Newest Update on Regina

[Guest guest]

I printed out all of your notes for Regina and she was cracking up

reading them, she even showed them to the nurses and the doctors. One of

the doctors took the papers out to the nurses station and we could hear

them all laughing too. and ceep, I think you may be getting

some phone calls on how to treat bypass patients. They were quite

impressed with the list and the support and genuinely scared of all the

threats of bodily harm.

They decided to operate on Regina's arm today. Why wait for the

inevitable was basically what they said. She was in a good amount of

pain earlier, but was having a pretty good time when I left. They gave

her a dose of Morphine and she thanked them for the " cocktail " and went

to sleep. They ended up having to cut out a piece of the vein, I would

equate it to something like splicing. I'm not good at the terminology

like she is and got the infection out. Pretty nasty stuff apparently.

They also found out that her bladder is only working at 50% capacity for

some unknown reason. They did a uro-dynamics test on her yesterday and

found that when she goes to the bathroom her bladder isn't emptying all

the way, leaving it approximately half full. She will probably be

discharged tomorrow and they told her that she will have to catheterize

herself three times a day for two weeks after she goes to the bathroom

to make sure that the bladder becomes completely empty. They're hoping

that this will help the brain and the bladder start communicating again.

She has to go back to the urologist in two weeks for a sonogram of the

bladder and then they'll take it from there. They think this has been a

gradual thing that has been going on with her, possibly for years and

the narcotics she was taking for the migraines may have set it off. I

know she is scheduled for some neurological studies in early October.

Her neurologist didn't tell her exactly what he was looking for with

these tests, but mentioned something about brain swelling. We'll see.

For right now she is comfortable and if she doesn't come home tomorrow,

then definitely Thursday. She's just pissed off that it's her right arm

and she's going to be hung up with it for a few weeks. She's got a lot

on her plate right now and was so excited about school and such. A bit

down in the dumps today, but I know she will bounce back. She doesn't

let things keep her down for too long.

Again, thank you for all of the notes. She got such a kick out of them

and was very touched by all the support that you've shown her. It makes

it easier for her and for me, knowing that there are people who know

what she is going through and not berating her for having the surgery.

If one more of her friends asks me, " does she still think it was worth

it " I'm going to scream.

Hope everyone is doing well and Regina sends her regards and can't wait

to get back to talking with you.

Tim