the new swelling.
They really did a GREAT job with the adjustments. It's still too early to tell HOW good, but both Dr. Park and the chief resident are confident that the imperfections will not be too noticeable. A huge improvement from this morning. The protrusion to the right of her right eye is completely gone, the jaw which previously seemed ever so slightly misaligned does seem better, and the eye is MUCH better. I do think the eye *might* still be a little off, but it's too early to tell. After surgery, the chief resident did remind me that she had some pretty serious bone fragmentation and that the repairs won't be perfect. So, while I've been rather positive in posts up to this point, I have to be realistic in that the repairs might not be able to hide the damage 100%. At least I have the confidence that we've done everything medically possible. We'll have to wait and see what is revealed as the swelling goes away. Dr. Park does his rounds at 6:30 AM so it's possible we'll get something more definitive at that time.
Courtney doesn't have a private room as they don't exist at UVA. If her pain can be controlled and Dr. Park is comfortable discharging her, it might be nice to get her back into a hotel room for a few nights of REAL peace and quiet.
Good night!
Posted by mark at April 25, 2006 9:44 PM Subscribe (FeedBurner)
Comments
Mark,
Lynne and your dad are keeping me updated on Courtney's progress and I've just read your blog. I know what it's like to be in the hospital with your spouse. You're her most important caregiver and she will gain strength from you. Please know that all of you are much in my prayers and will remain so.
Leslie Scales
Posted by: Leslie Scales at April 25, 2006 10:53 PM