Oh, you sick sick people. The woman is just coming out of the hospital and look where your mind still is. Nope, none of that for, well, almost ever.
Spoke to DW this morning as she called just before nine. The docs had been by (intern and her own) at 8AM. I wish we had known they were coming that early as i would have been there already. As it is, due to traffic and work needs, we have to stick with our schedule from yesterday where I will go around noon and liberate her from bad jello hell. The doctor said things look great. They gave Pam some meds to prevent clotting and said she can leave. She has to go back in 6-8 weeks, I believe, for a check-up. Other than that, the docs were pleased with her progress, had her IV removed and told her she can removed the leg stockings (but someone said keep them till tomorrow) and no full showering for a while (I hope they make industrial-sized bottles of Purelle).
OK, have some work to go deal with, daily conf call and then prep to leave and go get her. I may swing by the downtown office to get Mark if he is free so that I do not have to park. Not sure about that yet so will figure it out later. I also have to go and get some tea; promised DW.
Ciao
Wednesday, July 12, 2006
Tuesday, July 11, 2006
Surgery Day Update (long post)
Hi there. Sorry I do not have my DW's writing style, but as she is not in a position to blog, I will update you for her.
We came in this morning just before 7AM and went to the pre-operation counter. We checked in with the woman there and Pam had her stamp my parking ticket (three-fifty a half hour otherwise, twelve maximum with stamp). We then went to sit in the waiting area while a moronic kids show played on Teletoon. The woman spoke to us and a couple there before us a number of times that we can manual change the TV if we wanted. She eventually came by to show us how to change the channel, but I suspected she was tired of the show (Totally Spies) that I was now getting into and she changed it to Royal Canadian Air Farce on the Comedy Channel and then left the area again.
The first lady was called in and she went to change. She came back and conversed with her husband for a bit and then went off. Another couple came in, checked in and sat down. Since Pam's surgery was at 8AM, we were starting to wonder when she was going to be called. Well, the next woman gets called, we look at each other and Pam goes to the counter to inquire why this next lady is ahead of her. Pam says she has surgery scheduled for 8AM and she thought she would be called already. INCREDIBLY, the woman at the counter, who had all this interaction with us, asks Pam if she "had checked in with me". Are you kidding lady? YES, yes we checked in with you, validated parking with you, interacted with you. BRIGHTNESS!!
So, after they figured out that Pam really should be in now, they hustled her off immediately. She came out a little later with a fetching little gown number, front and back. She kissed me goodbye (which felt really creepy and morbid, considering) and she went off with the nurse, who informed me that she would be in the operating room for two hours and then two more hours for recovery. I confirmed that I would be able to see her after four hours, said goodbye and then left to head off to work to whittle the time away.
Getting into the downtown office for the first time in a couple of months I think, was a nice change. I always have breakfast at the little shop downstairs; a BLT typically on an everything bagel and a Tropicana orange juice. I was one of the first people into the office, so I staked out the telephone booth as I normally (and illegally) do. Well, except for my normal conf call, and a whack load of stupid emails, I essentially pumped the dog most of the morning as my mind was with my wife and not on work. I had an errand to run (thanks Jane's Addiction) and then I headed up to the hospital to see what they did to my baby.
She's not there. It's almost one o'clock and she's not in her room. Seeing as they have a no visitor, quiet time between 1300 and 1500, I did not want to raise a stink and then have them turn around and kick me out. I fired up the old laptop and got to work. I emailed my MIL and BIL to let them know what was going on and I SMS'd my brother, plus MSN'd Mark (who I hope remembered to tell Patti), BT and MTL_froggie. Around 1:42PM, they started to wheel my DW into the room and promptly kicked me out while they readied the room. I got to smile at her, say hi and then watch her go into the room. A while later, someone came down to the sitting area at the end of the hall and told me it was okay to go in now.
Well, she was drugged up, on saline with a chaser of Gravol and tubed for pure oxygen. Tired. Sore. Tired. Headachy. Tired. I spoke with her for a bit, but she mainly drifted in and out of sleep. So, I stayed here (still here writing this actually) and when she fell into a deeper sleep, I popped out of the room and into the sitting area so I could continue working, MSNing and charging the laptop battery. When the staff determined that quiet time was over by bellowing down the halls, dropping stuff everywhere, and rolling the squeakiest and noisiest equipment on the floors, I figured I could go back in because she was going to be up anyhow.
I sat with her for a bit, did more computing then put the laptop to charge on the side table while I went off to see the doctor before she left. I went to the wrong floor and ended up in the Ankh Cafe so looked in to see if I could grab a quick snack as I had not eaten since my BLT. Uhm, no thanks; not that food. So back up to the doctor's floor and I caught her and her receptionist just before they left. I got the parking validated and then the news about how things went once the doctor was off the phone. She is actually really funny and personable and the reason why I insisted that she be the one to do the surgery; I trusted her and DW can tell you that I don't do that easily. Anyhow, she was very pleased with how the surgery went. She removed four (not the original three) fibroids, flushed the tubes and everything else and put everything back together. She said DW had a "beautiful uterus". Like the smartass that I am, I asked if she took pictures. Without missing a beat, she responded, "Sorry, no, we were in the wrong room for that." The doctor also mentioned that any births would have to be C-section. I said Pam would not care because she is not vain about the lines and such. Finally, the doctor said she did not want Pam getting pregnant for 3-6 months. Hmmm, I believe the number was just three before; Pam is not going to be happy. She wasn't.
(-blogging from home now-)
So, I went back upstairs to Pam and told her the information. I spoke with her brother on Skype and he was going to be on his way from work soon as he worked not too far from the hospital. Her mother was also on the way and would be by soon. Pam's various feelings and aches and pains will be expressed by her when she returns to blogging (she was too weak to do so yesterday). Brother and mother came by for a short visit around the dinner hour. Pam was able to get up and go to the bathroom while they were here; a good sign that she was already gaining her mobility back. Really, for the moment, that is all she needs to be able to do. I will be working from home as usual so can handle anything else until she is ready. Originally I was going to leave when my BIL and/or MIL arrived, but I did not feel like leaving yet, so I ended up staying well after they left, finally leaving around eight. I headed home to finish this blog but a panzerotto and wings, plus some sleep, got in the way. I am writing this at 5:30AM.
So the order of the day is for me to deal with some work items of urgency (there are lots) and to wait for her call as to when they will be releasing her. I'll go and get her and bring her home for some TLC. Knowing her, she will probably be online later this evening and will be able to give her POV on the experience. Take care everyone.
Peace.
We came in this morning just before 7AM and went to the pre-operation counter. We checked in with the woman there and Pam had her stamp my parking ticket (three-fifty a half hour otherwise, twelve maximum with stamp). We then went to sit in the waiting area while a moronic kids show played on Teletoon. The woman spoke to us and a couple there before us a number of times that we can manual change the TV if we wanted. She eventually came by to show us how to change the channel, but I suspected she was tired of the show (Totally Spies) that I was now getting into and she changed it to Royal Canadian Air Farce on the Comedy Channel and then left the area again.
The first lady was called in and she went to change. She came back and conversed with her husband for a bit and then went off. Another couple came in, checked in and sat down. Since Pam's surgery was at 8AM, we were starting to wonder when she was going to be called. Well, the next woman gets called, we look at each other and Pam goes to the counter to inquire why this next lady is ahead of her. Pam says she has surgery scheduled for 8AM and she thought she would be called already. INCREDIBLY, the woman at the counter, who had all this interaction with us, asks Pam if she "had checked in with me". Are you kidding lady? YES, yes we checked in with you, validated parking with you, interacted with you. BRIGHTNESS!!
So, after they figured out that Pam really should be in now, they hustled her off immediately. She came out a little later with a fetching little gown number, front and back. She kissed me goodbye (which felt really creepy and morbid, considering) and she went off with the nurse, who informed me that she would be in the operating room for two hours and then two more hours for recovery. I confirmed that I would be able to see her after four hours, said goodbye and then left to head off to work to whittle the time away.
Getting into the downtown office for the first time in a couple of months I think, was a nice change. I always have breakfast at the little shop downstairs; a BLT typically on an everything bagel and a Tropicana orange juice. I was one of the first people into the office, so I staked out the telephone booth as I normally (and illegally) do. Well, except for my normal conf call, and a whack load of stupid emails, I essentially pumped the dog most of the morning as my mind was with my wife and not on work. I had an errand to run (thanks Jane's Addiction) and then I headed up to the hospital to see what they did to my baby.
She's not there. It's almost one o'clock and she's not in her room. Seeing as they have a no visitor, quiet time between 1300 and 1500, I did not want to raise a stink and then have them turn around and kick me out. I fired up the old laptop and got to work. I emailed my MIL and BIL to let them know what was going on and I SMS'd my brother, plus MSN'd Mark (who I hope remembered to tell Patti), BT and MTL_froggie. Around 1:42PM, they started to wheel my DW into the room and promptly kicked me out while they readied the room. I got to smile at her, say hi and then watch her go into the room. A while later, someone came down to the sitting area at the end of the hall and told me it was okay to go in now.
Well, she was drugged up, on saline with a chaser of Gravol and tubed for pure oxygen. Tired. Sore. Tired. Headachy. Tired. I spoke with her for a bit, but she mainly drifted in and out of sleep. So, I stayed here (still here writing this actually) and when she fell into a deeper sleep, I popped out of the room and into the sitting area so I could continue working, MSNing and charging the laptop battery. When the staff determined that quiet time was over by bellowing down the halls, dropping stuff everywhere, and rolling the squeakiest and noisiest equipment on the floors, I figured I could go back in because she was going to be up anyhow.
I sat with her for a bit, did more computing then put the laptop to charge on the side table while I went off to see the doctor before she left. I went to the wrong floor and ended up in the Ankh Cafe so looked in to see if I could grab a quick snack as I had not eaten since my BLT. Uhm, no thanks; not that food. So back up to the doctor's floor and I caught her and her receptionist just before they left. I got the parking validated and then the news about how things went once the doctor was off the phone. She is actually really funny and personable and the reason why I insisted that she be the one to do the surgery; I trusted her and DW can tell you that I don't do that easily. Anyhow, she was very pleased with how the surgery went. She removed four (not the original three) fibroids, flushed the tubes and everything else and put everything back together. She said DW had a "beautiful uterus". Like the smartass that I am, I asked if she took pictures. Without missing a beat, she responded, "Sorry, no, we were in the wrong room for that." The doctor also mentioned that any births would have to be C-section. I said Pam would not care because she is not vain about the lines and such. Finally, the doctor said she did not want Pam getting pregnant for 3-6 months. Hmmm, I believe the number was just three before; Pam is not going to be happy. She wasn't.
(-blogging from home now-)
So, I went back upstairs to Pam and told her the information. I spoke with her brother on Skype and he was going to be on his way from work soon as he worked not too far from the hospital. Her mother was also on the way and would be by soon. Pam's various feelings and aches and pains will be expressed by her when she returns to blogging (she was too weak to do so yesterday). Brother and mother came by for a short visit around the dinner hour. Pam was able to get up and go to the bathroom while they were here; a good sign that she was already gaining her mobility back. Really, for the moment, that is all she needs to be able to do. I will be working from home as usual so can handle anything else until she is ready. Originally I was going to leave when my BIL and/or MIL arrived, but I did not feel like leaving yet, so I ended up staying well after they left, finally leaving around eight. I headed home to finish this blog but a panzerotto and wings, plus some sleep, got in the way. I am writing this at 5:30AM.
So the order of the day is for me to deal with some work items of urgency (there are lots) and to wait for her call as to when they will be releasing her. I'll go and get her and bring her home for some TLC. Knowing her, she will probably be online later this evening and will be able to give her POV on the experience. Take care everyone.
Peace.
Monday, July 10, 2006
We have lift off
8am tomorrow morning. First surgery of the day so there will be no waiting. Only downside is that I have to be there by 6:30am. Meanwhile, here I sit, (sorry, TMI) just steps away from the bathroom as I find myself perched on the throne, off and on, for the past 90 minutes with no end in sight. If you ever have to take an oral purgative, Pico-Salax is the way to go. Orangy flavour, no real side effects as listed in the insert, and reasonably fast acting. Seemed to take about 90 minutes to kick in, and boy oh boy, I wouldn't wish this on my worst enemy.
Thank you, everyone, for your good wishes for the surgery. I'll be off for the next two days. V. may provide an update, but I'll be back some time on the 12th.
Ciao.....as I go back to the throne....sigh.....
Thank you, everyone, for your good wishes for the surgery. I'll be off for the next two days. V. may provide an update, but I'll be back some time on the 12th.
Ciao.....as I go back to the throne....sigh.....
Wednesday, July 05, 2006
Six days, not that I'm counting
Just got back from Dr. L's office. Filled in the necessary papers and sat down with her, and then went off to have blood drawn. This time V. wasn't able to make it because he wasn't able to get away from the office. I would have liked him there, but I understand the necessities of his job and being on call this week.
Anyway, she rattled off what she was going to do, what could potentially go wrong all the while appending "I have to say this" to each thing. Perforating the bowel or the ureter are both very bad things, also worse case scenario if there was uncontrollable bleeding, she'd have to perform a hysterectomy but we AREN'T going there. But as she said, she's never had to do so when performing a myomectomy. And the chances of the former happening she said is less than one percent. She was very confident which I liked.
She explained about making the incision just below my navel and going in that way, making an incision in the uterus, removing the fibroids to outside the uterus, suturing me up and then removing the fibroids piece by piece. The steps below came from here and are basically what she's doing except that she performs step 12 as step 10 and continues from there.
To perform a laparoscopic myomectomy, the surgeon will:
1. Perform laparoscopic access procedure to patients abdomen
2. Administer blue dye that stains the uterine cavity
3. Locate the fallopian tubes and uterus to determine which tissue is fibroid tumor and which tissue is normal tissue
4. Determine which fibroids to remove and in which order
5. Inject a drug into the fibroid tumor to shut down the blood supply to the tumor and to "blanch" it to make it easier to see
6. Make an incision in the wall of the uterus where it covers the fibroid
7. Perform adhesiolysis (if necessary) to gain access and visibility of the fibroids
8. Grasp the fibroid tumor with a clamp and hold it under slight tension
9. Incise the fibroid tumor from its surrounding muscle tissue at the pedicle (attachment site) of the fibroid tumor
10. Morcellate the fibroid tumor (cut the fibroid tumor into pieces)
11. Remove the fibroid tumor pieces from the patient
12. Repair the tissue severed by the incision by suturing a layer of tissue at a time
13. Repeats steps 7-11 to remove fibroid tumors not accessible through the initial incision
Anyway, if you feel like a bit more detail and some photos of the procedure, go here. This is essentially what she'll be doing next week.
I don't have a time yet for surgery. The hospital will call on the morning of the 10th to let us know when we have to be there and what time the surgery is. I can't have anything but clear liquids from the 10th to after the surgery.
V. is on call for 3 straight weeks, starting last week. So when he showed me the schedule the other week, neither of us remembered I would be in the hospital over night. He had already made arrangements to be off call on the 11th, but now needs to make some arrangements in order to pick me up. I know he'll figure something out.
Anyway, she rattled off what she was going to do, what could potentially go wrong all the while appending "I have to say this" to each thing. Perforating the bowel or the ureter are both very bad things, also worse case scenario if there was uncontrollable bleeding, she'd have to perform a hysterectomy but we AREN'T going there. But as she said, she's never had to do so when performing a myomectomy. And the chances of the former happening she said is less than one percent. She was very confident which I liked.
She explained about making the incision just below my navel and going in that way, making an incision in the uterus, removing the fibroids to outside the uterus, suturing me up and then removing the fibroids piece by piece. The steps below came from here and are basically what she's doing except that she performs step 12 as step 10 and continues from there.
To perform a laparoscopic myomectomy, the surgeon will:
1. Perform laparoscopic access procedure to patients abdomen
2. Administer blue dye that stains the uterine cavity
3. Locate the fallopian tubes and uterus to determine which tissue is fibroid tumor and which tissue is normal tissue
4. Determine which fibroids to remove and in which order
5. Inject a drug into the fibroid tumor to shut down the blood supply to the tumor and to "blanch" it to make it easier to see
6. Make an incision in the wall of the uterus where it covers the fibroid
7. Perform adhesiolysis (if necessary) to gain access and visibility of the fibroids
8. Grasp the fibroid tumor with a clamp and hold it under slight tension
9. Incise the fibroid tumor from its surrounding muscle tissue at the pedicle (attachment site) of the fibroid tumor
10. Morcellate the fibroid tumor (cut the fibroid tumor into pieces)
11. Remove the fibroid tumor pieces from the patient
12. Repair the tissue severed by the incision by suturing a layer of tissue at a time
13. Repeats steps 7-11 to remove fibroid tumors not accessible through the initial incision
Anyway, if you feel like a bit more detail and some photos of the procedure, go here. This is essentially what she'll be doing next week.
I don't have a time yet for surgery. The hospital will call on the morning of the 10th to let us know when we have to be there and what time the surgery is. I can't have anything but clear liquids from the 10th to after the surgery.
V. is on call for 3 straight weeks, starting last week. So when he showed me the schedule the other week, neither of us remembered I would be in the hospital over night. He had already made arrangements to be off call on the 11th, but now needs to make some arrangements in order to pick me up. I know he'll figure something out.
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