Well, the surgery itself was a great success! The Dr. used a camera scope and was able to do the surgery with a small incision (3-4 inches), and did not have to break any ribs. The tumor margins were clean and there is no evidence of any involvement of the lymph nodes. Super super news!
The surgery started a little later than they thought, but it was only about an hour (just like the Dr. had said), and it was over and the Dr. came out to talk to us around 2:00 or so...So when they hadn't come to let me know she was in her room by 4:30, I was a little concerned. Typically, recovery is about 2 hours. I asked and they told me she would be in recovery another hour or so. So, I grabbed a sandwich from the cafeteria, and patiently waited until about 5:45. They called over to ICU and told me they needed about 10 more minutes to get her settled. So, I went over to the Surgical ICU waiting room, and about 10 minutes later, a nurse named George came over to talk to me. He told me he had been taking care of her all afternoon, and they were really struggling to control her pain.
He said that they gave her what was supposed to be a long-lasting epidural, but were afraid to give her too much medication for her size, so they didn't give her enough. Once that wore off, they could not curb her pain. For being so tiny, Mom has a huge tolerance for pain medication. She has had incredible back pain most of her life, and it isn't unusual for her to take Vicodin for her back. Well, this really puzzles the nursing staff, as they are giving her Dilaudid and Morphine, and it only lasts a short while. By the time I got into see her (she is in the same ICU room as my Dad was when he came out of surgery), all she could tell me was that she needed help and was hurting and she could not get comfortable. She would start to doze off and then wake back up asking for help. The nurse said that this surgery is very painful, and she wasn't surprised Mom was hurting.
Well, after 3 doses of Morphine and 2 Vicodin in just over an hour, the nurse suggested I leave so she could rest...I just now called back to talk to her nurse, and he told me that they had over medicated her and her respiration dropped too low, so they had to counteract the pain meds, and voila' she was in pain again. I hope tonight and tomorrow bring her some relief. It was a really big day.
I left the hospital and went to see my Dad for a few minutes, ran to Bed, Bath and Beyond and got him a new microwave heat pad (since the nursing home decided to wash his other one...Even though it said "DO NOT WASH" in big black letters on it), and came home. I made a few calls, fed and walked the pooch, and I am just about to fall into bed and pass out...:)
So, Mom will probably be in ICU for the next day or two, unless they cannot figure out how to control her pain, then maybe longer. We will just have to wait and hope for a better tomorrow.
Thank you for all your good thoughts and prayers! Thank you for your calls and texts and to Paula, Johanna and Judy for keeping me company, and Jay Carlson for once again being our O.R. Angel and giving us periodic updates. I still continue to be pleasantly amazed at how fortunate we are to be surrounded by such wonderful, caring, thoughtful friends and family. Thank you all!
Much love and hope!
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