Flying colors
Hi Friends,
We can all sigh in relief...the surgery is done and it went well, thank goodness. Today was a LONG day...Betty and I were up by 5am to arrive on time at RIC around 6:15am or so...mom was already up in her chair, dressed and ready to go...we made sure we had everything all packed up and ready to go, and just sat and waited in the room for the Medicar to arrive. It ended up being about a half an hour late, but that gave us a chance to say goodbye to some of the day shift nurses and others...mom was definitely teary, as was I, and Betty and I decided she should walk out of there as a symbolic thing...so she did! Wow, can't believe she's actually not staying there anymore...I think it will take a day or two of going somewhere else to visit mom for it to really sink in.
The Medicar finally arrived, and we loaded up and made the short drive to St. Joe's...sat in the surgical waiting room for a bit, then checked in, then sat in the waiting room some more. Then we were brought to the the pre-op room where they got mom ready for surgery...on and off she was very anxious and tearful, but we spent the majority of the time while waiting laughing, joking and singing Christmas carols. :) When they finally came to take her to the operating room (around 11:15am or so), she got really scared again but the nurse anesthetist gave her a little cocktail through her IV and she relaxed right quick while they wheeled her away...wish they could have given me some of that, too! :)
While we waited, Betty and I grabbed some lunch at the cafeteria (which has pretty good food...possibly the best food of any hospital cafeteria we've been to yet!) and then hung out in the waiting room chatting and making fun of the Maury show and Jerry Springer (someone finally changed the channel, thank goodness). The surgeon had told us it would take about 2 hours from start to finish, and when the 2 hour mark passed, I started getting more anxious, but he finally came out to tell us everything had gone smoothly! :) He told us we'd be able to see her about an hour and a half from then, so we waited some more. The hour and half mark came and went, and we started getting antsy and nervous again...well, it turns out that apparently they'd called her "number" (the number they gave her when checking in at 8am this morning) but got no answer (neither of us heard her call the number, so we're still unsure whether or not they actually did), so they took her up to her room without us knowing! According to the nurse, she'd been up there for a good hour before we arrived, and here we were still waiting in the waiting room! :(
When we walked in, mom was asleep...her face and neck are pretty swollen, but she had good color in her cheeks and otherwise looked really good! She of course has a bandage on her head, and there is a drain coming out of her head to make sure there isn't any fluid buildup postop. She has a small bandage on her abdomen where they got the bone out, but it really doesn't look like much. When we touched her arm and said hi, she woke up and looked at us and smiled and was glad to see us...she was still really groggy and her voice was hoarse (from being intubated), but she was in good spirits and denied having any pain. She has a morphine PCA (patient-controlled analgesia...push a button and it delivers pain medication), but right up until we left tonight, she kept saying she had no pain, which is great! :) The less medication the better, and the more comfortable she is the better! She slept most of the afternoon, but was rousable and each time she was awoken (either by us, a nurse or a doctor), she was less and less groggy...still tired, but less foggy. Around 5ish, Lilly came by to see mom, which was great! Mom was very happy to see her as well, and was sad when she had to leave to go to work.
Betty and I hung out all afternoon and evening in her room, reading our books and snacking on popcorn when she was asleep. Her nurses all seemed really nice, which is good. Her roommate is quite the trip...she is also post-op, and seemed to complain about everything and kept asking for medication...at one point, she called across the room (the curtain was closed) to please help her...oh dear...we just told her to push her nurse call button.
So, we left around 9pm or so...we're both exhausted, and plan to go to bed momentarily...we had a long day. Tomorrow we plan on just hanging out at the hospital...hopefully mom will be feeling much more rested, and we'll be able to get her up and around a bit, though she has earned a few days rest. :) She will be recovering here at least until Monday...her surgeon said she'd probably be just fine to go on Sunday, but with her going to another facility, whether it be the one at St. Joe's or another, I hear it's never great to be admitted to a new place over the weekend, so I requested of her surgeon that he keep her at least until Monday...he readily agreed.
So, we'll just relax over the weekend and have some nice visits...THANK YOU to everyone who sent messages, made phone calls and were thinking about and praying for us today. Once again, your love and support overwhelm me, and your positive energy flowing without a doubt helped everything to go well today. I of course will keep you posted on everything as usual...keep the love and prayers coming as we still must get through the immediate post-op phase of the surgery, but she's well on her way. Peace to all.
We can all sigh in relief...the surgery is done and it went well, thank goodness. Today was a LONG day...Betty and I were up by 5am to arrive on time at RIC around 6:15am or so...mom was already up in her chair, dressed and ready to go...we made sure we had everything all packed up and ready to go, and just sat and waited in the room for the Medicar to arrive. It ended up being about a half an hour late, but that gave us a chance to say goodbye to some of the day shift nurses and others...mom was definitely teary, as was I, and Betty and I decided she should walk out of there as a symbolic thing...so she did! Wow, can't believe she's actually not staying there anymore...I think it will take a day or two of going somewhere else to visit mom for it to really sink in.
The Medicar finally arrived, and we loaded up and made the short drive to St. Joe's...sat in the surgical waiting room for a bit, then checked in, then sat in the waiting room some more. Then we were brought to the the pre-op room where they got mom ready for surgery...on and off she was very anxious and tearful, but we spent the majority of the time while waiting laughing, joking and singing Christmas carols. :) When they finally came to take her to the operating room (around 11:15am or so), she got really scared again but the nurse anesthetist gave her a little cocktail through her IV and she relaxed right quick while they wheeled her away...wish they could have given me some of that, too! :)
While we waited, Betty and I grabbed some lunch at the cafeteria (which has pretty good food...possibly the best food of any hospital cafeteria we've been to yet!) and then hung out in the waiting room chatting and making fun of the Maury show and Jerry Springer (someone finally changed the channel, thank goodness). The surgeon had told us it would take about 2 hours from start to finish, and when the 2 hour mark passed, I started getting more anxious, but he finally came out to tell us everything had gone smoothly! :) He told us we'd be able to see her about an hour and a half from then, so we waited some more. The hour and half mark came and went, and we started getting antsy and nervous again...well, it turns out that apparently they'd called her "number" (the number they gave her when checking in at 8am this morning) but got no answer (neither of us heard her call the number, so we're still unsure whether or not they actually did), so they took her up to her room without us knowing! According to the nurse, she'd been up there for a good hour before we arrived, and here we were still waiting in the waiting room! :(
When we walked in, mom was asleep...her face and neck are pretty swollen, but she had good color in her cheeks and otherwise looked really good! She of course has a bandage on her head, and there is a drain coming out of her head to make sure there isn't any fluid buildup postop. She has a small bandage on her abdomen where they got the bone out, but it really doesn't look like much. When we touched her arm and said hi, she woke up and looked at us and smiled and was glad to see us...she was still really groggy and her voice was hoarse (from being intubated), but she was in good spirits and denied having any pain. She has a morphine PCA (patient-controlled analgesia...push a button and it delivers pain medication), but right up until we left tonight, she kept saying she had no pain, which is great! :) The less medication the better, and the more comfortable she is the better! She slept most of the afternoon, but was rousable and each time she was awoken (either by us, a nurse or a doctor), she was less and less groggy...still tired, but less foggy. Around 5ish, Lilly came by to see mom, which was great! Mom was very happy to see her as well, and was sad when she had to leave to go to work.
Betty and I hung out all afternoon and evening in her room, reading our books and snacking on popcorn when she was asleep. Her nurses all seemed really nice, which is good. Her roommate is quite the trip...she is also post-op, and seemed to complain about everything and kept asking for medication...at one point, she called across the room (the curtain was closed) to please help her...oh dear...we just told her to push her nurse call button.
So, we left around 9pm or so...we're both exhausted, and plan to go to bed momentarily...we had a long day. Tomorrow we plan on just hanging out at the hospital...hopefully mom will be feeling much more rested, and we'll be able to get her up and around a bit, though she has earned a few days rest. :) She will be recovering here at least until Monday...her surgeon said she'd probably be just fine to go on Sunday, but with her going to another facility, whether it be the one at St. Joe's or another, I hear it's never great to be admitted to a new place over the weekend, so I requested of her surgeon that he keep her at least until Monday...he readily agreed.
So, we'll just relax over the weekend and have some nice visits...THANK YOU to everyone who sent messages, made phone calls and were thinking about and praying for us today. Once again, your love and support overwhelm me, and your positive energy flowing without a doubt helped everything to go well today. I of course will keep you posted on everything as usual...keep the love and prayers coming as we still must get through the immediate post-op phase of the surgery, but she's well on her way. Peace to all.
Comments
Love ya,
Hope
i was wearing my faith necklace yesterday and keeping both you and your mom in my thoughts...i'm so happy that it went well and now your mom is on to better things...yey!!
p dazzle